Saturday, September 13, 2008

SATURDAY INTERVIEW - Ramsey Nouah

The Saturday Interview is back!! This week, its an interview with Nollywood leading man, Ramsey Nouah from the Vanguard Newspaper

I wish I could have my private life back — Ramsey Nouah
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Written by Fred Iwenjora
Saturday, 13 September 2008
As an actor Ramsey Nouah will tell you he is accomplished and satisfied with the fame and popularity the tube has brought his way. Is he wealthy?

Well, he‘s comfortable and grateful to God for everything that has come his way, he’ll tell you. But there is one thing the half cast actor- whose father is half Israeli and half Iranian and a mother from Ondo State of Nigeria- misses, his privacy.

“I wish I could have my privacy back” he tells our correspondent Bridget Amaraegbu. What more

Image
Ramsey Nouah
has he got to say? Find out as you read through.
Enjoy;

Not too long ago you had an accident, did you see Baba God and just how did you manage to survive it?

The accident wasn’t as fatal as most people taught it was. I wish I’d seen God but I didn’t. I was only hospitalised for two days and that was it, but I was asked to bed rest for one month because I smashed my head and suffered blood clotting in my brain.

After that I was okay, and there was nothing else to it.

People have said a lot about your origin, let’s talk about your family background?

I’m of a mixed blood. My father is a bit of Iranian and Israeli and my mother is a Nigerian from Ondo State. I was born and bred here in Lagos.

Did you grow up with both parents?

No. My father was around till I was about 2 years old and then, they separated.

What was growing up like with a single mother?

It’s like any other single parent home. My mother is a very strong woman who taught me how to be respectful and strong, so I couldn’t be spoilt under her custody. Let me just say I learnt to live life in a very hard way from a tough woman.

Were you deprived of anything as a child growing up under the custody of a single parent?

While I was growing up yes, but then as a child, I wouldn’t understand if the paternity of a child was necessary.

How did you get into acting?

That was way back in 1990, I had a friend who always told me that I’m a good actor and urged me to give it a try so in 1991, I acted in Fortunes which later became Mega Fortunes. It came on air in 1993 on NTA and after that came the advent of Home Video and since then I’ve been acting.

What are the challenges you’ve faced as an actor?

I will not really call them challenges because being a good actor is something that comes from within. I will basically call it God’s gift and if it is not there, no matter how hard you try, you will find it difficult to do it well. I want to always give my viewers something better, working hard to make it better each day. My only is regret is the fame, I wish I could have a more private life.

When you initially started acting, did you face any kind of challenges?

There weren’t much challenges because I wasn’t trying to get to the top or any such thing, I didn’t see myself having any target to meet up with, I was not struggling to be better than Mr A or B as I was able to pay some school fee’s at a particular point and paying up some other bills. I didn’t have any foresight of what the industry would be in the future. On getting to this point I realised that acting can actually pay my bills and I’m happy.

At a point you were banned from acting movies, how did you feel then?

I was blacklisted by the marketers when they felt that they couldn’t work with some actors and actresses because of indiscipline on our part. They assumed we were not giving them back what they were asking for.

Why didn’t it come from the directors instead of the marketers or even the (AGN) Actors’ Guild?
The marketers are also the producers and as at then the AGN was not as functional as it is today.

Outside movies and acting, what else do you do?

Nothing, I’m just an actor.

Image
Ramsey Nouah in action in one of his movies
Do you mean your pay as an actor is enough to pay all your bills?

Well, I’m not an extravagant person who tries to live larger than what he earns. Even though you cannot compare it to what is obtainable in Hollywood but then the pay is good. Nollywood started from virtually nothing to where it is today.

It has employed a lot of people who are not all rich but happy with their career. At least I have a good car, live in a good apartment and take care of my kids so what else do I want. I thank God for the height Nollywood has attained.

Which movie will you say made you famous?

The first one was Silent Night. It was my first in the industry and it made everybody to know me.
The next one is Dangerous Twins.

Do you consider Dangerous Twins your most strenuous movie?

I will say it was more demanding and tasking both physically and mentally because I had to act Mr A and B at the same time. Dressing up and coming back on stage to reply what I had earlier said was not easy at all but I enjoyed it.

As an actor, have you had any embarrassing moment?

Yes, I’ve had a couple of people throw pure water at me (laughing) and people pass vulgar. statement at me

Is there any new movie you are working on right now?

Yes. I’m working on something but the producers no longer title movies until when they are about to release it.

And when is it coming out?

I really can’t say for now. A lot of things have changed in the industry and you can’t really be specific but sometimes it can take up to a year or less.

If you have the opportunity of becoming the (AGN) Actors Guild President, what will you like to change?

First of all I’m not a good leader and I don’t know how to lead. But the one thing I’ll like to change will be the disunity amongst members. I’ll like to bring them together to love and care for one another.

When was your first encounter with love and what was it like?

I was 22 years old then and it was awesome as I enjoyed every bit of it.

How true is the rumour that you had a child out of wedlock?

It’s no rumour, it’s a fact. And the product of that liaison is my first daughter who is already ten years old. I got married in 2002. Yes, I did have a child out of wedlock. (Shaking his head as a proud father).

How have you been able to manage your home and career so well?

It’s based on mutual understanding on both side, I have a very understanding wife who understands my career and accepts me for who I am.

One more thing, we heard you are a wife batter, is it true?

I don’t know where that one is coming from and whoever is going about with such rumour is evil minded. May be they are just looking for something to say about me but I know that all my life I’ve never beaten any woman. I can be violent and very aggressive but not to the point of raising my hand on a woman. This rumour I can assure you is very far from me.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ramsey is very frank and appears to be honest!

Nice Work Bella!

Dipo Tepede

www.dipotepede.com

Emilia said...

Hi Bella, it´s nice to see that you are back girl. Well done once again, What a nice interview!

I like Ramsey´s approach to everything quite honest as DIPO pointed out. Not ashamed of his past with his daughter out of wedlock...I mean stuff happens, He is a TRUE and PROUD Nigerian even if he is mixed
Can´t you LUV this GUY

Anonymous said...

Hey bella!
Nice one there,
I just started my blog recently, its
www.naijabunny.blgspot.com
I always love your stories but i hope you dont mind.
I think you should also try talking on some issues everyone knows 'bout like day to day activities. Its more fun that way.
Cuz sometimes your blog is like a mag and i think once in a while you should deviate from the celebrities and talk about some other things.

Still lovin your blog sha!
MWAAAAAAAAAAAAH:)

Emilia said...

Hi Bella, it´s nice to see that you are back girl. Well done once again, What a nice interview!

I like Ramsey´s approach to everything quite honest as DIPO pointed out. Not ashamed of his past with his daughter out of wedlock...I mean stuff happens, He is a TRUE and PROUD Nigerian even if he is mixed
Can´t you LUV this GUY

Anonymous said...

in this day and age i could not beleive that the writer refer ramsey as half cast...he is mixed race

Anonymous said...

love ramsey noah!!!!

lol i agree with anon 4:25! i couldnt believe he said half cast...SMH

i really liked this interview,better than the other ones..i think...

Glad u're back bella =)

Anonymous said...

Political correctness has not reached everyone, and btw he is bi-racial or multi-racial. Half-caste is still a word used in Africa and the carribeans.

Anonymous said...

Hello Fred,
Nice interview you had with Ramsey, but I've been very critical these days and I say it like it is...I don't mean to step on anyone's toes though. When you are interviewing someone, try to ignore the usual questions, like how he got into acting, family background and all that. You should focus more on the issues at present. You never read an interview with Angelina Jolie or Alpacino and see reporters asking questions like how they got into acting and all that...these people are famous already and we all know these stories of them. So look for an angle if you interview someone. Anyway, its a nice interview and i enjoyed it. And now this one goes to Ramsey, who mentioned in the interview that he could have his private life back. When he chose to be an actor, he chose to do so, so he shouldn't say it's hard to be famous and feel like a victim of anything.

Anonymous said...

Ramsey met him twice during utomi 4 presidency cute guy

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Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:00 am |
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1st runner up MR LEO NIGERIA
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According to him, the Youth Exchange would feature the visit to the Parliamentary House, Regional Minister, Ambassador of Nigeria to Ghana, media houses, interactive sessions, media exchange and to crown it up: A SUPRISE Bash for MTV Base/Multiple Award winner & a role model for the youth' Tuface Innocent Idibia on September 18th 2008 a Trio initiative of My Funky birthdays, Creative5World& Leo Club District404B.
Eni Balogun (Lise), Dele Momodu (Ovation), Deolu Adeboye (wisemen) Femi Aderibigbe (Nigezie) &Uche Okonkwo (CNBC) has been contacted to deliver a presentation on “art of entertaining to empower”. Over 13 Leo club in Ghana, Leos and Lions from Nigeria would be present attest Leo Kunle Akinremi DC International Relations.Ghanian artistes such as batman,tinny,vip& a host of others have been invited with a special rendition of "yanga dem& tuface hit track" by OSHO*A Quo vadis act & Miss Telecom Nigeria.
Today on STV, STV&Rhythm93.7fm, CNBC Africa, Nigeria Telecom news weekly.
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Nigeria Ambassador to Cuba, Lion Sen. (Amb.) Segun Bamigbetan Baju has endorsed the event.

Anonymous said...

The best interview from nollywood, good job from both sides. Very articulate, mature and straight foward. Emeka Ike should learn something from him. I love me some RAMSEY NOUAH:)
Mia.

Dith said...

i usually dont care 4 all these naija interviews but i just love me some Ramsey Nouah. d guy is just bloody honest! and who still says half caste in this day and age??

Dith said...

OH! and something he said that stood out 2 me was d bit about Nollywood directors not naming their movies b4 it comes out....UM ARE U KIDDIN ME????? NO BLOODY WONDER!!!! there goes d answer 2 d question ive had all this while.

And I thot i was going crazy. i would go 2 d african stores 2 rent a movie and see d same movie with 3 different names??? and it jst throws me off all the d time.
i vividly remember one called "slave 4 lust" and then it was also re-named "a woman's honor" or sum ish like that. d movie was good by d way.

BUT seriously tho, which kain yeye marketing strategy be that one?? is it 2 trick us into buying *ahem* renting d movie 2ce or what??
so if ur tryin 2 recommend a good movie 2 someone...what d heck r u goin 2 call it????
BIG NO SIR 2 THAT ONE ABEG!

Truthfully speaking, naija movies r falling my hand these days men. they just dont it 4 me anymore as in rubbish after rubbish after rubbish but i still love some stuff with d pioneers in the game sha like RAMSEY.

Anonymous said...

half cast is not any better than mixed blood (Ramsey's statement).

I don't get the mixed blood thing. The one thing that differentiates a white person from a black person is melanin and not blood. We are all mixed blood because we are from two different people (mom & dad).

I think multiracial/biracial is the most political correct saying.

Anonymous said...

actually multiracial/biracial is also not correct cos there is only one race ... the human race.
Maybe mixed ethnicity ... even that sef ..

Anonymous said...

For now, the PC choice of words is bi-racial or multi-racial, what is mixed ethnicity? It does not tell you anything about the racial make-up of a person, and yes there are people for whom it is important to acknowledge all their racial heritage.
That itself is by the way, people still use half caste and a lot of people do not find it offensive. Do not be deceived that simply because you now live abroad or have access to the outside world, that everyone is PC. It does not have a negative connotation to it in Nigeria, it just describes the person.
The interview did nothing for me except that Ramsey did not go OP as a lot of them do.

Nigerican said...

lol @ is it true u r a wife beater... What if Ramsey had said " y yes Mr. interviewer, i think of it as more of a sport rather than domestic abuse"... lmao, just kidding, i'm glad he isn't a wife beater :). Nice one Bell.

Jennifer A. said...

He's very honest...

He was my favorite Nigerian actor when I was still in high school...for some reason, I dare say he still is...

LOL.

Jennifer A. said...

I think you should also take Dimeji Alara's points very well...he has good points about interviewing and will take your next interview to greater heights.

Lovely interview...

Cheers Bella...

ababoypart2 said...

I love it when publicity seeking folks all of a sudden want their privacy back. Don't know much about this dude so my comment is strictly focussed on him.

Anonymous said...

9ice one Bella.

Anonymous said...

Sadly, Ramsey Nouah is one of my least favourite actors. He just does not do it for me. I find his acting too dull and boring. His expressions are almost predictable in every movie. At least he's better than that Emeka Lad. Can someone please tell me why Emeka looks dirty in all his movies? He needs a crush course on grooming!
Bon nuit folks

Anonymous said...

Since when did he have MiddleEastern heritage? This is new to me!!!!

Anonymous said...

uhh, excuse me. Why all the praise on he gave such an "honest" response. The content of his answers are valid, but puh lease! This guy could use some training on public speaking!! First off, my impression from the interview showed NO PASSION for acting. He seems satisfied with his current state, like he has no further ambitions or goals or targets, coz he is already acting. Secondly, who "sells" themselves that way?? what ever happened to image preservation? Why would he downright X himself on being a leader? There are more subtle ways of saying that you may not be the best-fit for such a position. And no, this has nothing to do with being or not being honest. Ur words will hold against you. If Arnold Schwarz* had said smth similar and later in his life decided to run for Governor??
In conclusion, I had expected more from him, but I have to say he came off rather mediocre. "What do you besides acting? Nothing" - seriously?? no hobbies?? Again, a course in public speaking would do good, he could have said smth like he loves spending his free time with his family... kids... friends... - which wouldn't be a lie.
Damn!! and he is one of my fav actors...

Anonymous said...

oh, and like naija_bunny said, I actually visit ur blog like a mag, I think u could personalize it a lot more. That would be great! Share your deep-thought comments on e.g. this interview and not just copy-paste it. It's great to hear ur travel stories though! ;) Pls keep feeding us all the gist!

Anonymous said...

luvly piece but did whoever write it have to label him as halfcast just becos he is of mixed blood. That is a term i find offensive, mixed race/ blood/ origin etc will do nicely.

Anonymous said...

In Nigeria the term half cast in not derogatory and for most of us if we hadn't lived in Yankee or Jand for a while we wouldn't be so sensitive to it. Personally I think focusing on terms makes us see the bad and forget the big picture :)

Remi Fagbohun said...

@ Everyone with comments about what Bella should or shouldn't be on her blog... since this is Bella's blog, doesn't she have the right to discuss what she wants?? This might not necessarily be the place she wants to pour her heart out and have true confessions! It's her blog...so be it celebrity news, or news about her toe-nails(LOL) its her call!!!
Create your own blog for inner most thoughts...

Just my opinion...and as we all know, everyone has got one!

Anonymous said...

@anon 4:16am- Well said. I couldn't agree more with your comments. Ramsey shud not sell himself short. What does he mean he can't lead?....What a lame comment. He is so boring.....

Anonymous said...

What can I say, I drop my head in shame & hide the fact I am Nigerian. I got my education from Nigeria and if this is the best we can do it really is a shame.

The interview is all wrong, written in the worst language (sorry just remembered, it was actually written in English) style I have ever seen, how this made it's way into a national newspaper of any country baffles me.

What makes this even worse is comments from people here saying "this is the best interview and well done". Seems we definitely must be reading different interviews. I can image doing an interview with Tom Cruise and going, "so Tom, is it true you beat you wife for sport?"

Hello people....

PLEASE HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME IF THIS IS WHAT NIGERIANS ARE ABLE PRODUCE.