wasn’t in the plan, as it isn’t even in the original, but can be considered my modest addition to this story. It was a wonderful journey to a time where I perhaps belong even more than the present. We lost ourselves in striving to advance, in making everything small- er, simpler and more invisible. Do you get the feeling that reality is becoming intangible? Photos are in the “clouds”, book pages are in folders, emotions are in emoticons. It exhausts me that you can no longer feel anything under your fingers. Roles like this remind one of how much more real life used to be. How does this version of the story of the fa- mous detective differ? - In order to avoid shooting a simple remake, it’s necessary to bring something new to the story. I think the authors did an excellent job with this ver- sion. They relocated Spade out of an environment in which we’d expect to find him to a completely different time and geographical space compared to the original story. Sam now finds himself at a later stage of his ca- reer, when things are slowly becoming routine. It still has that same noir atmosphere, but is this time set in France, where our hero comes to find a new home and a slightly altered life dynamic. As soon as you set the plot in the south of France, you get a new Spade. Of course, here he also finds a murder that he has to solve, so we soon see him in his classic daily routine, though coloured with some new tones. That was very refreshing for me. What was the biggest challenge you faced working on this role? - I learned French. The story is set in France, so it was clear to me from the outset that I’d have to use those few months prior to the start of filming to mas- ter the language to the extent to which my pronuncia- tion would become natural. Those are some little things that I always stick to as an actor. My performance has to be believable. My goal is for it to feel natural to the audience watching me. Offering any less than that is unacceptable if you’re a professional. With the script we received from the screenwriter, who stuck fully to Dashiell Hammett’s writing style, that was easy and
inspiring. All I had to do was to get a good teacher and do it in perfect French where required. Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from the script? - There were so many that it’s hard to say that I have a favourite. Hammett was a great writer, so his entire work is one great list of dialogue that refines you, primarily by imagining into existence a wonderful world that existed not so long ago, and which there’s no trace of today. Is there at least some scene that you’ll for- ever remember? - I believe there’s a scene that the audience will re- member. That is, of course, the shot of my bare bot- tom in the first episode with which we open the series (laughs). Well, that was a real acting challenge. When I saw that part in the script, I immediately told the director that I understood why that scene had to be part of the story, and that I was fine with filming it, though I requested that they do it tastefully. And then I went straight to the gym, because I was aware that when that shot reaches the audience, it really has to offer them what they came for (laughs).
Za razliku od kolega koje u sličnoj situaciji pokušavaju da pobegnu od originala, ja sam se potrudio da ga maksimalno prigrlim. Zašto bih bežao od nekoga ko je posao već uradio savršeno? In contrast to fellow actors who, in similar situations, try to distance themselves from the original, I tried to embrace it to the max. Why would I distance myself from someone who’s already done a perfect job?
Interview » Intervju | 29
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator