Cynthia Shalom (born 18 March 1988) is a Nigerian actress, producer, blogger, and businessperson. She won season 11 of the reality show, ''

Next Movie Star ''Next Movie Star'' is a reality television series, that is centered around discovering new talents in the acting profession. The show was created in Nigeria by Sola Fajobi in 2004, and in 2016 had grown to have representation from ten African cou ...

''. She has since then featured in several

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 ...

films. She was featured in the

M-net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

TV series ''

Tinsel Tinsel is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice, consisting of thin strips of sparkling material attached to a thread. When in long narrow strips not attached to thread, it is called "lametta", and emulates icicles. It was o ...

''.

Early life and education

Cynthia Shalom was born in Ede, Osun State, a state located in the southwestern region of Nigeria. She is the first daughter from a family of three sons and two daughters. She had her Primary and Secondary Education in Port Harcourt, the capital city of

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa Ib ...

, located in the south-south region of Nigeria where she lived with her parents. Having obtained a degree in Management from the

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...

and an Acting certification from the

Africa International Film Festival The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Nigeria. It was founded in 2010 with its Inaugural edition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. AFRIFF was founded by Chioma Ude a passionate fil ...

(AFRIFF) talent development workshop, In an interview with ''

Vanguard Nigeria ''Vanguard'' is a daily newspaper published by Vanguard Media, based in Lagos, Nigeria. Vanguard Media was established in 1984 by veteran journalist Sam Amuka-Pemu with three friends. The paper has an online edition. It is one of the few newspa ...

'' she said she relocated to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

to pursue her career in acting.

Career

Shalom was the winner of the

Reality Show in 2015/2016. She made her acting debut in

Monalisa Chinda Monalisa Chinda (born 13 September 1974) is a Nigerian actress, film producer, television personality and media personality. Early life Monalisa Chinda was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Ikwerre parents. She is the firstborn in her ...

’s talk show titled ''You & I with Monalisa''. She told ''

The Punch ''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...

'' that rejections were one of the hurdles she had to surmount while starting out in

. In 2016, she was cast in her first feature film ''An Hour With The Shrink'' with

Annie Macaulay-Idibia Annie Macaulay–Idibia (born 13 November 1984) is a Nigerian, model, presenter, and actress. She was nominated in the " Best Supporting Actress" category at the 2009 Best of Nollywood Awards. Early life and education Annie was born in Ibada ...

Gbenro Ajibade Gbenro Ajibade (born Gbenro Emmanuel Ajibade; December 8) is a Nigerian actor, producer, model, and presenter. Biography He attended Makurdi International School and later Mount Saint Gabriel's Secondary School. He then completed his education ...

, and

Segun Arinze Segun Arinze (born Segun Padonou Aina in 1965) is a Nigerian actor and singer. Early life and education He is the eldest of seven children born to Lydia Padonu. He is descent of Badagry, Lagos State. He attended Victory College of Commerce in I ...

. Shalom co-starred with

Desmond Elliot Desmond Elliot'' (born Desmond Oluwashola Elliot; 4 February 1974)'' is a Nigerian director, and politician He was elected as a lawmaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Surulere Constituency, in the 11 April 2015 Nigerian General Election ...

in '' The Damned'' an

Irokotv irokotv is a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa's first mainstream online movie streaming websites, providing access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. irokotv is a part of iROKO Limited, which ...

film. In 2018, Shalom started her film production company, Cynthia Shalom Productions. Her role in one of her movies titled Chain, which features Eddie Watson, Enado Odigie, Emem Ufot, earned her two individual nominations; Best Actress in a Leading role and Most Promising Actress at the 2019

Best of Nollywood Awards Best of Nollywood Awards (stylised as BON Awards) is an annual film event presented by ''Best of Nollywood Magazine,'' honouring outstanding achievement in the Nigerian Movie Industry. The first edition was held on 6 December 2009, in Ikeja, Lag ...

Selected filmography

Films

* ''

'' (2015/2016) * ''Iquo’s Journal'' (2015). * ''An Hour With The Shrink'' (2016) * ''Thorns of love'' (2016) * ''No I Don't'' (2017) * '' The Damned'' (2017) as Emelda * ''Roberta'' (2017) * ''Karma'' (2017) * ''Ebomisi'' (

) (2018). * ''Chain'' (2018) as Tamara * ''Driver'' (2018) * ''Altered Desire'' (

Africa Magic Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. ''Africa Magic'', which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and no ...

) (2019) * ''

Beauty in the Broken ''Beauty in the Broken'' is the third album released by the Christian music band Starfield. It was a 2007 Juno Award nominee for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year. The album includes the song "Son of God" recorded with Chris Tom ...

'' (

) (2019) * ''The Second Bed'' (2020). * ''Back to the Wild'' (

) (2019) * ''Rachel’s Triumph'' (2019) * ''Shut'' (2020) * ''Fading Blues'' (

) (2020) * ''Wind of Desire'' (2020) * ''Half shot of sunrise'' (

) (2020) as Ima * ''Birth Hurts'' (2020) * ''Benediction'' (

) (2021) * ''Paranoid (2021) as Lisa'' *''

Love Castle ''Love Castle'' is a 2021 Nigerian film directed by Desmond Elliot, produced by United States-based Nigerian, Beatrice Funke Ogunmola and co-produced by Victor Ogunmola. The film centers on themes of tradition and family ties; it portrays Nige ...

'' (2021) as Adanma Chi-Joshua

Television

* '' Dear Diary'' Season 2 (2016). * ''Tales of Eve'' (2017) * ''I5ive'' (2019) * ''Jela'' (2019) * ''

'' (2017-present)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shalom, Cynthia Actresses from Lagos State Nigerian television actresses 1988 births Igbo actresses Living people 21st-century Nigerian actresses Nigerian film actresses Participants in Nigerian reality television series Nigerian film producers University of Port Harcourt alumni People from Ebonyi State Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian women in business