EFP Shooting Stars 2014

George MacKay (UK)

What inspired you to become an actor?
My strongest memory of being awed by a film was when I watched Gladiator for the first time, it was one of the first DVDs my family owned and so I watched the “making of” documentaries again and again. I was completely blown away by the whole thing.

What attracts you to a role?
It’s a mixture of feeling connected to the way the character thinks and feels, and having to try and understand a way of thinking that isn’t your own.  

What are you working on next?
I’m working on a play called The Cement Garden, an adaption of the Ian McEwan novel, as part of the Vault Festival in London.

Miriam Karlkvist (Italy)

Who would be your dream director to work with?
Paolo Sorrentino. He has a complete look in his movies, it’s amazing how you can see the past and the future of all the characters while they’re living their present day.  I’m sure that I’ll want to try out for all kind of movies, out of Italy too.

What advice would you give to aspiring young actors?
As actors we have to love our characters, be determined and never stop trying.

What are you working on next?
I recently started a two year acting course in Rome at the Gian Maria Volontè School of Cinematic Arts.

Marwan Kenzari (The Netherlands)

What inspired you to become an actor?
I saw Good Will Hunting for the first time a couple of years after it came out and I was so moved by it that I knew I wanted to be an actor. It just felt like something I had never experienced before. 

Who would be your dream director to work with?
I’m a big fan of Martin Scorsese’s work. He seems like someone who loves actors, is fun to be around and has a great heart for telling stories.  

What are you working on next?
Jim Taihuttu’s new film Ratu Adil. This will be my third film working with Jim after Rabat and Wolf. We will hopefully start shooting in 2015.

Cosmina Stratan (Romania)

What inspired you to become an actor?
I was pleased with my journalist job, but still felt something was missing. So, I started to spend a lot of time in theatres just to clear my head. Six months later I was at drama school.

What attracts you to a role?
The story and the character. If it throws me outside my comfort zone, then it’s a good start.

What advice would you give to aspiring young actors?
Get a dog, it helps with the breaks between the projects and keeps you active!

What are you working on next?
I have a feature to prepare this year, and I’m also trying to stay in touch with the theatre business, which I could never let go of. 

Maria Dragus (Germany)

What inspired you to become an actor?
I always wanted to be a performer. My dad works as a musician in a theatre, that’s why I got involved with opera and theatre acting at a very young age. But it was only after working on The White Ribbon that I knew I wanted to be working as an actress in the future.

What attracts you to a role?
If a part seems challenging to me, I am more than happy to go in for an adventure!

What are you working on next?
I’m starting shooting on a new mini-series, produced by Wiedemann & Berg and directed by Alexander Dierbach, in March. I’ll have the pleasure of playing my first real adult, which is quite exiting!

Nikola Rakocevic (Serbia)

What inspired you to become an actor?
When I was a kid my grandmother took care of me while my parents were working, and we often played a game pretending we were someone else. That was my first acting role. So my grandmother was my initial inspiration to start thinking about acting.

Who would be your dream director to work with?
Quentin Tarantino, because his films do not ignore the audience, and on the other hand he does not ignore himself, his political and philosophical views. Especially, he does not ignore the actors. Even the smallest role in his film is done to perfection.

What are you working on next?
I am working on a play by Ostrovsky, directed by Egon Savin, at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade.

Edda Magnason (Sweden)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?
Danish director Per Fly inspired me to keep acting after we’d finished the shooting of Monica Z.

What attracts you to a role?
If there is a grain of something I have in me, something I understand but wouldn’t do myself. If I get a little scared and emotionally moved I’m definitely in. 

What advice would you give to aspiring young actors?
To have fun and go all in, even if it’s a school film you’re casting for. You never know what the smallest project can lead up to. Be among people who inspire you to be creative and brave.  

What are you working on next?
Right now I’m working on my next album. 

Danica Curcic (Serbia)

What inspired you to become an actor?
Working with clown noses and masks at my stay at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Northern California. It made me understand that my passion lies in the work of an actor.

Who would be your dream director/s to work with and why?
Lars Von Trier because he creates alluring, complex female leads, Michael Haneke because I’m moved by his stories and their transparency, Emir Kusturica because of his Balkan temperament and Paul Thomas Anderson because of his epic grandeur.

What are you working on next?
I’m playing Hamlet and Othello amongst other Shakespeare roles, in a collage piece called Tiger’s Heart Wrapped in a Woman’s Hide at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Mateusz Kosciukiewicz (Poland)

What inspired you to become an actor?
My main aim was to escape the small village where I come from and become something like a famous poet. But I used to do some performances with an amateur group and the woman who looked after us thought that I was talented. It was she who sent me to Acting School.

What attracts you to a role?
I’ve always played extreme roles - a brother who is sleeping with his older sister, a son who kills his mother, a priest’s lover.  I like those roles, because they are provocative, but I would also like to play an extremely ordinary person with emotions hidden somewhere inside.

What are you working on next?
A film by Jerzy Skolimowski, which I’m very pleased about it.

Jakob Oftebro (Norway)

What inspired you to become an actor?
Jim Carrey, Ace Ventura. I was 10 years old and I saw the movie 12 times, and pretended to be sick so that I could see it 12 times more.

Who would be your dream director to work with?
If the script is good, and you and the director have a good chemistry then anyone could be a favourite.  I’ve found that making a movie is a unique collaboration of many professsional people, and not just one individual. So it’s hard to pick a favourite.

What’s next?
I am involved in a couple of Scandinavian projects, including The Shamer’s Daughter and Birkebeinerne. A lot of very exciting projects that I am looking forward to!