Vanity Fair interview with Daniel McVicar
Posted on February 9, 2011
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Daniel McVicar: Castaway to survive
The original Clarke Garrison from “The Bold and The Beautiful” has found love and a new life in Italy. A month ago he has experienced an immense pain: the loss of his son, Hank. Nevertheless he decided to join the italian version of “Celebrity Survivor”. He explains why.
The right words have not yet been invented. The words to speak about the death of a 22 years old son in a car accident, because that day it rained too much in Los Angeles, and the car, instead of keeping the road, crashed into a pole. The words to explain that “a sword has pierced your soul”, would say Luke the Evangelist. So, for the worst task for a father, the task of giving a proper burial to his eldest son Thomas Henry “Hank”, an engineer passionate about hip hop, Daniel McVicar has chosen the speech that Robert Kennedy delivered for the death of Martin Luther King.
Impressive in his gray turtleneck, with dark circles caused by long weeping, the man takes his Iphone and reads: “Even in our sleep, the pain that can not forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our despair, against our will, comes the wisdom through the awful grace of God”.
January 3, 2011. Three weeks after “that” date, a father feels obliged to explain to a journalist why in a few days he will put in stand-by his mourning and start, along with the other competitors, the new edition of “Celebrity Survivor”. This is a great gift. “Gift” is a word that McVicar pronounced several times, managing to hold back the tears.
I was in Italy, in Turin, where I live with my fiancée (Virginia De Agostini, met during the reality “Nights on Ice”in 2007). I got a call from my daughter Maisy, who is 20 years old and studies in New York, but in that period she was in Los Angeles for holydays. I immediately took the plane.
He was a good man. He had a degree in engineering management but he also wrote Hip Hop songs. It has been a gift to be his father. I know that he’d rather be here with us, but obviously this was not God’s plan.
Are you a believer?
Yes, I am a Catholic, although I don’t go to church every day like my mother does. I believe that we are not only our bodies, we also have a spiritual side.
Catholics are a minority in the U.S.
I am the fourth of 12 brothers, 7 males end 5 females. To make 12 children, my parents have to be catholics.
How is it to live in an home with 12 children?
We have grown in Colorado, in a town with 5000 inhabitants where my parents still live. My father expanded the house as we increase. Meals were buffet:everybody waited by himself.
How many bedrooms did you have?
Six. We were 3 or 4 in each room, until 20 yrs I’ve never slept alone. My family had a tradition: every time a child was born, we gather in the living room where my mother did pass the newborn from the eldest brother to the youngest.
The typical American happy family.
Yes. But now, I share something else with my father. The name Thomas Henry McVicar, was not only the name of my son, it was also the name of my father and my eldest brother, Tommy, who died in a car accident at age 17. During Hank’s funeral, my father, who is 79, told me: “Now I’ve lost two Thomas Henrys”.
Why did you decide to do “Celebrity Survivor”?
Negotiations were closed in December. I had spoken about it with my children and they liked the American version of the show. I took them camping in Sierra Nevada from early age. It has always been important to me to share this type of experience, an almost primitive experience.
So, you are following the advice of Hank?
After the accident, Giorgio Gori sent me a SMS where he told me to be quiet and reflect. My daughter told me : “Go Dad, go!”. And you know the truth? “Survivor” is saving me.
How?
I go there to survive day after day. The important thing for me is the game, not the fights. I also know it can be dangerous for me, because I’m full of emotions. But I will try not to be heavy. Of course, I’m living a deep mourning and I will try to keep it inside of me, but I want to do that with dignity. “Celebrity Survivor” can be a noble game and I have the courage to challenge myself .
So, “Survivor” like a therapy?
This is not therapy, it is a game. Therapy is something else.
Don’t you fear that your grief may be exploited during the show?
It’s a risk. But my grief is too true to be exploited. It is not an argument about getting enough rice, or about who should cook.
Are you ready for the tough life in Honduras?
I’ve read the U.S. Army Survival Manual.
This is not your first Reality in Italy. You were in the cast of “Nights on Ice” in 2007, a show that changed your life.
During that show I met Virginia, who was my “maestra”. At the time she did not know that she would have found this “monster” on her way. She was a great gift for me. When she was young she was a skating champion, now she is an international judge and works as a dentist in Turin. We’ve trained together 12 hours a day and we fell in love. Since then we have not looked back.
So you’ve decided to move to Italy.
In fact I still have an home and base in Los Angeles, but our life together is in Turin, where she works. I also have a branch of my company, Magmawave Media: we deal with video and TV production.
You are a member of Mensa, the club of the smartest people on Earth. Why didn’t you choose to be a scientist?
I decided to become an actor when I was 15 beacause I had a great need to communicate. At first I always used to play a soldier due to the typical american square-jaw. Then came “The Bold and the Beautiful”.
Is it true that you don’t like to talk about Clarke Garrison, your character in “The Bold and the Beautiful”?
I owe a lot to “The Bold and the Beautiful”, but now I have a different life. The cast and the crew continues to be my family: to be close to me during Hank’s funeral they have closed the studio, which cost more than an arrangement of flowers.
At the end, do you want to win “ Celebrity Survivors”?
I just want to listen to my children: “Dad, stay cool”, because I tend to command a little bit. Maybe they will call me “General Dan” but I will be a kind general, because I will not be alone: an angel will guide me.
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Sito Italiano
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Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will always bookmark your blog and will come back in the future. I want to encourage one to continue your great posts, have a nice afternoon!
Dear Daniel,
Hi, my name is Erica Savazzi, 30 years old, italian but live in Amsterdam. Keep going on, your doing your great best on l’ isola dei famosi, it was so emotional dear Daniel when
You found that little Teddy bear on the island.
Dear Dan, keep going on your doing GREAT!
Your Italian fan from Amsterdam!
X big hug and take care! X
Danny,
I am so sorry to hear about Hank. I wait for your Mom’s letter every year. I haven’t heard from her this year… maybe last year too… and I got worried. I goggled your dad’s name and found out Tom passed away in September. I will get a card off to your mom soon.
I know how much all of her grandchildren meant to your folks. I have eleven grandchildren now and would be beyond words if I lost one of them. I followed Hank’s doings through your Mom’s yearly poems…he was quite a young man and one you should be very proud of. I’ve followed your career as well…you told me once that the play I took you to in Denver was the first play you saw and the beginning of something special.
Just in case you are trying to figure out who I am…I was your teacher in history in the 8th grade. I had Mark and Kathy in class as well as Maureen. I remember the day Tommy was killed distinctly. Your mom took care of my kids and when I went to pick them up the front room was missing the laundry that was usually folded and stacked there. Your dad was pacing back and forth. He has been my image of a grief too deep for tears.
I will put you and yours in my prayers…Take care of yourself.
Julie JG