of a Serbian family in Kosovo... “It was a great pleasure to work on this film – es- pecially because it was my first role in my mother ton- gue, and because I was working with Milić and the won- derful actor with the greatest heart, Slavko Štimac. It was very touching to have the premiere at the FEST film festival in Belgrade.” You played your first roles at the Royal Danish Theatre, becoming a member of that prestig- ious theatre following graduation. It all start- ed with Shakespeare… is theatre still impor- tant to you? “I think theatre is the basis of the craft. I miss it extremely. I haven’t done theatre over the last few ye- ars, but I miss and long for that expressivity and the way theatre connects us with the audience and the mo- ment. There is a direct connection to your audience that I adore.” You have become Netflix's favourite actress: The Mist, Equinox, The Chestnut man... Does the road lead to Hollywood? “Maybe, let’s see…” What will we watch you performing in soon; do directors from this part of the world call you? “I’ve been so lucky and grateful to act in Murina, directed by the talented Antoneta Kusijanović, which was an incredible experience filming on the paradisi- cal Croatian islands. I recently finished shooting for Senad Šahmanović’s first film, Sirin, in Montenegro. This was also a great experience, and I hope there will be more such opportunities. There are very important stories from the Balkans waiting to be told, and there is incredible film talent, both behind and in front of camera, that inspires me a lot.” You’ve been living in Denmark for more than 30 years. Are your Serbian roots still strong or have you already become a real Dane? How hard was it to act as if Danish is your moth- er tongue? “Well, I consider myself both Danish and Serbian. I don’t feel like a foreigner in Denmark, it’s almost my mother tongue as well, but my Serbian roots are defini- tely strong and very important to me. It’s what conne- cts me to my family. I grew up speaking Serbian and with the culture in my home.” Where would you take us in Copenhagen, what shouldn’t we miss in the Danish capital? “That is hard to choose, because there are many wonderful places to visit in the beautiful Copenhagen. But one thing that I feel has exploded, and is expan- ding incredibly, is Danish cuisine. We have an amazing variety of restaurants, of new Nordic cuisine (of cour- se, with the famous Noma at the absolute forefront). The other day I tried the vegan and plant-based re- staurant ARK, which is the first to receive a green Mi- chelin star in the Nordics. I would definitely recom- mend going there.”
sidered the happiest in the world? “Maybe a counterweight is needed [laughter]. I’ve wondered about the same thing. Maybe because Den- mark is such a safe country that there’s a desire and need to explore the dark sides of human nature.” The series was filmed in the true spirit of Nor- dic noir – with a scary atmosphere even when nothing’s happening. What makes Scandina- vians the masters of this genre, whether it comes to cinematography or literature? “I think it’s a mix of great talent, high quality pro- duction value, great storytelling and, of course, the grey Scandinavian settings that are perfect for crime scenes.” Was it difficult to act in a story that includes so much child abuse and also questions the role of the mother in a family? “It was definitely a provocative theme - the fact that we, again and again, see women being killed and violated on screen. Why the need for this in enterta- inment? I have wondered a lot about that. Of course, it evokes deep empathy when we see children and wo- men suffering, and it does reflect on a sad and horrific reality. I tried to use this resentment towards the vio- lators as my driving force for the character – the want and need to change this.” Your character is also a mother who faces the dilemma of the modern world: work or home. Does that leave a mark on an actor's soul? “I wish it wasn’t a dilemma of the modern wor- ld anymore: for a woman to choose between being a mother or having a career. With Naja, I tried to re- move the “mother-guilt” as much as I could. She is trying to do her job the best she can, while trying to be the best mother she can – without feeling guil- ty about it. Another question that I think the series also poses is where is the father in all this? Why is he not present?” Your heroine tried to hide all her feminine qualities – without a hairstyle or makeup, wearing clothes two sizes too big etc. Why is that? “Well, I think we have differing views of feminini- ty [laughter]. For me, it was important to be as natu- ral as possible, to let the storyline be to the fore. May- be my personal view of femininity is more of a raw and relaxed character. She also needed to be as practical as possible, and able to move quickly in her clothes. She is dealing with criminals, and crime scenes.” It seems that you don’t avoid very difficult topics, one of which is certainly in the film Darkling, which deals with the family drama
Postoji mnogo sjajnih mesta u prelepom Kopenhagenu, ali bih svakako preporučila novu nordijsku kuhinju There are many wonderful places to visit in the beautiful Copenhagen,
but one thing that I have to recommend is new Nordic cuisine
26 | Intervju » Interview
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator