Press

THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF GREECE MAGAZINE
Fall 2006
Source (PDF page 48)

Interview

“…Most people got to know you from “Brides”, which was a major production by Greek standards. Tell us a little bit about that. How did you get picked for the lead role by [director] Pantelis Voulgaris?

Through an audition and then another audition—but this is all such a long time ago. “Brides” was released in 2004, but I had my first audition for it in 1998. It took a long time to make because of the funds that needed to be raised. It is one of those movies that you have to invest in, and I think Pantelis is still sick and still paying off his debts; but it is the movie of his life, something he wanted very much to do and now he is paying for it, and I don’t mean only financially. In a way we are all paying for it. It seems like such a nice thing, such a beautiful movie, and so many people were touched by it, not only in Greece, but also in the United States, in Canada, in Australia… But, you know what? It was not a piece of cake; it had another, darker, side and that’s what I realized two years later: “…everything has another side”.

What did it do to you—good and bad?

The good is that I have something to show. In practical terms, it is a significant, serious credit, and of course it is the experience of working with such a director, with a foreign cast, working with director of photography George Arvanitis, with Ioanna Karystiani, Dimitris Katalifos, Eirini Inglesi—and those are just some of the names on my list, and they are all significant.

You have said, though, that although everybody expected your career to open up after such a major movie, that has not been the case…

Yes, and that is the other side. You never know what will happen. I don’t know how people think. Sometimes I meet people, especially directors, and they say I’ve heard of Brides but I’ve never seen it. So, my career is something I have to fight for. I have to get there and fight for myself. That’s what made me go to Australia in the first place, and stay there for a year and a half. I did theater in Australia, I did a short movie and I was supposed to be in a TV series but unfortunately I had to return to Greece for family reasons. Family is at the top of my list of priorities…”