by Sherif Awad

-I was born and raised in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I come from a family of artists. My growing up was deeply affected by my grandma who was an actress. She taught me that imagination is the most valuable thing inside a human mind and that I need to cherish it throughout my life. I studied guitar at a primary music school and graduated at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in my hometown.

I grew up watching Cartoon Network and my childhood inspirations were Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter, Billy and Mandy but I have to say that my greatest inspiration was Genndy Tartakovsky Samurai Jack.

-As a teenager I was inspired by many fictional and real characters. James Bond series was one of them. Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando are actors whose films still are great acting lessons.

I realized that acting is only a tool that every human being uses on daily basis. Studying it, I became aware of that inner mechanism. It is a very simple process going on there. The thing is that acting itself is not enough, you have to give yourself into it. You need to invest your body and your soul into every role that you do. And that can be exhausting. It absolutely is satisfying because it is a need, a storytelling need. Through every role an actor tells a story and in my opinion there are many stories that need to be told!

-Stardom itself is not so interesting but there is one fact that keeps me going for it and that is: Larger the audience- bigger the number of ears that will hear your story.

– I can see that a woman is often treated as an object of prejudice in a patriarchal society like mine. And I can see that it is reflected in the industry. My opinion is that actors and actresses are all equal behind the fourth wall. That’s the beauty of it.

-Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small country and its development was heavily impacted by the terrible war that happened to it. It happened a quarter of a century ago and my society still is damaged by the echoes of that war. You can feel it in every pore of this society. But usually, as it is, a wounded society is a place in need for art. My society screams for artists that will mend their souls. That’s why my society is full of amazing talents in many different spheres.

Industry itself is very poor since my country’s economy is still making its first steps and yet we have some of the world’s finest artists.

The most important thing for me is the story that I’m going to tell through a film, for example. If that story is worth telling, and if I can feel the need to tell it, oh I’m in!

I have to say that I’m always led by the intuition, if I can feel it and see it then the pleasure of lending that storyteller my acting tool is beyond words.

-An actor’s journey is unpredictable and that’s the most exciting thing about it. When there is a certain role-preparation process going on, there is almost no time for my private life and at those times I tend to spend my free time doing things that fulfill me. Making equilibrium between my private life and professional practice can sometimes be challenging.

– Currently I am doing a few different projects. One of them is a theater role of a guy stuck in a timeless space playing an intergalactic video game tournament. Other one is a young, conservative man going through the process of an inner war after facing some events that make him question his lifelong beliefs. One of the future film roles that I can’t wait is a female trapped in the body of a male, waiting for the surgery.