A Week of an Actor 26 July 2019
The life of the actor runs a little stranger than the lives of all other people. The differences are many. One of the positive ones is that we have a 2-month vacation, like the children. All children love vacations, actors – too. We do not ask for paid leaves, I have heard about them from friends. In the summer, we do not go to the sea for two weeks as is the duration of the paid leave, we stay there until we are tired of it. Here is also a significant difference in the column “pity for the actors” – our working day is not eight hours, but much longer. And what is worse, when you get tired, when people go out to have fun and rest around 7:00 p.m., just then we have to go on stage in our full brilliance and condition and give ourselves out to the audience. If you are rehearsing or shooting, you can get up at 6:00 a.m. and by 7:00 p.m. you have already worked for 13 hours and you have another 2 or 3 hours (depending how long is the production) when you have to be most energetic and in shape. That is why our vacation is deserved.
I will try to tell you about a random week of mine. How I live with my work. The goal is not to complain, but on the contrary to motivate and to show that anything is possible. If you want something very much, it does not make you feel tired, you like it and the fatigue is just physical, but the satisfaction is what it is worth. The week will be in Sofia because when I work out of the capital it is easier. For example, we shot “Devil’s Throat” in Smolyan, and I was there for two months and I was doing only that. I did not have performances, I did not have any other work, I did not deal with daily life, I was only shooting. It is easier.
I mentioned daily life, yes the actor has such. For some – it is in full throttle, for those with families and children. With this intensity you cannot do the things you like. You can, but not often. Especially if you complicate your life even more with other great goals you want to accomplish and become good in different paths other than the acting profession. So here we go.
MONDAY
In the morning, I get up at 6:00 a.m. and at 7:00 a.m. I go to the set of “Stolen Life”. The shooting is not easy but not hard either. It is due to the professional team of the series that runs like a clockwork. Everything is clear, directors and cameramen know what they are doing. At 1:00 p.m. I finish shooting and go to the National Theatre, where I meet my colleagues. At 2:00 p.m. we leave for Stara Zagora to perform “God of Carnage” there. We travel, stop, talk, and try to rest a little. We stop at a roadside restaurant, I eat something light so I do not get full, my main work that will be watched by many people is yet to come. I feel for a beer but I can have only an alcohol-free one (commercial :))). We get to the theatre at about 4:30 p.m. We do a light rehearsal of the whole play, it is important because of the different stage, lighting and music. These rehearsals are always critical, because it has been a long time since you have gotten up and you are already quite tired. You look for a place to lie down. Then I drink coffee to wake up and prepare for the play, mostly lying down. At 7:00 p.m. the play begins. We finish it. I am already very tired, but I am also hungry. Soon after, I go to the nearest restaurants to grab a bite, then at 10:30 p.m. it is time for a rest, but not in my own bed.
TUESDAY
I get up at 7:00 a.m. (it is very important to have 8 hours of sleep) and I leave for Sofia. At 10:00 a.m. I have rehearsals in the theatre. They are not regular rehearsals for a new production, but reconstructive ones – for a production that we have not played for a long time. Rehearsals are until 1:00 p.m. Everything related to the theatre is quite tiresome because you put an emotion, talking is not everyday style but with a lot of power and sound, movements in some productions are also very physically exhausting. So I finish the rehearsals and go home to have a shower and change because at 3:20 p.m. I have a TV interview about the series. The interview is recorded. After the interview I directly go to a photo session for a big magazine, again related to the new series. At the photo session, I change clothes several times, in the bushes of a park. It lasts about 2 hours. After that I hurry because I have a massage appointment, it is imperative because I have back problems. The massage makes me feel very good. It is now 8:00 p.m. I go home, I have time to write a text about a friend of mine that I want to publish on the site. I take a shower and go to bed.
WEDNESDAY
I get up at 8:00 a.m. I go to a meeting with a doctor friend because I will take part in a campaign organized by BMA. The meeting is from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Then I drive to a special bakery to buy spelt bread. I have nothing to eat. At 11:30 a.m. I have a meeting with the brand managers of a big company. The conversation will be about a possible work together on a digital project. I like this type of partnership very much because I invent and create all the content, in which the company will possibly participate. At 1:30 a.m. I go to grab a bite with another doctor friend because I help him to establish his foundation and help children in need of emergency help. After lunch I go straight to swimming. I do it regularly, again because of my back problems. At 4:30 p.m. I am already in the theatre because I have a very complicated performance, for which I need to gather myself and concentrate. The production is “Delhi Dance”, and it ends at 9:00 pm. I go home, learn the text for the next day, do some laundry and then fall into a blissful sleep.
THURSDAY
I am shooting all day and Thank God – I do not have a theatre performance. I am shooting from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. I have 2-hour break between the takes, but I will stay on set because I have no time to go out. I will use these two hours to process some photos I have made the previous week. Some of them I need urgently, others are for fun and I will post them on Instagram. Shooting is tiring because I am standing for many hours. Generally, this tires me most. I have spine problems since I was a child. And the motorcycles do not make things better. I have two surgeries (fake ones – part of the shooting) that are problematic for me, not just because I am standing. I cannot remember these medical terms. Why doctors have made their life so complicated – I do not know. When I have such scenes, I constantly repeat the nasty words. I do only this until the scene comes. So, about the photos. I will post here a photo of the important ones. I finish shooting at 9:00 p.m. and rush to catch open the supermarket near my place. My refrigerator is empty, and it is important for me to have breakfast and especially to have something for it.
FRIDAY
A mixed day. I get one of the dogs – the bigger one, and I have to take him to a hairdresser because he is on an international dog show on Sunday. Gena is a Riesenschnauzer and is a very nice 40-kilos baby. I have made the appointment long time ago. So, I go there and for 4 hours they will make Gencho beautiful and he will perform well. At 1:00 p.m. I take him home and go straight to shooting. Today I have only two easy scenes one after another. I shoot them and go to a Viber conference. I have been working with Viber people for over a year and we do many things together. It is very interesting because I learn new and useful things about digital communications. The meeting is with their clients and partners. I barely find the conference venue, but I do find it. There I eat from their wonderful catering. In the evening, I go to see NATFA students perform on stage. They have invited me and I find it interesting to see the productions of the young actors. I go home and go to bed.
SATURDAY
From morning until noon I have a shooting, then I will go to change my car oil and check the pads because they slightly squeak. Then I go home and just enjoy myself. Some social networks, some sleep, some House of Cards. And there it is already 1:00 p.m.
SUNDAY
The dog show with Gena. He has performed not very well as behaviour because he is little and this is new to him, but thanks to the professional handler Anelia Shankova, Gena has won titles and has became the second most beautiful puppy at the dog show. Tired and full of emotions, we go home, I go swimming for an hour (because I have to) and then I am free for a dinner with friends.
So, this is a random week of mine. When you do not shoot, you rehearse and then every morning from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for 2 months you have rehearsals. You might also shoot, and rehearse, and play. I think it has happened to me once, but I will not let it happen again. There are things I did not tell, but they are personal. You can always find time. Someone might say, what is this life with no time for anything. I know one thing for sure. Good, big, worthy things are accomplished with lots of hard work. With much improvement and perseverance. I have always been like that. Yes, I get bored with it, yes, I despair, yes, I get tired. But I have my “vents” and activities that charge me. And let us not forget that we – the actors, unlike you – the non-actors, have a 2-month vacation in the summer, like the children, because maybe we also stay children forever.
Text – Vladimir Karamazov
Translation from Bulgarian – Diana Dimitrova
Photographer – Vladimir Karamazov for #Karamazovfoto
26.07.2019 Vladimir Karamazov®