Stephanie Okereke Linus (born as Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke; 2 October 1982) is a Nigerian actress, film director and model. She has received several awards and nominations for her work as an actress, including the 2003 Reel Award for Best Actress, the 2006 Afro Hollywood Award for Best Actress, and three nominations for ''

Best Actress in a Leading Role The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

'' at the

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She was also the runner up for the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant of 2002. In 2011, she was honoured by the Nigerian government with a national honour of Member of the

Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours where the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal Rep ...

, MFR.

Early life

Stephanie Okereke was born in

Ngor Okpala Ngor Okpala is a Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Umuneke Ngor. It has an area of 561 km²; it has a population of 159,932 at the 2006 census. It is a notable place in Imo state because of th ...

, Imo State. She is the sixth child of Mary and Chima Okereke's eight children. She completed her primary & secondary education in Delta State. She studied at the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. Th ...

, in

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

, where she graduated with a degree in English and Literary Studies.

Career

While she was still a teenager in the year 1997, she starred in two

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

movies; ''Compromise 2'' and ''Waterloo''. During the 2002 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant, Okereke reached 3rd place. A year later in 2003, Okereke won two awards, out of the eight nominations she received, at the 2003 Reel Awards for 'Best Actress - English' and 'Best Actress of the year 2003'. After graduating from the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, ...

in 2007, Okereke released the movie '' Through the Glass'' in which she served as director, scriptwriter, producer and actress. The film received an Africa Movie Academy Award nomination for ''Best Screenplay'' in 2009. In 2014, she released another movie, '' Dry'' and again served as a director, scriptwriter, producer, and actress which won many awards including 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards and 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards best movie overall movie with the prize of a brand new car. Okereke has starred in over 90 movies. In March 2021, as part of her campaign against gender-based violence on the female folk, the actress released two short movies (which she produced) titled
The Student
' and
Bad Police
'.

Personal life

In April 2005, on her way to the African Movie Academy Awards held in

Yenagoa Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria. It is located at the southern part of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km² and a population of 352,285 at the 2006 census. Th ...

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Okereke was involved in a serious car accident that left her with burns all over and a broken leg. In April 2012 Okereke married Linus Idahosa in Paris, France, at a private wedding ceremony that was attended by members of her family and scores of

actresses and actors. Their first son Maxwell Enosata Linus was born in October 2015. They welcomed their second son in May, 2022, seven years after their first son.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okereke Linus, Stephanie 1982 births Living people Igbo actresses Igbo beauty pageant contestants Nigerian female models Nigerian film directors Nigerian women film directors Nigerian screenwriters New York Film Academy alumni Actresses from Imo State 20th-century Nigerian actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses University of Calabar alumni Members of the Order of the Federal Republic Nigerian film actresses Nigerian film producers Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria contestants Nigerian beauty pageant contestants Nigerian film award winners Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards winners