Van Vicker is one busy man. Trying to catch up with him was like playing musical chairs. One minute we’d be on and the next he’d have one phone call after another to answer. It may sound like the life of all these celebrity divas we often hear about, but it was far from it. He apologized each time he was pulled away and when we finally got going, Van gave me his full attention. Can you believe that I had to convince him that he is sexy and a movie star?!

Van is so humble. He also showed me his sensitive side when we talked about his parents, wife, and daughters. I caught up with Van on the set of a movie he is currently filming in Nigeria with Desmond, Stephanie, Rita, Mercy and Ramzy. I have so much respect for Van, he talked to me till 3 am when he had to be up and back on the movie set by 7 am! Did you know that Van has a love for directing and is now directing his own movies? You may think you know all about this movie star but you don’t. Listen in and let Van fill you in on everything you didn’t know and always wanted to know……

 

Jamati: How did you get into acting? Did you always know you wanted to be an actor?

It was not planned for. I guess because I had been a TV personality doing an entertainment program, the producer of the first film I played a lead in sort of believed I could do it and approached me. I agreed since I thought it was another challenge for me. I mean I’d already been on TV and on the radio I thought it was cool.

Jamati: So you were well known in Ghana already. Did it surprise you when you found that people all over the world were watching your movies and knew your name?

Yeah I was very surprised. I had no idea that was the case. You see I know I was doing the movies and all but I did not think I would make an impact on so many people. Not that I thought I was a bad actor but it just did not strike. I guess I just saw it as one of my numerous jobs.

Jamati: When did you realize that you were a movie star? Was there one particular moment?

I still don’t think I am such a big movie star like that but I think I got a taste of that when I started getting calls from around the world. I was thinking to myself, “Ok hold up, what is happening to me, my life?’” The taste of stardom became more real when I visited the USA. It was amazing to see people down the streets of Manhattan as busy as New York is, stopping me for autographs and to take photos. I was blown away but I TRY NOT TO LET IT GET TO MY HEAD! I think it is a blessing for me and I thank the people who have made me what I am.

Jamati: Your female fans really love you! What was the craziest thing a fan did in your presence?

Hmm, I am trying to think. I remember a lady in Minnesota started crying after she walked in the room I was to be in and they told her I was gone, she broke down in tears. And again in New York this lady just ran straight to me passing security and jumped in my arms. Another lady in New Jersey saw me at the post office and could not believe it and was just touching me all over to be sure and it was so funny. In Maryland, this lady would not come close to me because she did not want to spoil the moment of having to give me a hug so she just stayed away and breathing real hard until she could not hold it any more and then she sprung forward! All these moments I cherish and I want them all to know that whenever I see them I am confused myself and holding my breath as well.

Jamati: You’re a sex symbol. How do you handle that title?

I don’t think I am a sex symbol. What makes one a sex symbol?

Jamati: Are you serious? YES you are a sex symbol. The way women respond to you says you are a sex symbol. Women think you are sexy – women aren’t crying and jumping into just anyone’s arms.

Okay let’s see, I try to keep in shape at all times so I stay fit. I try to look as presentable as possible. I mean if they like what they see then I MUST nurture what they see.

Jamati: You have a wife and 2 kids. How have they adjusted to your success?

Yes I do have a wife and 2 kids and adjusting to my way of life has been a struggle, especially lately. I am here today and tomorrow I am there, talking to them on the phone and all. As for my wife, Adjoa, I think she is going through a lot but I can see she is a strong woman. I mean she has been used to me always being around and more like overnight everything changed. She is very understanding and it is amazing. I mean there are times where I get to Ghana today and I am on another flight the same day or the next day. God knew my destiny and just gave me the perfect one.

Jamati: You have a good woman.

Thank you.

Jamati: You have 2 daughters?

Yes, J’dyl is 4 years old and J-ian is going on 2 years.

Jamati: Are you a tough Dad or do they just give you those puppy dog eyes and you say yes to everything?

I don’t think I am a tough Dad but I don’t spare the rod. Whenever they get naughty and I spank them for any reason I feel like crying myself. It hurts me so much so see them cry even when it is not my fault. I want to be to them the Dad I never had. Not that I was brought up bad, actually my Mother is the best in the whole world for raising me the way she did, a single mother trying to make ends meet, making all the sacrifices so I could get good education. I just want my kids to have their Dad around because sometimes I feel I missed a part of growing up because my Dad was not there. He died when I was 6 years old.

Jamati: Where was your Dad from?

My Dad was Dutch from Holland. My mother is from Ghana and Liberia.

Jamati: Would you like to act in Hollywood?

A 13 year old boy he will tell you YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS! I mean it would be the height of my career. I am certain all actors over the world would want to be a part of Hollywood, for me it would be a dream come true and that will be a blessing to count everyday of my life. Can you make it happen? lol

Jamati: Sure…I can do anything! lol. It WILL happen, I know it!

AMEN!

Jamati: The African movie industry has grown to be global in the last few years and you have played a part in it…who doesn’t know about Raj, Ciara and Beyonce? lol What are your thoughts on the African movie industry?

My thoughts on the African movie industry are that WE ARE GETTING THERE. It’s taken us a while but only time can tell and I am glad to be a part of the revolution of African movies attaining that height. I think if we had the kind of sophisticated logistics to achieve some of the things we would want to do we would be good as gold.

Jamati: You’ve added Director and Producer to your resume. Can you tell me about the first movie you directed coming out in April?

Sure, Friday Night is my first ever produced movie. I directed it myself. I have a passion for directing. The movie will be released in April in the U.S. followed by releases in Ghana, Liberia, and then Nigeria. Nana Ama McBrown co-starred in it. It’s about four married men who do mischievous things on their traditional Friday nights outing. My character Pape has a hard time coming to terms with what goes on at these outings but when he finally decides to get mischievous, he ends up in a lot of trouble, including being on national television. This is the first of my many movies to come, by his grace I intend to produce at least 7 or 8 this year. Good stories, great acting.

Jamati: Congratulations on that! Do you have a favorite role in any of your movies that you have been in so far?

I can’t point out any particular one but I love a movie that brings a challenge with it.

Jamati: We’ve covered a lot but are there things about you that your fans may not know or that you would like them to know?

My website is under construction now and will be completed soon. The address is vanvickerlive.com. People can find all they will need to know, drop me an email, preview upcoming movies, premieres, when I will be in their city, and everything else. I also want people to know that the production house that is producing my movies is called Sky + Orange and the Marketer in the U.S. is called Black Star Entertainment. I want to urge all African movie distributors around the world to contact me at my website to get their share of [the]Van Vicker film collection.

I run a foundation called Van Vicker Foundation. I am trying to reach out to up and coming talents and the less fortunate with regards to movies. That website is under construction as well.

Jamati: Is the foundation in Ghana only?

Well two of the recipients were competitive and three honoree. For now it is registered in Ghana but I have intentions to register it in the U.S. and Liberia as well.

Jamati: Ignore me for a minute and talk to your fans.

Without you there would be no me. I appreciate all the love and I wish I could get all your autographs someday.

Jamati: Thank you so much Van for your time and for being so gracious. It was a true pleasure speaking with you. I wish you all the success in the world.

Apart from my families I want to appreciate a few people, Edward Nyarko (Mr. T), Diana Morris, African Queen (USA), Rabui (Sanga Entertainment) Mr. CNN, Mrs. Mary Cobblah (Coca Cola - Ghana), Yaw Nsarkor (Unilever), Talal Fattal (CEO, Metropolitan Television, Ghana), Salam (Venus Films, Ghana), Samuel (Miracle Films, Ghana) Joe (AA Production, Ghana), Kingsly (Divine Touch Production-Nigeria), TV3 - Ghana, Vibe fm - Ghana, Lintas Ghana Ltd, Chris Warlo (Liberia), Kojo Mensah (UN, Liberia), Celltel - Liberia, and all those who believe in me, I love you all.

Thank you and cheers. God bless and peace out!\

 

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By VANVICKERLIVE
Hot Issues | Fri, 11 Jul 2008

The Ghana home video movie industry, sometimes called “Gollywood” or “Ghanawood”, has been in existence for quite a while. Mostly modeled after Nigeria's Nollywood, it has struggled to find legitimacy and patronage at home and abroad. Ghanaian movies just never received any respect because few folks bothered to consider the obstacles the producers had to confront. And then they were ceaselessly compared with Nigeria's Nollywood home videos and movie stars.

Ghanaians themselves helped very little by choosing Nigerian movies over locally produced fare. To them, the videos made in Ghana were just not hitting all the right spots like the Nigeria made products did. It got so bad that there were whispers at some point that Ghana was considering banning Nigerian movies “infiltration” into Ghana, just to give the local industry a chance to grow. This idea was strongly contested by the average Ghanaian fan of Nigerian movies and stars. The fans urged the producers to make better films, instead of complaining about Nigerian movies.

Over the years, Ghanaian and Nigerian filmmakers cooked up all kinds of collaborations between Nigeria and Ghana to exploit the cross-over audience potential and maybe jump-start video film making as a major enterprise in Ghana. Stars like Ramsey Nouah, Genevieve Nnaji and a host of other Nigerian actors featured in movies alongside their lesser known Ghanaian counterparts. Directors like Zack Orji crossed borders to work on projects in Ghana. Ghanaian producers where motivated to surpass themselves.

All these helped to varying degrees. Lately, however, interest in Ghanaian movies has spiked to an all-time high. In fact, you can say it has exploded. How? Why? What changed?

It's a who, really.

Van Vicker.

Okay, to a lesser degree, Nadia Buari and Jackie Agyemang, but the sudden rush of interest in Ghanaian movies is pretty much a one-man show reminiscent of Ramsey Nouah (paired with the delectable Genevieve Nnaji) in his hey days as the King of Romance in the Nigerian movie industry. Van Vicker deserves a lot of the credit for this bustling interest.

Women traditionally propel the sale of movies by falling in love with the romantic stories and their leads. Van Vicker is the latest star in the focus of this all-powerful attention…And oh, what a force that attention is right now!

An emerging industry's status is arguably confirmed if it penetrates the United States and other Western nations. Ghanaian movies are doing that now, following in the footsteps of Nollywood, attracting even Nigerian viewership (and it takes a lot to take the Nigerian away from the homegrown movies). Vicker does this effortlessly and then some. Single women, married, teenagers, all of them have stacks of his handful of movies on their shelves now and hastily slip one into the player as soon as they're alone or a girlfriend stops by. Demand has escalated, and patronage of these movies is taking piracy to new heights as they are now available everywhere at unrealistically cheap prices.

Van Vicker appeals to the ladies in no mean way, especially when he's being vulnerable on screen. His smile melts the heart. He has grown so huge now that he's flown into the United States to promote his movies. Stories abound of the New York crowd going wild over him at a recent movie signing. He has also been the V.I.P. at several private and public functions. Job offers are flooding in from Nigeria's Nollywood, bringing with it the real money Ghanaian video filmmakers have not been able to dangle before him. It is his time alright.

Pretty much like Ramsey Nouah's fans imagined he was married to the undisputed first lady of African video movies, Genevieve Nnaji, just because the two got paired in many a romantic production, Vicker's fans constantly wonder if he is married to Nadia Buari in real life. The duo, to them, played convincingly well together enough to make the fans wonder if the fantasy indeed had some element of reality in it. Well, the “Vicker Man” is married, but not to Buari. He reportedly got married 4yrs ago to Adjoa. They have two daughters.

So, what's the secret of Van Vicker's appeal? Well, how about we let his many fans across the web speak in their unedited voices?

“Man!!! Van is so damn hot!! God has made him with two hands..He is Perfect.. I'm haitian and I like to watch african movies”- Maika – NY “van is so sexy.... words cant even explain how cute he is!!!!!”- Stacy, Virginia “Van is soo freaky sexy!! Words can't even explain his sexiness. This man is an angel made by God. His wife or girl must be very very lucky to have an angel like Van. Van I love U!!!”- Melesa, NJ
“I think he is very handsome, he needs to play a part where he is married. Yes, I would love to know if he is married in real life.”

Van Vicker, like other actors before him, has had his movie hits and misses. The hits like Mummy's Daughter and Beyonce, The President's Daughter, have earned him fame at home and abroad. But the misses continue to generate comments like this unmediated one:

“Everyone one is caught up in vapor! Yes, granted the man is good looking...I actually will say he is even better looking than Ramsey but unless you buy a film for good looks, he's wasted effort. Listen, unless the next DVD I buy is a DVD of him stripping down to his birthday suit and dancing to "Let's Get It On" I no want abeg. He is HOTTTT and I would definitely roll around the hey, bed, grass or whatever else with him if I were so inclined, OH YES...I talk am but as an actor...he is LAME!”

- BB, New York

Still, if he is indeed the Ramsey Nouah for these times, Nouah equally started out in the raw too. Ramsey Nouah was absolutely wooden once upon a time. But he worked hard to get better. Years of experience honed his skills. Van Vicker's fans believe like wine, he will improve as he ages. He's only 30yrs old after all.

Hopefully, with a leg in the door, thanks to VV, the Ghanaian movie industry will continue to expand in leaps. Well, if they can figure out a way to get the Dollars out of the hands of pirates into legitimate pockets. Nollywood has been paying lip service to doing that for years and nothing positive has come out of it. We welcome Ghana to the big league!

Sola Osofisan of www.naijarules.com explores the Van Vicker mystic...

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Van Vicker Married With Two Kids 

Yes, Van is married but no, not to Nadia. The good looking actor tied the knot four years ago with Adjoa Van Vicker and they have two lovely daughters, J-dyl, three and J-ian, one.

As a lead role actor, it is not rare to be linked romantically to female co-stars off screen and Ghanaian actor, Van Vicker is no exception.

Prominent among questions that fans who are mostly women throw at Van when they meet him is whether he is married to Nadia Buari who he has starred alongside with in quite a number of films.

Yes, he is married but no, not to Nadia. The good looking actor tied the knot four years ago with Adjoa Van Vicker and they have two lovely daughters, J-dyl, three and J-ian, one.

Talking to the Graphic Showbiz, Van said the issue about him being married to Nadia came up on several occasions when he recently visited the United States to premiere The Return of Beyonce, a Venus Films Production in which he played the lead role.

“The whole thing blew out of proportion when people got to know that I was in town. My fans, 97% of whom were females were all over me asking for autographs. They wanted to know if Nadia was my wife in real life.

“They could easily identify me wherever I went, imagine me walking down the streets of New York and people just screaming my name or simply calling me Raj (his name in Beyonce). It was amazing and I couldn’t believe that our movies had been so well accepted by the people over there,” he said.

Another thing that people always argue about is his nationality. Van says he is of mixed race. “My father is Dutch and my mother is of Ghanaian and Liberian parentage. So you see I belong to all three and that’s the nice thing about being mixed.”

Van’s visit was not limited to just the Bronx in New York where the premiere took place but he was also invited to other states like Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC and Ohio.

Dinners were held on his behalf in almost all the places he visited and he was honoured with two awards—Excellence in Movies from the 1st Annual Ghanaian DJ Recognition Night, and another from Akwaaba Promotions.

Talks are also underway to make him a Ghanaian or African model for a Nike Company.

While in the US, Van said a Nigerian distributor told him that the sale of Ghanaian movies had increased and the biggest fans are those from the Caribbean who patronise them most because of the good story-lines and clean language.

He also found out that Universal Studios is interested in Ghanaian movies.

“Ghanaian movies have improved a lot from acting to sales, our producers may not be seeing it here but out there it is simply overwhelming.”

Perhaps Van is getting bigger than he imagined because even before he left and after his return from the US, he is getting lots of offers from producers all over especially from neighbouring Nigeria where he is set to play major roles alongside Nollywood stars like Genevieve Nnaji and Ramsey Nouah under Divine Productions.

So how is Van handling stardom? “It’s not so bad but it’s difficult being nice and keeping up with the fans all the time because sometimes they get too demanding.”

Van who won the Best Actor for Feature Film at the recently held Ghana Actors Guild awards said the honour has urged him to work harder because he appreciates the fact that as an actor he receives lots of criticisms as well as commendations,

“with movies one needs to improve all the time,” he said. Currently he is on set doing a production for A. A. Productions.

Van, who turned 30 on August 1 this year will be producing and directing his own movies from November this year, “we need to make more movies because people like our stuff and I am not just going to add to the numbers. My movies are going to be of high standard,” he said with a lot of enthusiasm.

For Van, it all started with Divine Love followed by Mummy’s Daughter and Beyonce, “from there everything started falling in place and I have been extremely busy for the past year and half.

He doesn’t have a favourite of all the movies he has done because he watches with a technical eye and always has this conviction that it could have been better.

Is Van Vicker rich? All he could say was that he is comfortable. Aside acting, he hosts a programme on TV called Game TV and runs Sky+Orange, an advertising agency and events management company.

He also runs a barbering shop, Babetown, where one can also shop for trendy clothes and shoes, play pool, listen to some good music, watch movies and have a drink.