by Sherif Awad
-I was born in Belgrade, Serbia. With my family, we lived in Budapest, where I went to primary school and enrolled in danced and ballet classes. Since the age of seven, I dreamed of becoming an actress, watching movies and enjoying them. After returning to Belgrade, I continued dancing and went to modeling and amateur theater to prepare for enrollment at the Academy. I showed affection for art in the form of drawing, painting, dancing, singing, and imagining making movies. It is true that many girls dreams of that, however with me the decision remained and was explicit. I graduated from the Academy of Drama in Belgrade in 2010. I have done numerous projects, commercials, campaigns, series and movies. At one point, I decided to go to Slovenia and start living there. I created a family, so my priorities in life changed. I work in Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. Sometimes there are several projects at the same time. On the other hand, sometimes time goes by while waiting for projects. I also did modeling and sometimes did jobs behind the camera, as an organizer, casting director, arts director on television… However, acting is my only choice that fulfills me and gives me incredible pleasure.
-My greatest example of the style and behavior of an actress is Audrey Hepburn, and as far as acting is concerned, there are some Serbian actors that I enjoyed watching and absorbing knowledge from them. Of the Hollywood artists, I single out Julia Roberts, Anthony Hopkins…
-Talent and creativity cannot be learned. These are the initiators of every artist, and the school helps you to develop your talent, to learn the finesse of your craft and to develop your inexhaustible creativity in a satisfactory direction. You know what drives an artist the most? His soul. The soul dictates emotion and feeling, and when the artist transfers that emotion to the observer, it can be said that he has succeeded. It never starts from the fact that something needs to be done in order for someone to like it, but it is about me as an artist to feel, experience, live and in that way open my soul to the observer. That is why I always say that artists are the greatest exhibitionists and masochists.
-I think that no artist should be burdened with the idea that he should become a star at any cost, but he should work hard and work on achieving his goals, so I believe that someone will be rewarded for such work. Of course, popularity is an important item in my profession, because that way someone hears about you, sees you, not to mention the importance of the number of followers on social networks. World fame is the dream of almost all artists. These are dreams that we may achieve or may not achieve… most probably not. Many who chased after fame, went to Hollywood and stumbled before they arrived there. Everything in its time. The most important thing in this profession is patience.
-Unfortunately, there is a gender difference, as in any profession. A woman has always been considered and is considered less valuable and a male employer will always observe her and decide on employment based on the attributes or possibilities of her “openness”, i.e. readiness for indecent offers. It is that public secret that no one talks about, however it is the reality. Of course, there are exceptions. There are people who are interested in quality and that their project is the best possible, so they choose people by talent and knowledge. I can’t say most are like that, but there are. I like working with such people, because you can learn a lot from such people, and we all strive to be as good as possible in what we love. An actor all-knowing when he finishes college, but his whole life grows and strives to be better and better.
-In my country, the cultural situation is sad for political reasons. However, despite that, a lot is being done in the film industry. A lot of series and movies are being made, but there are also a lot of actors. There are about 7 acting academies in Serbia, so every year there are at least 70 new actors. Employment in theaters is almost impossible, if you are not in the ruling party or if you do not have the money to pay for your place in the theater. Castings are sometimes public, and sometimes closed, so you can mostly see the same actors at one point until they get bored, after that, unfortunately, they are nowhere to be found. This is a difficult job to fight for your place under the sun, and on the other hand it is beautiful. If we exclude stress, while taking small steps towards progress, there is a great chance that you will succeed and reach your goal. Recommendation – arm yourself with patience and just go forward bravely!
-Castings are an integral part of every actor. Sometimes the outcomes of castings are set in advance, but in most cases there are real castings where the director really chooses the actors and gets to know them that way. I mostly had good experiences and everything I did from the roles, I got through casting. I have not experienced any inconveniences, so I can say that I have had good experiences.
-I look forward to every new job. I read the script in detail, I think about the character, I very dedicatedly explore the sphere of interest of that character. After that, I talk to the director and we find the ideal solution. The daily task of an actor is training, regardless of whether he has a project at that moment or not. These are physical fitness trainings and articulatory rhetoric. I must mention that acting for me is not a job, but a way of life. I argue that my attitude towards acting is significantly different from my colleagues’ perception of it. Acting is my refuge, my passion, my love, my expression.
-As I explained in the previous question what my understanding of acting is, I can say that each role is special to me in my life. Of course, as the greatest personal success in my career, I single out the role of Anne Frank in the form of a monodrama. This is one of my acting children, on whom I worked exhaustively for seven long years and made the play myself from scratch. By doing so, I showed everything that my profession represents to me.
– I have two small children, so I don’t miss activities. In my free time, in addition to training, I like to paint and in that way I express some of my inner emotions. I often dance and write. I am no stranger to work related to production and work behind the camera, but it does not give me any greater satisfaction. My life is art, so I always choose that path. I think that everyone in this world should do the work that fulfills them.
– For newcomers, I say: art as a job choice is very difficult and disappointing. However, when you love something, then you need to be persistent and not give up on your dreams. Arm yourself with patience and courage, but never be conceited. This job does not allow mistakes in behavior, carefully choose the path to achieving your goal. There is a lighter one, which is morally inadmissible and heavier one, which is full of thorns, but the only correct. Don’t let vanity overwhelm you, don’t set foot on your colleagues and always choose your soul – it guides you through feelings and art.
-I just don’t act in my private life. In my private life I like to spend time with family and my friends. Every experience in life helps me in my professional life, more precisely so that a certain situation is not foreign to me. It is an interesting thing that in acting you have to justify every character, even if he played the biggest villain. This has helped me to never judge or draw conclusions based on various stories and prejudices through the lives and people I meet. I always want to justify someone’s action. Of course, this does not apply to extremes, murderers, rapists. I talk about the people we meet every day. The various characters I meet through my private life sometimes become the inspiration for a character I create for the stage. So many situations and actions can serve as an idea for a scenario. To summarize, private life is not much different from life on stage. The difference is in the cameras.
-I recently finished filming a series in Slovenia. From the summer, I will start shooting two series in Belgrade, afterwards a film. After that, there are some more projects, so I will just say that waiting, patience and not giving up is worth it.
