Stephanie Okereke Linus (born as Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke; 2 October 1982) is a Nigerian actress,

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

. She has received several awards and nominations for her work as an

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, 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 Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

'' at the

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards is an annual entertainment award ceremony presented to recognize excellence among African and non-African professionals, who have contributed to the African film industry. The award was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osig ...

in 2005, 2009 and 2010. She was also the runner up for the

Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria The Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria – often abbreviated as MBGN – was a Beauty contest, pageant organised by Silverbird Group with the main purpose of sending representatives to international competitions. Originally known as Miss Universe ...

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 Nigeria, Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours are the Grand Commander in the Order of the Fede ...

, MFR. Stephanie is also a scriptwriter, a Producer and a Director.

Early life and education

Stephanie Okereke was born in

Ngor Okpala Ngor Okpala is a Local Government Area in Imo State located in the eastern part of Nigeria. It is headquartered in Umuneke Ngor, and is said to have originated from Ama-Asaa. It is bounded by Ihiagwa, Owerri and Umuahia, and connects to Abia an ...

Imo State Imo () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo R ...

. She is the sixth child of Mary and Chima Okereke's eight children. She completed her primary and secondary education in

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

. She studied at the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a federal 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. ...

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

, where she graduated with a degree in English and

Literary Studies A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

Career

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

Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...

movies; ''Compromise 2'' and ''Waterloo''. During the 2002

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 college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

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 The Africa Movie Academy Awards is an annual entertainment award ceremony presented to recognize excellence among African and non-African professionals, who have contributed to the African film industry. The award was founded by Peace Anyiam-Osi ...

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 The 2016 Africa Movie Academy Awards ceremony was held on Saturday 11 June 2016 at the Obi Wali International Conference Center in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The ceremony recognized and honored excellence among directors, actors, and writer ...

and

2016 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards The 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) was held on March 5, 2016 at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. It was hosted by Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa and Minnie Dlamini. Nominees were revealed on December 11, ...

best movie overall movie with the prize of a brand new car. Okereke has starred in over 90 movies. In March 2017 she was appointed as a Regional Ambassador for the

UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leadin ...

, and she held this position until 2020. 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
'. In 2024 she was awarded the Lennox K. Black International Prize for Excellence in Medicine by

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. ...

Personal life

In April 2005, on her way to the Africa 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 Niger-Delta region of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km2 and an estimated population of 798,466 at 2024. ...

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

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. 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. Okereke and her husband celebrated their 13th Anniversary on 19 April 2024.

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 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards winners