Greetings, loyal viewer,

I was born in Osijek, in the Republic of Croatia, on May 13, 1980. Due to the events of the 1990s 🙂 , I moved to Sombor and continued my schooling at Nikola Vukićević Elementary School (not related in any way to our Ratko Vukićević). In 1994, my family and I moved to Niš, where I continued my education at Teacher Tasa Elementary School. This didn’t last long, and soon it was time for high school. Since I’m more of a practical person than a theoretical one, I enrolled in the Trade School. In short, I had a great time in high school; I was the only one with long hair and red laces on black Martens. To be honest, at that time, acting and being an actor didn’t interest me.

At the age of 15, in 1995, I received an offer from the Niš Puppet Theater and its then-director, Stevan Bošnjak, to play the role of the boy and young man Joseph in the play Puppet Bible, directed by Nikita Milivojević. I accepted with great enthusiasm (not because of popularity or a calling, but because I could use the fee to buy a bass or acoustic guitar and be in a band like a real teenager). Both the director and the theater had plans for me, but it all twisted, and I took a break, if that can be said, until 2002. Later, I tried the Higher School of Economics in Leskovac, at my parents’ suggestion, but we all realized that it wasn’t for me. At one point, I wandered a bit, like Lucky Lion, a bit as an actor in the Student Theater, a bit as a participant in the Third Half Theater, a bit as a potential member of the Classic Theater, and a short-term member of the TNT Theater. At one point, I heard that the Niš Puppet Theater needed actors (I mean male actors, who apparently felt embarrassed to perform, so only girls, young women, and women applied). I went for an interview with the then-director Biljana Vujević, who gave me a 3-year contract after a period of internship, and thus began my second start at the Puppet Theater.

At that moment, acting and puppetry were quite interesting and challenging to me, but I still felt something was missing that would “push” me over the edge and commit to acting and puppetry. In 2005, Director Milorad Berić included me in the Puppet Theater ensemble as a permanent member. The turning point occurred in 2004 when I enrolled in the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts Krastyo Sarafov in Sofia. That’s when I realized that PUPPETRY and acting were my true calling and that I didn’t want to pursue any other profession (I hope it remains that way). I graduated in Niš in 2008 with the play Mowgli, directed by my professor Bojan Lungov, with dear colleagues. Since 2002, I have performed over 40 premieres and over a thousand and thousands of reprises (I’m not exaggerating), visited many festivals, acted in films, received several personal and many collective awards. In my career so far, I have faced many challenges, hoped for success, and I’m sure, failure. I will mention just a few performances and roles (there are many, but I think there’s no need to bore you), with which I am satisfied and enjoyed creating. In the process of creating the plays Flower Fairy Tale, Shadows in the Night, Silvester’s Treasure, and building the characters Đole, Streamlet, and One-Eyed Pirate.

Dear viewer, if you’ve made it this far in my biography and haven’t fainted from boredom, congratulations. When you’re at the theater, call me and we’ll go for a drink at our club.

… and yes, I never bought a bass guitar or an acoustic one 🙁