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MAJČINSKA BRIGA Na primer, jednom u kafani Amerikanac u Nišu. Tamo je mom društvu i meni, kad smo posle predstave u toj kafani ostali do jutra, jedna Dragica sabajle skuvala čorbu da ne bismo jeli suvu hranu. U tome sam osetio majčinsku brigu. MOTHERS CARE For example, once in the “Amerikanac” tavern in Niš. There for my friends and I, when we stayed until morning after a perfor- mance in that kafana, one Dragica cooked us a thick soup be- fore dawn so we wouldn’t eat dry food. I felt my mother’s care in that act.
The Ray of Microcosm, the poem by Peter II Petrović-Njegoš. Since February I’ve also been performing the role of Ahmed in the play Hasanaginica at the National Theatre in Belgrade, which was previously performed by the bard Predrag Ejdus. I DIDN’T WANT TO SELL ROTTEN TOMATOES I didn’t wish to leave a permanent en- gagement in theatres. But I didn’t want to sell rotten tomatoes. That would be like go- ing to a show with a girlfriend I love the most only to break up with her there. I was the rst of the actors of the Atelje 212 ensemble to halt a performance of the show “Men’s Things”, because there was no water for that theatre when I was showering. I’m not a prostitute to strip bear! And there was no water anywhere on the stage sever- al times. My tolerance threshold is perhaps small, but it’s high. I had no regrets. The old- er I become, the more I care about the the- atre. People who don’t treat their profession as a host, but rather use it as a market stall, are traitors to their own professional being. Picasso was a Mediterranean peasant, that’s also how he described himself. But he was an artistic genius regardless of being criticised for his frequent love adventures. What does his character have to do with his great talent?! So, I also have principles, and they have a price. Njegoš says:‘fruit is heavy, but the yield is sweet’. I slickly refused an en- gagement on a popular lm with great ac- tors, because I was then playing Alyosha in the series ‘The Brothers Karamazovi’, and I also let my hair grow long for that charac- ter. Some criticised me for that decision, not understanding it. I listened to my intuition. I was urged by Bata Živojinović to act in the lm Walter Defends Sarajevo, and he would also persuade the director, but I didn’t give him that. I didn’t want to take roles that oth- er actors desired. I mourn the departures of some peo- ple. There’s always room for a role, and I don’t mourn any of those that I didn’t play. The roles nd me. I choose to play what ful ls me, not to say what makes me happy. What happiness; what is that?!“Happiness is real- ly unknown to man, of what is true bliss for which he eternally Wlongs. He never knows the measure and boundaries. The nearer to glory’s summit he climbs, more the top of the glory climbs, the greater foe of happi- ness he is. Our present earth, mother of mil- lions, cannot one son crown with bliss” [ex- cerpt from The Ray of Microcosm by Peter II Petrović-Njegoš]. Happiness exists only in advertisements; in products for combatting heartburn, for slim cruves or to counter digestive diculties.
brother ended up in an orphanage, because our mother died of tuberculosis. I remember how weak she was, consumed by sickness, lying in bed. On the other hand, my uncle was Veljko Vlahović, the celebrated war he- ro. Such a set of circumstances was like the plot of a lm... My mother had eight brothers. When they found one brother dead on the Syrmian Front, she fainted and fell pregnant withmeinherstomach.That’swhyIclaimI’m crazy, that I use jokes to twist harsh reality.
MY AUNT VIDA’S RULES OF LIFE
guage and literature at the Belgrade Faculty of Philology, prior to enrolling in acting stud- ies. And I was told in that department that, although I was an excellent student with the predisposition to become an assistant profes- sor, I was born to do something else. I never regretted opting for acting. I’m a monk of act- ing. God gave me a talent to serve the peo- ple through acting, and not to plaster myself on the front pages and act self-important. I DIRECTED A DRAMATIC PAUSE FOR THE ENTRANCE EXAM I passed the entrance exam for acting studies as the last of around 400 candidates. Back then that wasn’t a joke, like it is now, when enrolment can be paid for with mon- ey through connections. I was sitting on the steps in the corridor of the college when sec- retary Koča called my name as being among the shortlisted candidates. I directed that mo- ment, because I remained silent when I heard my name. It was only when I’d counted to ten internally that I spoke up to tell them that I was there. And I deliberately did that only then, in order to draw attention to myself. I now perform the monodrama “One man tells me”, written by academic Matija Bećković, on various stages. I also have occa- sional appearances with a monologue from
She raised me when I was left without a mother and my father was a prisoner. She taught me the rules of life: never lie, don’t steal and don’t gossip! Vida’s upbringing cost me a lot in my life. That’s like the categorical im- perative attributed to philosopher Emmanuel Kant. And why don’t they mention the clev- erness of Marko Miljanov to know what her- oism and humanity are? When I became an actor, Vida said to me in jest: hero! She had ve brothers, never married, and cared for her brothers’children.
OWNER OF FOUR GRADE BOOKS
I rst studied those lessons for a year each. My uncle wanted me to be a profession- al soldier, while my father was a pre-war law- yer, but I didn’t want to be either of those. In the lecture hall of the Law Faculty there were too many people for my liking, so I quickly abandonedthosestudies.WhenIbroughtmy father the student grade books of the Facul- ty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Dramat- ic Arts, he looked at the second grade book withcontempt.The rsttimepeopletoldhim that they’d seen his son performing on the big screen, he changed his attitude forever and was proud of me. I achieved the status of an advanced uni- versity student in studies of the Italian lan-
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