Miloš Pejović: Classics are always current and timeless

"I would like to play Shakespeare in English," says Miloš Pejović, who won the prize for the best young actor at the recently concluded XXIV Festival of Chamber Theater "Risto Šiškov" in Strumica. He acted in the play "Adam and Eve" directed by Slobodan Milatović based on the text of Miroslav Krleža. In July, this play won the Grand Prix at the theater festival "Glumac Evrope" in Prespa, Macedonia.

"It is my first award and I am very proud of it. All the more because I won it in strong competition, and what kind of festival it is, perhaps the fact that this year's award for the best actor - the Grand Prix went to Zijah Sokolović," says Pejović, emphasizing that the award is a confirmation that he is good at what he does. works. The actor graduated from the Drama Academy in Cetinje in 2013 in the class of professor Branislav Mićunović.

The play "Adam and Eve", which had its premiere in Herceg Novi, was also seen by the Podgorica audience at FIAT and some other cities in Montenegro, and they were also invited to perform at the prestigious SKAMPA theater festival in Elbasan, as well as in Tirana. .

This year was fruitful for the young actor, because the screening of the film "Under the bridge, among the rocks" directed by Pavel Simonović began, in which Pejović plays one of the main roles - Inspector Ratimir, for which he received excellent reviews. The film premiered at this year's 30th Film Festival - Montenegro Film Festival in Herceg Novi, where it received special recognition for a new and intriguing approach to the genre, and an extremely original idea whose potential inspires. The film is also the winner of the Fedeora Award - the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean "because of the strength with which he brought social engagement into the crime thriller genre, because of the director's skill with which he carried out the idea to the end and rounded off the original and fresh story with great acting support and quality production ".

"This film means a lot to me, because it is my first major film role in a feature film. Unpretentiously, we entered a project in which cohesion and positive energy reigned from the beginning, which was inspiring. We were a compact team that cooperated well, as the spectators can see for themselves," Pejović points out. He joked that during the filming, everything went so well that at one point they got worried, fearing that it would not end well.

Pejović also starred in the film "Excursion" by Cetinje Academy student Ivan Čojbašić, which is his graduation thesis. The film is part of an omnibus, i.e. a project that networked Academies from Cetinje, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje.

At the beginning of October, he will go to Zagreb, where preparations will begin for the play "Medea" based on the text by Ljubomir Đurković with elements of Euripides, directed by Branko Brezovac, which is co-produced by Zetski dom and Eurokaz. "This is not a classic Greek tragedy," states Pejović. He says that he doesn't like when "hot water is revealed" in the theater, attempts to make something else out of the play.

"But you can always do a modern reading: by putting characters and events in a different context, you can read a work differently. That's why the classics are always current and timeless," Pejović is convinced. He points out that every theater is engaged, if the plays are made properly, emphasizing that he does not think that they have to deal with current political topics.

"In Adam and Eve, we are talking about relationships between people, about male-female relationships, alienation and a certain kind of self-destruction... I think that is also engaging theater."

Pejović achieved numerous and notable theater roles in the plays "The Fireman" (directed by Radmila Vojvodić and Paolo Madjeli), The Pirate of Ulcinj (directed by Milan Karadžić), Fisherman's Quarrels (directed by Ana Vukotić), Frog (directed by Lidija Dedović), A Christmas Dream (directed by Lidija Dedović), The Fourth Sister (directed by Ana Vukotić), Everyman Đilas (directed by Radmila Vojvodić), Three Sisters (directed by Slobodan Milatović, Ana Vukotić), Opera for Three Grošas (directed by Tomi Janežić), Once Upon a Time in May (directed by Goran Bulajić) , Hasanaginica (directed by Jagoš Marković).

Although he continues to act in the theater he loves, he says he is now "more in the mood" for film roles.

"Acting is always acting, the game is always one and the same. It's just that in film, different means are used than in the theater. In the theater, you try to upgrade the role, which you play often, to find something that better and more impressively evokes the character. It happens that 'something opens' only after 20 plays of the play. In the theater, research is constant. The film therefore has a different kind of adrenaline, because it requires a quick reaction, to grab your partner as soon as you see that you are on the right track to solve a scene."

After the roles in the series "Budva na penu od mora" in which he plays the character of Alek, "Montevideo, God saw you", Pejović also plays in the series "Christmas Uprising", which should be shown next year.

"I play Niko, the tragic hero of that uprising, who is not politically or ideologically colored. He joins the insurgents, convinced that this is the best way to protect his family. Nice role.”

He was also invited to film in the series "Santa Maria della Salute" about one of the greatest Serbian poets, Laza Kostić, directed by Zdravko Šotra.

Shakespeare has a special melody and sound and a special power

“I would like to play Shakespeare in English, which I speak well. Of course I don't have a native English accent, but I could manage and give it a try. Shakespeare has a special melody and sound and a special power. Expertly translated lyrics into our language sound good, but to me it's not nearly as good as it sounds in English. Each language carries its own values. So even Njegoš cannot be felt as powerfully in any other language as in Montenegrin."

I don't have acting role models in the classical sense, but Al Pacino inspires me

I don't have acting role models in the classical sense," Pejović points out, but he says that he is inspired by actors who are constantly exploring, such as Al Pacino and Daniel Day-Lewis - an English-Irish actor who is the only one who won three Oscars in the category of best actor. He is known for his dedication to work and good preparation for roles that involve character research and learning new skills.

"Al Pacino's documentary 'Looking for Richard', in which he discusses Shakespeare's plays with famous actors, is especially instructive for me. Al Pacin's biography, which shows, among other things, how much he is a lover of theater and a researcher of theatrical expression, had a great influence on me. That eternal desire to know, learn and guard something new, which is characteristic of Al Pacino and Day Lewis, they are role models for me", says Pejović.