The sky is the limit for an actress from Medway as she relinquishes a coveted place on hit soap EastEnders to head for Hollywood and beyond. Bunmi Mojekwu, from Strood, has been in the show for the last 18 month but is setting her sights on making it as a top star.
The 22-year-old plays Mercy in the BBC One production, having joined it from internet spin-off series E20.
She said: “I got sent to the auditioning for E20. Lots of people were going for places, but the directors just couldn’t find the person that they wanted for the role.
“I went in for auditions and I got some call- backs – it was a really long process and I thought there was no way I would get the part.
“It was crazy when I finally got a place on E20, but I also knew that I was never meant to go on to the main show, too.
“When the directors approached and asked me to be in the full EastEnders, and to have story-lines as well, it was a dream come true.”
The former St Simon Stock School in Maidstone pupil started acting at 17 after a stint at a Saturday drama college in London.
She said: “It was just a little weekend thing. It turned out to be the right place at the right time because they had just started an agency there. I got put on to the list, started getting auditions and things just went from there, really.”
Mojekwu moved down to Strood from Brixton when she was a teenager, and her appearances in EastEnders have seen a fan base develop.
She said: “It is bizarre as people feel like they know you because the show is so popular. When you go out they tend to gravitate towards you and speak to you like they have known you for years.
“Of course it is nice at times, but sometimes if you really just want to run into the shops quickly it can get a bit difficult. It’s never a five- minute run any more – it takes half an hour trying to get through people, but that’s cool.
“I am asked for pictures and autographs, especially around here because people know I live in Kent, so there is more of a buzz from locals.”
Mojekwu is of Nigerian decent and plays troubled immigrant Mercy Olubnmi in EastEnders alongside some of British TV’s biggest stars. And, despite performing in Gone Too Far at The Royal Court Theatre in London aged just 17, and going on to star in Channel Four’s Misfits and ITV’s The Bill, she still gets a little star-struck on set.
She said: “I am cool with a lot of people, like Christian – see, I still call him by his character’s name. That’s bad. But sometimes I am just sitting there and Steve McFadden is sitting next to me, it is so crazy.
“That’s when I thought ‘Oh my god, this is actually real’ and it all really started to kick in. It was life-changing.”
But the actress, who has completed a business and media degree at Kingston University, is highly ambitious and setting her sights on moving away from one of the world’s biggest soaps and finding new challenges.
She said: “Leaving was kind of a mutual thing – it was coming towards the end of the character’s journey. I felt it was time for me to come off the back of this and challenge myself before I became a bit too rooted in the show.
“I didn’t want that to happen, so I definitely feel comfortable coming out of EastEnders now. I have gained enough exposure and I want to move on to bigger things.”
Soap stars often have the never-say-never attitude to returning and many will be recycled in years to come, with fresh story-lines offering a way back in for out-of-work actors.
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| Mercy in E20 Series 1 |
But Mojekwu is determined that once she leaves Albert Square she will make her own way in the acting business.
She said: “I have a couple of things lined up – we are in talks at the moment, so I am crossing my fingers and waiting for the green light.
“Although I love EastEnders, I wouldn’t return – I am not a believer in going backwards. I like to go forwards and that chapter is definitely closed, but I had a great time there.”
Mojekwu’s Nigerian background has also earned her fame in the West African nation and the Medway performer is planning on making an appearance there at some point.
She said: “They have a thing called Nollywood, so I would like to do that and then Hollywood and Bollywood… all the woods!”
And Mojekwu has the belief that she can go all the way to the top, as even from an early age she knew what she wanted to do.
“I have always wanted to do something related to acting, but I didn’t know how to do it. It was all just a dream.
“A lot of people tell me stories of how they got in, and I didn’t really have to do as much as them – so I feel like it was meant to be.”
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