I imitate only people I like, says the actor
Viktor Kalev was born on October 20, 1969 in Zlatograd. In 1994 he graduated from VITIZ “Krastyo Sarafov” with a degree in acting for dramatic theater in the class of Professor Zdravko Mitkov. Initially he worked in the Channel. From 2004 to 2015 he was in the team of the “Show of Fame”. In 2017 he was a jury member of “Like two drops of water”. In 2020 he was a guest detective in “The Masked Singer”. The American magazine “Forbes” ranked Victor Kalev among the best actors in Europe and presents him as the most multi-layered and different in incarnations, as the comedian successfully plays different characters – such as behavior, social status, age, gender.
For two years now, Viktor Kalev has been successfully playing his one-man show “The Gramophone”.
– Mr. Kalev, you rarely appear in public and do not give interviews, why?
– When I have something to say, I do it through my one-man show “The Gramophone”. Otherwise I don’t like to talk about myself, let people look at me, I’m honest there. Now, however, I make an exception for “24 hours”.
– In the one-man show you tell yourself that the biggest mischief you have done is to cut your grandmother Lika’s hair like a punk. The children lined up in front of you to see her, and the old woman was proud of her hair. What memories did you leave in your grandmother?
– Ha-ha, yes, that’s right. In my performance I tell real events from my life from my childhood until today, I enter the most cult and favorite images in which I have incarnated and sing some of the most beloved Bulgarian songs with the characteristic voice of each different artist. The show is a journey of mine over the years and at the same time inside me, in my soul. As for Grandma, she was an extremely colorful person. She was not learned, but she was very wise. Life experience had taught her many things. She had a great sense of humor, so I say she was a colorful woman – very artistic. When she was young, she was wanted as a folk singer by the ensemble “Philip Kutev” because she sang great. But unfortunately, her father had other plans for her and she married my grandfather. It was love because he stole it and the two became a family in a neighborhood of Smolyan – “Ustovo” is called. Then four daughters are born to them, my mother is the eldest. So I grew up with my grandmother, we lived in the same house. You know, it now occurs to me that after a while, maybe I’ll write a book. It will be with my grandmother’s stories. They are magnificent.
– How did the pandemic affect you?
“Like everyone, I can’t say I wasn’t scared.” For me, however, it was a recharge of the batteries, I rethought some things, I appreciated others that I did not pay attention to, I looked around for new projects that I could do. I had time to be alone with myself, with my loved ones, for whom I still didn’t have time, and as banal as it may sound, I realized for the last time that small gestures of attention are of the greatest importance. I tried to look positively at this change worldwide. Then I and my family got vaccinated. It is true that I felt fear, like all people, that I complained that I could not work and that I did not want to stop, because our work, if you do not practice it, you have the feeling that you will forget it. That’s why I played at 30% capacity of the halls, I didn’t stop, except for the big lockdowns. Yes, and my relatives left, I’m very sad about that, but I and my team, like my relatives, still did not allow the fear to beat us. God forbid, everything will end soon and we will start our normal life.
– Besides “The Gramophone”, do you have any ideas to play under the direction of a famous director. Did you know that the great Galin Stoev says about you that you are “holy” on the stage?
“Oh, I got goosebumps!” We studied together with Galin Stoev. Well, what can I say, I was embarrassed … Every month, when I play in “Tear and Laughter” my show, there is everything inside, like in a play – it’s a theater, and a concert, and my stories, I’m there myself and at the same time I have 30 other characters. I believe that what I do, no one will offer to the viewer anywhere in two and a half hours, you will see everything. But Galin Stoev, he is a unique director. It has proven itself not only in Bulgaria but also in France. Unfortunately, we haven’t met in years. I remember that when I applied to NATFA, he was a year before me in the class of Krikor Azaryan and this was the first person, but whom I impressed. At the entrance exams I felt how anxious he was to help me, he was a conservator then. I will never forget his attitude. Oh, how I want to play in his production! I would gladly do it. In fact, I am already very carefully choosing my engagements, as you know, but with Galin Stoev I would gladly embark on an adventure on stage. God forbid this happens to me. Unfortunately, there are no directors like him left in Bulgaria.
– You said Krikor Azaryan … Did you know that he was charging himself, sitting alone on the stage in the empty hall after the performance?
– Mmm yes, Koko Azaryan is a religion, a textbook for our profession. Many of his students have said something about him, we all love him. I’ve heard good things about him, but it’s not okay to talk about them. Do I do like him? Yes, I do, but not on stage, but in the dressing room. I sit while I’m sweaty and tired before I change. And then it’s just me and God. I have an icon that I pray to before I go on stage and after. Help me first, then thank you. I never forget to thank anyone.
– Is there anything in the imitations that still tempts you, for example, would you host a show like your colleague Dimitar Rachkov?
– I have been doing this for a total of about 20 years on television – in addition to the author’s images that I have played, they are in common with those that I have played other people, maybe more than 150 images. For 20 years I have only made imitations. I have imitated the greatest and most successful Bulgarians – Petar Stoyanov, Lili Ivanova, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha … Everyone I have played is my favorite, because I cannot play someone who does not touch me and does not impress me. I play and imitate only those I love. I do not imitate someone who does not touch my soul – no interesting eyes, radiance, characteristic voice, behavior. I can’t play everyone because I don’t like everyone. Not everyone touches me.
– Is writing far from you?
– I would not say, because most of the stories for the show I wrote myself. Vanya Shtereva edits, corrects, arranges and helps me. I do not have the self-confidence that I can write something alone without someone else’s help, as, for example, my colleagues like Valeri Yordanov and Kamen Donev do.
– Most of them become directors, here is Deyan Donkov, for example?
– Yes, I had such an offer. You know, for many years I didn’t have the courage to be alone on stage and do a one-man show, but here it happened. I believe that we are in this world to overcome our worries, to throw ourselves into what worries us and to win. But to be honest, I will say that I already have a similar debut as a director of “The Gramophone”. But it is too early for me to embark on this endeavor for other people.
– And where is politics in your life? Here is the man you worked for for many years – Slavi Trifonov is already a politician?
– I treat Slavi Trifonov with the best feelings, I also love the team. I am grateful for everything that happened to me there and for what I learned. Because he is a consistent man who keeps his word, I believe that once he has promised and taken responsibility for society, he will keep it. I support Slavi and his team.
– And would you join someone’s list? Here Kalin Velov could become Minister of Culture?
– My admiration for colleagues who have the confidence and strength to embark on this endeavor. I personally would not enter politics at this stage, I do not have this self-confidence. I think that one should do what one is best at. I want to give people smiles and love. I want to be liked. If I get involved in politics, I will certainly make mistakes and they will not like and love me as they do now. And I want to give love and not disappoint people. This is my purpose. And you know, it’s so nice when people come and tell me they’re watching me for the 15th time and I’m still happy for them. The stage is my life. When the life of The Gramophone expires, I can write a book to include stories from my grandmother’s life, as there are many stories left that I want to include. But for now, I hope this time is far away.
– Does your teaching career tempt you?
– I can help actors because of the experience I have gained over the years, but to give lessons, to prepare for entrance exams, to do acting schools as colleagues, I do not think that at this stage I can do it. Besides, I think I still have something to learn, not just to give wisdom to others.
– You are a perfectionist. In one of the interviews with you, you told me that you chose this profession because you could not go to work at 4 in the morning.
– Yes, it was with my father. I have always been blessed with this profession. And I always give one hundred percent of myself on stage and to people. They deserve it.
– Then you said that you choose the heart and emotions over the actor’s ego. Is that still the case?
– Yes, my heart is always before the ego in this profession and thank God! If there is no heart in what you do, nothing happens to you.
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