“Everyone has to make their own bed”. A conversation with actor Igor Shelegovski

On October 29, in the Great Hall of the Latvian National Theatre, the premiere of a beautiful and musical show for families, created under the direction of director Paula Pļavniecs – the production of the story “We, Sālsvārnas salas vasarnieki” by Astridas Lindgrēnes, happened.

“Latvijas Avīze” invited Igor Šelegovski, the actor playing the role of Pelle, to talk about the new production. He has been working at the National Theater since 2017 and, according to the theater’s assessment, “he has grown from a classic Jelgava homeboy in a fertile theater environment to a charismatic young actor with a rich inner world , to become the patriot of his theater in a few seasons”.

Igors has also been involved in films – many still remember his convincing portrayal of the young and poor artist Juris Upenājs in Anna Vidleja’s feature film “Homo Novus” (2018), Igors also acted in the high-quality television series “Sviet Jeans” (2024), also Matīsa In Kaža’s “Neon spring” (2022), in the ambitious series “Sissi” (2021) , etc. he knows how to see what is hidden behind the surface. In parallel with acting, Igor with the name “indigo” also raps, he also studies writing at the University of Liepāja.

What will your Pelle be?

I. Shelegovskis: I try to show Pelli as he is portrayed in the book, he is a deep person for a young age. Pelle understands a lot, he has a very sensitive nature, he loves animals and the world, as well as his parents, especially his father. My Pelle is not shy at all, although he sometimes becomes apathetic as a result of events, but for the most part he tends to be as explosive as other adventure-loving children who can get excited about different things and jump into them on the fly. .

Did you read the book “We, Sālsvarnas salas vasarnieki” yourself as a child and do you hope that the audience will have read it too?

No, no, I didn’t read books when I was a child, I mostly went on adventures. It wasn’t good or bad, because I think it’s stupid to make a child read if he doesn’t want to, or vice versa, but I’ve heard of cases where he’s not allowed to read and has to go out Children already feel what they want best, let’s say, books came to me later, and then I fell in love with them.