Ghanaian Actor, Majid Michel Shares on Daughters, Marriage & More in New Interview

In an interview with Encomium, the star Ghanaian actor and dad of two girls, Kiera and Zara, who has been married for over 10 years, gushed about his wife, Virna, and shared on his daughters, background, late mum, Mrs. Paulina Olympio, and more. See excerpts:

On his background

“I grew up with 10 siblings, we were 11 and one died. So, I grew up with 10 of them, six boys and four girls.

I am the last born. I would say my future was purely based on how I grew up. It was movies after movies, books after books, music after music, entertainment after entertainment and there was nothing else to do at home. Basically, it was a big entertainment family, that’s how I turned out to be an actor.”

On his late mom

“I was the closest to my mom. After my dad died, she never remarried. All my siblings were  abroad and I was here with my sister who was in secondary school. I was with my mom throughout. I spent most of my time with her everywhere she went, I was very close to my mom.

I went to a film school and she paid my fees.  She paid all my school fees during film school and gave me the necessary support and encouragement I needed to make it out there.”

On his daughters

“I have two beautiful daughters; Keira and Zara. The first born said she wants to be a film director not an actor (laughs) She’s done a couple of advertisements and I’m sure she admires what the director does on set (laughs). Probably, it’s because of what she saw on set. She might change her mind.”

On building a successful marriage

“I always hear people saying  there is not enough time. I believe there is always time, you just have to get your priorities right. Put the most important things first and there will always be time. That depends on your values. If you value your car, you will service it every month, and if you value your marriage you will do things that will keep it going. If you value your family, you would do things that will keep your family together, but it depends on where your values are. So, you have to redefine your values by doing exactly what is most important.

You need information about marriage. You need to take a test on marriage. Marriage is the only institution you get your certificate before the test. You need information before you get into marriage. Love does not keep a marriage; divorced people will tell you that. What happens to; I love you, but we used to be in love. Love does not keep a marriage and sex is not a glue. Love and sex never keep a marriage. It is knowledge and understanding. You need to know about marriage, you tell a girl or a guy I love you, but do you love marriage? They’re two different things. If a guy tells you I love you, and when you tell him let’s get married, he is running away, because love and marriage are different. Marriage is an institution, telling somebody a vow is not a marriage. It is a building that both of you are going to be in. The key element is knowledge, because knowledge is information and you need to have lots of information about marriage, then you understand these information, you comprehend them and you tell yourself; I am ready to do it. Not because I love her, but because I am ready to help her achieve her dreams. I’m ready to make our dreams come true with her. She is your help to accomplish your purpose. We stop making babies and grownups believe the first thing you need is a girlfriend or a boyfriend. That is not what you need…”

On his wife

“My wife is the only reason I am Majid Michel. My wife is responsible for me being Majid Michel. She is the reason I’m Majid Michel. I mean, apart from God, second to God physically, if she never supported me or never understood my job, there’s no way I could have made it.”