Let΄s introduce Nikola Rakocevic! Could you please tell us a little bit about your background and education. And what drew you into acting?
I was born in Kragujevac, town in central Serbia, on 27th June 1983. As a child I was interested in acting. When I was a teenager I was a member of an amateur theatre and drama club in high school. In 2001 I enrolled at the University of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, and I graduated in 2005. All those people I met in the amateur theatre inspired me to become an actor.
As you say, these are my first feature films and my work on them was very emotional and full of energy. It΄s like a first kiss, maybe not the best one but that΄s something you΄ll never forget.
Nikola Rakocevic in Travelator
In less than year, you played a killer΄s son seeking for work from a mourning father in Circles, a rookie hit-man in the Serbian community of Las Vegas in Travelator and a vindictive student falling in love in Trolling. Did this variety of roles make you learn something about yourself?
Yes, of course. I am not a killer, I love romance and I want to overcome the things that I am not responsible for.
In Circles, the past seems to have a character of it΄s own. Does dealing with such stories artistically make it easier, you think, for people coming to terms with it?
As for me the film Circles represents in some way a monument to a man who has done such a noble thing. And I am not the only one ho thinks in that way. There are many people from ex-Yugoslavia who share that opinion. I don΄t know if it makes it easier but I know that I am proud of being a part of that movie.
Nikola Rakocevic in Circles
Ex-Yugoslavian films are known for their almost surrealist portrayal of reality. Do you think realistic dramas are a normal step forward or something different?
I don΄t think that realistic drama is a step forward, I just think that couple of directors feel comfortable in that genre. And coincidence is that they are good directors with great ideas.
Nikola Rakocevic in Trolling
And what about today΄s Balkan Cinema? Does it exists, in terms of common elements?
There are very few movies that we exchange with other Balkan΄s countries. Festivals are the only place where we can see all those movies. Or on dvd.
What are you working at currently. Can you tell us something?
In Yugoslavian Dramatic Theatre in Belgrade, of which I am a permanent member, we are preparing the play "A profitable position" by Alexander Ostrovsky.
How do you think holding the title of a Shooting Star will affect your future projects?
I hope that it will improve the quality of my future projects in every sense.
Thank you Nikola!
