Guys, here goes another beautiful Joan Omionawele interview.
Her interviewee for the week is Ghanaian actor Van Vicker.
In this interview, he talks about about his life as an actor, his marriage, issues with movie star Genevieve Nnaji and other issues, enjoy!
You are known for your lover boy roles. Where did you get your good looks from?
I
don’t know. I can’t really say if it was my mum or my dad. I would say
it was a blend of both of them, because if my mum had been married to
someone else or my dad had been married to someone else, the result
would probably have been different.
We all know how intense the sun in Ghana is, yet you have remained fair in complexion. Do you have any beauty regimen?
I
do get sun-burnt sometimes, not only in Ghana, in Nigeria as well; it
depends on the location of the movie I am shooting. But I drink a lot of
water and I eat in bits. That’s it.
We have heard so many rumours about you? How do you feel when you hear rumours about yourself?
Many
times, I don’t bother about it, because I know it’s one of those
things. Sometimes if I can counter or debunk them through my social
networks, I do; but people will continue to say such stuff anyway.
How do you handle being a father, husband and an actor?
I
don’t think it’s such a big deal. I lead a normal life; I just go about
(performing) those roles. When I’m at home, I am at home; and when I am
at work, I don’t joke with it. I do things that a normal dad would do.
It’s the same with you. I don’t know if you are married, but any person
who is married, works and has kids would go home after work and cater
for the family. And that’s the same thing I do; there’s nothing
extra-crazy about it. When I’m at home, I play with my kids when I’m
supposed to.
But when you have to leave home for days and go on set, how do you make up for those times you are away?
Well,
usually, when I get back, I try to spend a lot more time with them. We
go to the beach or the pool, watch movies, or take a long drive; or we
stay at home and play games. I try to make up for so many things.
Who are your best Nigerian actors and actresses?
(Laughs) You are not going to put me on the spot with that. I have enjoyed working with all my colleagues.
There was a time Genevieve said you weren’t a good actor. How did you react to that?
I
read the article but I wasn’t bothered about it because that was her
opinion, and she is entitled to it. I never responded to it, and I don’t
think I will. Nevertheless, I don’t have any ill feelings towards her.
Now, whether her opinion has changed or is still the same, it doesn’t
make much of a difference to me, because I know I am a fantastic actor
and I am doing what I am doing with passion. I am enjoying it and I am
making the best I can of it.
Having said that, if I am given a job to
do and she is involved, I would do the job. I won’t say because she
said this, I won’t do the job.
But if you have the urge to confront her, won’t you?
If
I meet her at a function or on a movie shoot, I’ll ask her; but I won’t
do it through the media. Some of these things people write in the
papers or on the blogs are not even true; it’s possible they twisted her
words. They do it to me all the time, so it’s possible they did that to
her. But when I meet her personally, I will ask her if she did say
that. And if she did, the conversation will continue, as to why she said
it and how she said it.
You have an accent. What is your background like?
Well, I am a mixture of Dutch, Liberian and Ghanaian.
What was growing up like?
I grew up with two
women in my life – my mum and my sister; and we always moved from place
to place. I lost my dad when I was six, so I did not really have a
father around. My mother taught me how to be strong, do the right thing
and made sure I became a good breed – unlike what many people say about
light-skinned guys…
What do people say about light-skinned guys
You know what they say; I don’t need to tell you.
I don’t know what they say. I’m also light-skinned, so tell me.
Okay, let me not say light-skinned, but the ‘half castes’. People usually say they are bad boys.
And you are not a bad boy?
No, I am not.
You got married quite young. How do you overcome temptations from your close female friends and colleagues?
Well,
I mentioned earlier it’s my mindset: keep it professional. I try to be
as professional as possible, and you know sometimes, you have to be in a
romantic scene with an actress and still keep it professional because
that is the beauty of the job. You can actually be romantic and get the
viewers to understand that you are actually in love with a particular
lady but at the same time, when they say ‘Cut!’ you don’t have any
feelings for her.
Have you ever got attracted to any actress you have been on set with?
I
don’t think so. The only one I have ever read about was when they said
that I broke up Chika Ike’s marriage. I don’t see how that makes sense;
but they said I helped to break her marriage.
What about your female fans? How often do they disturb you?
What do you mean by ‘disturb’?
How often do you get calls, mails and tweets from your female fans?
I
wouldn’t call it disturbance; they are people who enjoy my work and
want to get to know me personally. Yes, I do get calls often, but I try
to adjust. I can’t keep up with all of them, so sometimes I just ignore
while sometimes, I try to answer their questions and enquiries.
How does your wife handle your female fans?
She
is very cool with them. She understands the nature of my job and she is
totally in support of what I do. She has the same mind that I have –
which is to keep it professional.
Do you have any weakness?
I find it difficult to
get angry, even with respect to acting. It is quite difficult for me to
get angry while acting because naturally, it takes a lot to get me
angry. And when I have to get angry in a movie, it drains me. But in the
past three years, I have been able to work on that.