By Janet Silvera, Freelance Writer
Campbell
WESTERN BUREAU:
In his early years, actor Paul Campbell was considered nomadic, because of his hunger for knowledge and his need to discover.
He ended up spending 10 years in England, 16 months in France, a short time in Switzerland and his most recent sojourn in New York.
The Jamaican-born artiste could have spent his days under a tree smoking ganja at Potters Row, downtown Kingston, next door to the General Penitentiary, like the part he played in The Lunatic, had he not carved out his future at the tender age of five.
From then, he knew he wanted to be an actor wearing fabulous clothes and having the success and appeal of a Kirk Douglas.
And he gives a lot of credit to his mother, a woman who went to the cinemas regularly, but never without her handbag and her son, Paul.
In describing his mother as a chameleon, he said she "would make faces and change her voice whenever she wanted to."
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London, Paul has a classical theatre background and, as a gifted writer and producer, he consistently delivers performances of a high quality.
The talented father of three sons, Julian St. Christopher, 13; Julian Sebastian, 8, and Elyjah St. Aubyn, 15 months old, says any place to which he attaches himself must remind him of Jamaica.
He is now the director of programming for Link up Television in New York and hosts an entertainment programme called Q.Ce, Quality Caribbean entertainment, a pot pourri of Caribbean culture, through food, music and life.
Unwinding
The actor is best known for his roles in Third World Cop, Dancehall Queen, and The Lunatic. His latest flick is Fire an action-packed thriller, currently in cinemas.
His favourite place to unwind on a weekend is Discovery Bay, the northcoast town where Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica in 1494.
FRIDAY
Accommodation: "When I want to disappear I go to Surfside Villa in Discovery Bay. It's like a fantasy island and as if you are not in Jamaica, because there is never anybody else around.
"It's right by the sea and the sea appears as if it has not been discovered. Coral reefs have unusual shapes and shades and you can get lost in a sort of transient level. It rejuvenates my thinking cap.
"It is total heaven. There is a manservant around, but I do my own cooking."
Entertainment: "In the evening I get all comfortable and take a ride into Ocho Rios into the civilised bangarang, leaving the crickets behind in their symphony. I usually stop at Little Pub. Although it is very 'touristy' in it's aim, it provides for me a true Jamaican touch because of the folk songs.
"Imagine living in a country like Jamaica and having to go to the tourist resorts to be reminded of our heritage... it's kinda rough. The food at Little Pub is fantastic, the staff friendly and they do a fabulous cabaret show."
Midnight: "I hang out and watch the stars, while lying on a stone by the seaside at the villa. It appears as if all the stars in Jamaica stop here."
SATURDAY
Breakfast: "I turn on the radio to some wicked Irie FM... even the sound bites are wicked. I make my own breakfast of callaloo, salt fish, bananas with hardough bread and strictly Blue Mountain coffee.
"After breakfast I usually paint. I am a surrealist (McGritte and Salvadore Dali are surrealists). I sometimes find myself working until the late afternoon."
Lunch: "Aunt May's is a quaint little restaurant just before getting into Discovery Bay. This place is also by the sea. The water creates a totally different mood than at the villa.
"Aunt May is a true Jamaican woman. Whenever she sees me she says: 'See the man yah wha like the plantain Marcia, fry two fi him'.
"She serves curried goat, rice and peas, oxtail, stew peas, ackee and saltfish, fish anyway you want it. Carrot juice with milk or ginger... most times June plum juice."
Night out : "The Roof Club on the Reggae Strip is where you find real people, not necessarily the ones in the hotels that are constantly smiling. The air is permeated with a sweet stench; it's almost animalistic. There are times that you feel you need this type of intrusion. And the music is just like the people -- raw and uncut. I never usually leave until I can see the face of the woman I am dancing with, at the crack of dawn that is."
Attractions: "Girls A Go-Go is a go-go club and the dancers are professional. After all all stages do have not got to be built in Carnegie Hall. They all look as if they are in preparation for the Olympics. It's always jumping and there are big pepper light bulbs that have been forgotten since the last Christmas".
SUNDAY
Shopping: "I have breakfast on the road, stopping at all the pit stops, including fruit stalls. I stop at Faith's Pen and usually all the sellers want me to buy at their place. So I sometimes patronise three different vendors, so as not to make anyone feel left out. Then it is on to Bog Walk for navel oranges and just before Flat Bridge mangoes, naseberries or guineps depending on what's in season."
