Monalisa Chinda is one of the A-list veteran Nigerian actresses established in Nollywood in the 1990s and increased fans’ screentime to Nigerian home videos. Over the years, Monalisa grew from actress to film producer, television personality, and media personality.

Monalisa Chinda has featured in over 200 Nollywood movies and has a fair share of movies she’s produced.

Monalisa Chinda was born on 13th September 1974. She is 48 years old.

Early life and Education

Monalisa Chinda was born and raised in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria, by her Igbo mother and Rivers father. She was the couple’s first child, who had five more children.

She attended Army children’s school in Port Harcourt for her primary education.

She did her secondary education in the Archdeacon Crowther Memorial girls school in Elelenwo, Port Harcourt.

During her time in secondary school, Monalisa participated in school plays.

After discovering her talent for acting, she started practicing independently to sharpen her skills. She was also privileged to learn under the prominent playwright Ola Rotimi.

After she obtained her West African school certificate, she enrolled in the University of Port Harcourt to study Theater Arts.

She says that her call into acting was a blessing as she wasn’t sure if to pursue it as a career but just went for it.

Career

The first major movie Monalisa featured was The Pregnant Virgin In 1996 when she was still an undergraduate at the university of port Harcourt. After she graduated from university in 2000, she began acting full-time and got featured in the movie “Above the law.”

From 2000 to 2007, she featured in some other movies like ‘Our Husbands Have Gone Mad Again” by Ola Rotimi and “The Fight To Stop Female Circumcision” by Amatu Braid. It wasn’t after she started appearing on the Nigerian soap opera Heaven’s gate that her journey to stardom began.

She debuted in her career as a movie producer in 2011 with the Royal Arts Academy Movie “Kiss & tell” as executive producer.  Emem Isong co-produced the movie, and Desmond Elliot was the director.  As a producer,  Monalisa works in partnership with one of Nigeria’s major production companies, Royal Arts Academy, and has produced over  50 Nollywood movies since Kiss & Tell. Movies she’s produced include games men play, golden moon, the wrong woman, reloaded, the therapist, and the exceptionally successful “weekend getaway.”

The next year, she was featured on the cover of Hollywood weekly magazine. This was a big feat for her as she was one of the first Nollywood actors to be featured in the famous American magazine.

In November 2014, Monalisa branched out to establish and host her TV show “You & I with Monalisa.” The show airs on Nigerian tv channels such as TVC, AIT, and Channels Tv. On the purpose of the show, Monalisa says that the idea behind the show is to use drama as a tool for addressing and dissecting societal situations and problems.

“You and I with Monalisa” is in its 6th  season now and is expecting a new season with the new year.

The engaging show has featured prominent figures in Nigeria and also upcoming Nigerian talents and has been praised as the most enriching show on social issues in Africa.

It commands millions of views from fans across Nigeria and has recorded mostly success since its premiere.

In May 2016, she appeared on the cover of Genevieve magazine.

Monalisa is involved in a lot of charity work. She collaborates with the media school, Royal Arts Academy, as a consultant.

She was chosen by Nigerian telecommunication company Glo as brand ambassador and is also the brand ambassador of a spa parlor; Beauty Secrets Skin Care.

Marriage and Personal life

Monalisa Chinda is currently married to the Nigerian-Sierra leone man Mr. Victor Tonye Coker and is in her second marriage.

Her marriage with her first husband, Mr. Dejo Richards, crashed in  2009 over allegations of domestic violence and abuse. They had a daughter who was just a year old when her parents broke up.

Seven years later, in February 2016, Monalisa married her second husband, Mr Victor Coker, in a traditional wedding in her hometown Ikwerre, and they celebrated Their white wedding in Santorini, Greece. The man is based in Germany, and the couple has been married since then.

She has one child named Tamar Lily Chinda who is 14 years old currently, she was born on February 13, 2008.

Awards

In 2009, she was awarded Best Actress by Afro Hollywood Award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival

Monalisa was crowned the Face of Port Harcourt in 2011.

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