Maria Bakalova considers herself a person of extremes when it comes to acting. “Cinema is bound to provoke. I think it shouldn’t be an average job” the Oscar-nominated actress said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“If a movie doesn’t make you feel something, what’s the point?“, shares the woman from Burgas.
In addition to starring in her latest project, The Honeymoon, Bakalova also works as a producer, something she says she hopes to do more of in the future.
“The older I get, the more I want to spend time behind the camera as well” she said, stressing the need for more women to direct and write.
“The Honeymoon” is now available on a streaming platform and is a comedy of extremes.
The film, full of drugs and toilet humor, seems a far cry from her original dream of acting in films made by the avant-garde Dogme 95 movement led by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The Bulgarian actress was so captivated by Danish cinema that she once convinced her parents to take her to Copenhagen to try to get any kind of work at Von Trier’s production company.
However, she understands that different genres can achieve similar goals after her breakthrough role in Borat 2, a project she praised for its ability to contribute to change.
“Borat 2″ is a social experiment that shows the true face of people. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing, because art should affect people,” she said.
Although her role in Borat opened her up to the potential and importance of different genres, Bakalova said she still believes that actors should be selective about what roles they take on.
Photo: Getty Images
“Don’t be too picky though” she warned her colleagues, adding that they have a responsibility to choose roles that “they deserve your attention, but also people’s attention, because you are not making art just for yourself.” Bakalova is convinced that the secret to longevity in Hollywood is to never settle into one genre or character.
Recalling the time when she filmed “Borat”, Bakalova said that the scandalous scene in the hotel room with Rudy Giuliani seemed to her the riskiest of Sacha Baron Cohen’s antics, calling it a “terrible situation”.
“I had no way of contacting Sasha’ she recalls.I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
For Bakalova, who had never acted in an English-language film before “Borat”, 2022 was a tense year, BTA reports. In addition to The Honeymoon, she starred in Bodies Bodies Bodies and Judd Apatow’s The Bubble. She will also make her Marvel debut in 2023 with Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Besides acting, one of Bakalova’s goals is to someday meet her flute “colleague” Lizo (Melissa Vivian Jefferson, ed. note).
“If I ever have a chance to be next to her, just to look at her, it will be the best day of my life,” said the Bulgarian actress.
Photo: Getty Images
