Actress Severija Janušauskaitė: “I am very afraid of dilettantism” Culture

However, for the past few years, S. Janušauskaitė says that she is taking an internal break from acting: the actress is waiting for interesting, deep and challenging roles. “I can no longer afford to play anything, I don’t care. I save energy and I think I can give much more,” says S. Janušauskaitė.

Interview 15min She talks about the myths that go with acting, the start of her career, and the state of mind she lives in today.

– The acting profession is usually romantic, mystified, surrounded by various myths. What myths about acting upset you?

– Oh, many of them … I don’t know if these are myths or a general evaluation of this profession. Now I think about it: how much are we artists in general? – But what bothers me most is the idea that it’s easy. It’s easy to make money, it’s easy to get attention, that’s all the actors are looking for. These things are the most annoying because I can deny them all from my own experience.

– Did you believe in myths about the actor’s profession and the bohemian lifestyle when you started acting?

I believed. That was the beginning of the 2000s. Sure, and that bohemian was already a little different. But she was and really exists among artists. But most of the time he is very wrapped up in myths, because the actor seems quite different to me today than he was 20-30 years ago.

– What type of actor is he today?

– I cannot assess whether it is good or bad, but that the actor no longer wants and no longer has to be hungry to create, a fact.

But of course these are extreme. One of them is the attitude you have to suffer to create something. Another extreme is the belief that an actor must be an entrepreneur, pay to sell, do many things and earn a lot. Rotate, in other words. But thinking less about the content you create.

– How and why did you come to act yourself?

– Actually, the theater never appealed to me, but I knew that to become an actress, I’d probably have to study and learn theatrical acting. It seemed to me that I wasn’t doing much more and I was learning, maybe it sounds a bit categorical because I don’t think it’s true, but at the time it seemed like the best thing I could do.

– Didn’t you consider studying elsewhere? And did you miss a new training when you had to move to acting in the cinema after theatrical performance at the academy?

– Maybe it wasn’t necessary to train again. It just ruined everything that he had put on in my academy for four years (laughs)

Retraining took place through experience and intuition. And the ability to work in a movie theater. I don’t know how much this is also a myth: that it is given to someone, not someone, but the fact that it is easier for someone to get out of the theater performance makes it difficult for someone to resign.

When I was still in the academy, I was thinking about courses, going to workshop But it seems to me that he was too busy at the time, both in the theater and in the film projects that have already started.

I cannot judge whether it is good or bad, but that the actor no longer wants and no longer has to be hungry to create is a fact.

– How did you select projects early in your career and how do you select them now? Have your criteria changed during this time?

– I’ve always been quite demanding, it hasn’t changed. But the focus on acting yourself has changed over the years and has changed dramatically. Both for the industry and for what I want to do.

My career started in Lithuania, since I was little, Independent movies Then Russia emerged. I was invited by Anna Melikian, then work began in Russia. Later Tom Tykwer noticed me … This is how it worked and I worked very hard, but two or three years ago I realized something. I can’t say that I became that enterprising actress because, nevertheless, I did what I wanted, I played interesting roles, but I felt like I was starting to burn.

Perhaps with age comes a moment of dissociation, when you understand the rules and, if it is openly, you will begin to lack challenges. Because not all roles were very special or complex, there were several, in my opinion. Then you realize that you are distracted between some business projects, you start to make mistakes, bad decisions, overwork, overwork … And in fact, I stopped. Filming didn’t stop, but I told myself I was taking a break. I decided not to get into any commercial project, fast bake film ever again. I decided to choose what was closest to me.

Music and concerts appeared in my life in Berlin after Tykwer. It saved me from making decisions in the cinema because I had an alternative. A great gift that happened at all.

– What role does music currently play in your life? Can she compete with acting?

– I keep telling my guys in the orchestra that I’m not really a singer. They support me and encourage me a lot. For years those tours, many cities were visited and the album was released, but I don’t see myself at all as a representative of the music industry.

Once again, there is a myth about a singer actress that scares me a lot: that you can be a good actress and only a mediocre singer, and vice versa. I kept remembering only good examples like Charlotte Gainsbourg. He inspired me, spat on me and said: damn, good for me, I am happy for this alternative.

It may not be 100 percent. my music because, nevertheless, I make songs created by others. But escaping the acting routine helps me. Music helps me a lot to go back to the cinema and keep a certain distance. However, I am really an actress and as a musician I confirm it over and over again.

Perhaps with age comes a moment of dissociation, when you understand the rules and, if it is openly, you will begin to lack challenges.

– Perhaps in the future you plan to expand your repertoire, perform your own songs?

– maybe. But I am very careful with everything. There is never a rush to do things: it seems to me that you can no longer do things, and only then you can. Now I think about it a lot when there are a lot of those creations on all the screens. I think, is it really necessary? Isn’t it worth waiting sometimes, no matter how difficult that moment is, and then creating something strong?

I’ve always been like this. I need that last point to do something. And if that happens, it definitely will, as it always has with movies, with some other decisions. When I don’t know

– Is there a project you don’t regret?

– It seems to me that there were more projects than I regretted having taken … Probably self-criticism speaks here.

Perhaps this is more about roles than roles. That maybe I wouldn’t stay in a particular city any longer, maybe I would have met creative people closest to me, and maybe I would have led to creative work. Maybe it was too closed, I couldn’t find time for the people who were paying attention to me at the time.

But everything seems to have developed as it should have.

– What role was the most difficult for you?

– I think for me, who do not have as much experience to play more difficult dramatic roles, the most difficult role was in the star of Anna Melikian. However, it is necessary to take into account the context: the very subject of death, the presence in a foreign country, especially when it is Russia, the language barrier. At the time, this role required everything from me. Now of course I would do it completely differently. I don’t know if it would be what it was then. I doubt it

– When you create a new role, how do you understand that you are moving in the right direction?

– I create roles very intuitively. I have a gift, but sometimes it becomes a minus sign. Because sometimes you start to demand a lot not only from yourself, but also from others, when you feel that you are on the wave, that you can go even deeper, even better … But when you meet a director who sees more Superficially, you find yourself in creative solitude.

– You have worked with many different directors. What is, in your eyes, a good director?

– More recently, I was wondering why that image of a director still exists, a director who is always in a position of power: either choosing an actor or working in the field. There are curious situations in which a person is too weak a personality for his own ambitions. When a person only wants to be a director but does not know what to do in the field.

Who is a good director? It is very subjective. With what many of my colleagues consider a good director, I may not find any contact, and the rookie will seem responsive and flexible to me. I think human qualities are important to the director, the understanding that film is teamwork, a little healthy selfishness and zero narcissism. It seems to me that the more external the desire to show that “I am leading now,” the more risky it is to work with that person.

The more external the desire to show that I am leading now, the more risky it is to work with that person.

– In an interview, you said that you think about directing yourself. Maybe that thought started to crystallize into something?

– Here as with that music. I think I can only do this when I can no longer do it. I am very afraid of dilettantism. For me, directing in general seems like an infinitely difficult profession, I think about it, I dream about it, but I still have a lot to learn to do. But I’m not saying that it won’t.

– Recently, two films by Lithuanian directors were released, in which he starred in “Native” and “Isaac”. Do you feel different in Lithuanian cinema today than abroad? Especially now that you already have a lot of international experience.

– It is good for me to play in Lithuania, the last two films were brilliant, both in terms of the process and the result itself. I see that cinema in Lithuania is recovering in one way or another. The level of work on the site has completely changed. But it seems to me that we all understand that we continue to face complex processes. Everything would be much more impressive if these young people were valued and supported more.

– Is there a Lithuanian director you would like to work with?

– I’m in trouble – I know who I wouldn’t like to work with (laughs).

But really, there are so many young directors that I would really like to work with. The whole young generation is interesting to me. I wonder what they live for, like the results of their work.

– You mentioned that you have had an internal break in recent years. What did you understand during this time?

– During my career I felt a lot of exclusion. And appreciating my work in Russia, and bewildering myself. But I realized that I was on the right track. It doesn’t matter how many questions you get, where are you doing something here or why are you giving up on something? – I realized that I feel good about my own need for content. I saw a lot of shape and I was satisfied. I mean the way you start to “bake” a little bit: you start to be exploited as a so-called “actress on the go” and you are no longer satisfied with what you create. Depth begins to lack depth.

This is especially felt when looking at the characters. There comes a time when their age is no longer young lovers, and they are not yet mothers or grandmothers. For me this is one of the most exciting ages for women and I really have something to say. I just realized that I really had no one to tell (laughs).

I can’t afford to play anything anymore, I don’t care. I save energy and I think I can give much more. I just need the moment and the right people.

For me this is one of the most exciting ages for women and I really have something to say. I realized that I really had no one to tell.

– Isn’t the waiting period terrifying for the actor?

– I don’t know how to quarantine here. It is the same as diving underwater and observing how strong your lungs are.

However, I have always had similar “crises” in my life when nobody offered me anything and I just had to survive. It is not a novelty to wait. Waiting for you to find an alternative. And if I have an alternative, how singing has become an active alternative for me, it’s incredible. But there are many alternatives. I think waiting is a good gift to prepare someone, educate yourself, delve into many interesting things.

Complete ignorance is difficult. Maybe for me, never thinking about how many roles, how much easier. I really want quality and expect it more than the role itself. For the script that I get to this day, but unfortunately out of five, at best, only one is readable.

– How do you understand that there simply will not be a good movie of the resulting script?

– Scenarios are a complicated thing. A rarity to read a very good script. Although that does not necessarily mean that a good movie will come out of a good script.

As soon as I start reading the script, I realize if something is wrong. Although I try to get past the script, if it is “no”, I generally feel “no” from the beginning.

But there are things that surprise. There are well written works. The freer the paper is written, the more you start to want it, because then you can put more of your contribution, fantasizing about the character.

But with women in the movies, no matter how the situation changes, it’s still not how I’d like it to be. The protagonists still find it difficult to attract directors, perhaps especially male directors. There are many cliches on stage. Especially in Lithuanian cinema, I want courage on this subject.

That does not mean that I want cinema to become feminine. By the way, because I don’t have sex at all. But from what I’m facing, I’m still missing that hook on the female characters. Deeper, more interesting, more controversial roles.

– Are you a syphilis?

– I think so. I watch movies non-stopI am addicted to the cinema, to good direction, to acting. I can watch movies that I enjoy many times. Cinema is both a job and an entertainment for me.

– Which directors, which films raised you as a spectator and as an actress?

– The first film that I saw in the cinema, not on television, seems to me the “intimate diary” of Peter Greenaway. He was 12-13 years old. Such a movie was very early for a child of this age, a teenager. But then I realized that cinema can be different, acting can be different, images can be different … Since then, everything started and continues to this day.

It would be difficult to name an author because I like many directors. From Almodóvar and Spielberg to Coen and Hanekes. I know them all, I look at them.

I really want quality and expect it more than the role itself.

– Is knowledge of the history of cinema important to the actor?

– of course. There was a time when I interacted with my colleagues and marveled that the actors weren’t watching movies. Now the younger generation looks at things a little differently. But as an actress at the time, I was surprised that people wanted to be in the movies, but I didn’t look at the classics, I didn’t delve into the complex and special roles of the actors. It is essential to see how the actor acts in the frame. For the actor, this, like reading books, should be mandatory.

– Do you also allow quarantine while watching movies?

– Yes, I fly deeper and deeper. Sometimes it is so insightful that you realize you are watching a category B movie. But that is not scary. Because sometimes watching a bad movie is very healthy. Especially for the actors, to see how not to.

– How do you feel during quarantine in general? What thoughts are you currently living with?

– Since I came back from abroad, after stopping all my concerts, of course, I experienced shock. I had to isolate what I did perfectly. He was without a family, which probably contributed a bit psychologically as well.

It seems to me that I have gone through all the stages. For the shock, the anger and even a kind of funny state that has visited me now, the crisis. But without waiting. I said to myself that you don’t have to wait for anything, you just have to be and do only what’s fun. I’m not in a hurry, I promise nothing to anyone, something I never liked doing.

Of course, I will not run away from the fact that all my work has stopped. I had many concerts in Germany, everything was changed to the unknown. But I think everything will happen. And if that doesn’t happen, you will have to reconcile, adapt to something new. Inhale again and dive in again, see how long those lungs last here (laughs).