Nante uses acting to inspire girls

Stella Nante, 27, has featured in popular NTV soap operas like Deception and Second Chance where she acted as Jackie and Alisu (Salvador’s wife) respectively.

We recently met her at Reach A Hand Uganda’s auditions on sexuality and reproductive health rights where she says she took part to, among other reasons, inspire young girls and explore her potential more.

“I have a number of girls who see me as their role model. I have been inspiring them by visiting schools. Sometimes I meet such girls at events organised by NGOs. They have dreams of becoming great actresses but they do not grab opportunities like this one. But when they see me taking part, they also get inspired,” she says.

She had come with more than a dozen girls to participate in the auditions.

Beginning
Nante says it was through such auditions that she found herself acting in Deception. One of the judges was movie director Emperor Morby who spotted her talent and took her to NTV where she was introduced to the other actors.

With most of her role models being international actors, she believed from high school that she would one day be on screens.

“Acting was a dream I had from childhood and it grew bigger when I was in secondary [school] because I would watch many soaps and films. So when I got chance to act in a popular soap, I gave it all my energies not to disappoint those who had trusted me. That’s the spirit I want girls to have,” Nante explains.

To Nante, featuring in two prominent soaps was just like a baby at crawling stage. “I have featured in many movies but people only know Deception and Second Chance. That means I have not done enough to earn a name in the filming industry. I am ready to grab every opportunity that is available until my heart feels satisfied,” Nante observes.

Nante says beginning actors and artistes target should be producing good work, not money. She says the moment one fronts money they are bound to mess up their career.

“I am always called to speak to girls and boys. However, I have never asked for money. People just appreciate me with the little they have. I need to offer free inspiration to girls as I also search and associate with people who have excelled in the industry,” Nante says.

Like many parents who are cautious when it comes to their children’s choices, so was Nante’s father. Her father often warned her to first focus on books and acting could come later. She did as her father wished and she became active in filming in her second year at university.

“My daddy would pull back whenever I said I wanted to be on TV as an actress. But my mother and I always assured him that I would get a degree but also pursue my acting career,” she says.

The highest she has ever been paid as appreciation was Shs1.5m for an inspiration talk. However, she does not wait for an acting gig or be hired for an inspiration talk to earn a living. She has used her little popularity to market her juice products.

She earns more than Shs800,000 monthly from vending her juice that she makes from passion fruits, mangoes, pineapples and oranges. She contacts her customers regularly and delivers the juice to their respective work places.

“Youth need to utilise friends around them to make money. If you make friends through music, make sure you do something they will buy from you. I got friends and I decided to make juice. I can buy passion fruits of Shs10,000 and earn 10 times more,” she says.

This is the same message she passes to young girls and boys whenever she gets chance to speak to them. Nante dreams of becoming an international actress and a reference to young people.

She has in the last two years talked to more than a 1,000 youth. Her talks often rotate around education, self-esteem, living a friendly life, working hard to achieve dreams and self-discovery.