I learned how much he’d praised me when I was a novice, arguing over me when some- one attacked me, defending me as talented and someone who would be a great actor and not an acting “beauty”. I know his hu- man virtues; I would never allow a word to be spoken against him. Dragan didn’t have the misfortune of the role of Prle in Writ- ten-o making it di cult for him to secure new engagements, on the contrary – they scrambled for him. We also performed to- gether in the play Posetilac [Visitor] at Atel- je 212, where he played the psychoanalyst Freud who comes to meet God, who I was interpreting. I joked that they gave Gagi that role, as a pretty Freud, because only I’m God. I’LL ACT AS LONG AS SOMEONE WANTS ME TO When I was a boy of ten I fell from a tree and my spleen split. My loved ones feared that I wouldn’t survive. The doctor comforted my mother by telling her that there were cases of some people surviving without a spleen for over 30 years. So I believed that I would reach the limit of my life and work at the age of around 40. And I’ve so far been blessed with almost double that. I’ll act as long as someone needs me to. Due to nine months of shoot- ing a role in aTV series, I turned down around ten theatre roles irrevocably. I’m sorry about that. Perhaps someday I won’t be in a posi- tion to choose. I’ve always advocated for the idea that an actor should choose what they perform. Actors are always on the windswept acting market. Destiny plays its part in the se- lection of roles and who becomes an actor. No one is to blame for what someone was meant to act. Or not... MARRIAGE AS A PRIVILEGE Me and Milica Mihajlović, my wife and ac- tress, talk together like colleagues on the job. Sometimeswedon’tdiscussallthedetails.We are very strict and precise with each other in our work. Lwe attend each other’s premieres. Milica“pulls me up”when I doubt my work. I spare her my criticism less than she does me. It is a privilege to have such a relationship. Our son Relja (16) isn’t interested in act- ing. I believe that’s his good fortune. He’s fo- cused on rock‘n’roll. I sometimes consult with him regarding some role. He has good taste. He doesn’t indulge me. Along with Relja, both my son Vukota and daughter Iskra always had the burden of attending my premieres. Relja is at the age when he spends a lot of time on a computer. I don’t know if he’d go to the theatre if it wasn’t part of his life. I’m not a strict father. The question I have no an- swer to is what I learned from my children. I haven’t had and don’t have enough time for my children. My granddaughter is some- thing wonderful in my life.
er of the theatre and my own strength on stage, because my professors of life were in the theatre. Like Ognjenka Milićević, in whose class I gradu- ated. My generation viewed the National Thea- tre as a conservative can. The JDP and Atelje 212
Zvezdara Theatre, back when that theatrical address rst opened. I inscribed my acting sta- tus at JDP until my retirement. At one point I was also the JDP’s acting director.
POPULARITY WITH AN EMPTY PLATE
brought the spirit of the new age. PARTISAN SONGS AGAINST STAGE FRIGHT
My popularity began at the same time as my most di cult existential situation in the mid 1970s. I played the character Tihi in the TV series Otpisani [Written-o ], which had huge viewing gures because there was only one national TV channel. I couldn’t feed
My father was Montenegrin and mother was from Valjevo. My father was condemned by the Informbiro despite having been, like my moth- er, an anti-fascist ghter in World War II. My par-
myself, because I spent my roy- alties from the series. The role of Tihi simply happened to me; I didn’t have a great se- lection roles to choose at the time. Prior to the start of lm- ing, I couldn’t even have dreamt how much the audience would fall in love with it. After lming I was helped out by my friend’s mother, as she prepared meals for me, and I slept in an attic on Hadži Milentijeva Street. I didn’t feed myself with popu- larity, although I received over 200 letters a day from the au- dience, some of which I even opened. I believed that was a win for acting. When I was in-
ents met as revolutionaries in the Partisan unit for the liberation of Belgrade, where I was born. Back then they were something that we now call ‘young rockers’. They de- sired some new world. As a boy, my mother took me to recite partisan songs at ceremonies in local com- munitiesinValjevo,whereIgrewup. In my recitation of these poems she wanted to show loyalty to the party andthestate.That’showIfreedmy- self of stage fright at an early age. However, stage fright is born of an increased sense of responsibility; it is a healthy sense when measured. DID WE DISGRACE OURSELVES?
The theatre has been the site of the greatest acting freedom since time immemorial U sva vremena teatar je bio mesto najveće glumačke slobode
troduced to one bard of acting as a young actor, he said – Who is this? Never heard of him! He wanted to bring me back down to earth.Thatroledidn’tgivemewings,butrath- er closed all doors to new roles for me for a while. And in the theatres I also sudden- ly found they didn’t propose new roles for
Theatre premieres are always unjust, due to the increased charge of feelings of insecurity.Then an actor doesn’t feel the satisfaction of conquering the audience, like a precious drop of water in his hand. Theatre director Slobodan Unkovski used to say that preparing a play was like a big plane that’s taken o . And you never know where and how it will land. One doesn’t need to be a hun- dred per cent self-con dent in work; it is neces- sary to be reserved towards everything. Only lat- er does an actor feel that they’ve conquered the craft. It even happens to me today after the pre- miere of a play I consider that I’ve performed my worst role to date. It’s hard for me to leave the dressing room and I always ask my colleagues: Did we disgrace ourselves?
me after the success of Tihi. MIRKO, WATCH OUT FOR THE BULLET
Shooting 26 episodes of that series last- ed about 3.5 years, under the production of Radio-Television Belgrade. And that meant extremely high quality work, superb techni- cal aspects on stage, pyrotechnics, shooting conditions, great music. RTB is a solid team of professionals. That story portrayed the vic- tory of youth and good against evil. It wasn’t ideologically tainted. One line from the se- ries:“Mirko, watch out for the bullet”, was re- peated in mockery among the nation. But the fact is that the Written-o were like lo- cal cowboys and Indians, in which the most positive characters win. GAGA AND I The two of us were like a single soul, no rivalry ever existed. We were completely dif- ferent people who genuinely loved and re- spected one another. Towards the end of Ga- gi’s life, 30 years after the lming of the series,
WHEN AN ACTOR’S SHIRT IS TOO TIGHT
There are scenes on TV and in lm where we act fragmented, separated by changes in lenses and technological needs. There are no introduc- tions, no plot, no unravelling... For most actors, my- self included, their soul is mostly in theatre. There are great world lm actors, but most of them start- ed on the theatre stage. All roles outside the the- atre are like tight shirts that an actor wants to tear in order to regain their freedom on those boards. It is on them boards that pleasure is at its great- est. Actors are capable of feeling more joy on the stage than the audience ever notices. My theat- rical birth came with the play Spawning Carp at
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