A man is obliged to somehow design his life, to create it to be as good as possible in the given conditions, said Bojkovic.
Who still doesn’t remember the “Better Life” and the ups and downs of the Popadić family, which has become synonymous with some better times. Even the younger generations closely followed the rerun of these episodes.
And the legendary Yugoslav actress Svetlana Ceca Bojković masterfully played Emilia, a role that still accompanies her throughout her life. Bojkovic recently frightened the entire region when information leaked to the public that she ended up in the hospital due to a coronavirus.
Breathing problems
Fortunately, the 73-year-old actress successfully recovered, and, as she told “Avaz”, it was only last Wednesday that she left the house for the first time.
- I feel good, thank God. It’s been a while, about two weeks ago I got out of the hospital, and I ended up with home isolation afterward. I started getting out of the house yesterday, I don’t bother much. Although, all this is individual, for some the recovery takes slower, for some longer. For me, everything lasted for about a month – Bojkovic told us.
He adds that he will still wait as far as vaccination is concerned, which is largely underway in neighboring Serbia.
- It’s a process, I can’t get vaccinated right now, but if antibodies have been made, then I’m safe for a while. On Monday I go for a lung scan, although I think it’s all over, I ingested antibiotics and probiotics, intravenously and so on. I did not, thank God, have difficulty breathing, not even a fever, except for two or three days, but I had pneumonia, as the scanner showed. I think it’s all behind me because I feel really good now.
Visibly in the mood, this legendary actress says that her strength has finally returned.
- We can all throw away the whole last year easily. Unfortunately, nothing happened that year, except for the crown. It was a completely abnormal life, which we survived, and we suffered a lot. The worst was when people started dying, and those close and familiar to you – says Bojkovic.
She says she was not scared, because she respected the measures from the first day.
- But I was filming. However, I didn’t get infected on set, which is interesting, and where I got infected ask God when I didn’t go anywhere else. That is not clear to me. The whole team is on set. A lot of series are being filmed now, so many have never been filmed. And theaters, for the most part, don’t work, I think rarely. But on set, the whole team of us, the actors, wears masks and we watch out. If someone accidentally gets sick, everyone is tested immediately, the recording is interrupted and so on – Bojkovic tells us.
With this legendary actress, who is considered a true diva of the world of acting, it is always pleasant to talk and it is almost impossible not to touch on some topics, which concern the past, the better ones, as she says.
She admits that she was surprised by the public response to her illness.
- I didn’t even tell my friends while I was at home. Precisely because I don’t like so much fuss about it. However, it still leaked, after that, I didn’t even follow it because I was in the hospital. I haven’t seen mine, my daughter, or my husband, they just bring me what I need. And I was isolated at home, no one comes to us, only my husband and me. Thank God, he didn’t get infected from me – the actress tells us.
He will return to filming the series, which will soon begin broadcasting on Prva TV, around February 24.
- I agreed to slow down my pace a bit, not to do it right away, what they would say – at full speed. Him the first two weeks for four hours, and then three times a week for eight hours. Well, that, thankfully, isn’t really physically strenuous, you know. And the conditions are good. In the first 16 episodes, Seka Sablic plays, and I play her sister, who appears in the 17th episode because the character who plays Seka has traveled. Then I show up there, and she will come back too – Bojkovic reveals to us.
Monthly income
He says that the series is still being written, and it is called “Three Men and an Aunt” and that it is a comedy.
- It is one life of today’s family that is a bit crazy and, mostly, everyone is there, so to speak, flirting and lying. They are coping in the present moment – Bojkovic said with a laugh.
He admits that nowadays everything is accelerated and that filming used to be much more comfortable and convenient.
- It’s just fast and a lot of work. The series hadn’t been produced that much before. Now you have actors, who play in three series at the same time, running from one shoot to another. It probably won’t last forever either, but come on, who do people say to use and earn a dinar, because there are a lot of freelance artists and the young world, who don’t have permanent employment. They are registered as freelancers and, if they do not work, they do not have any secured monthly income – the actress points out.
She had many notable roles in her career, but, nevertheless, the role of Emilia from “Better Life” is the one by which she will always remember this actress.
- I do not mind. I understand that it was a different time, a much larger space, which the whole former Yugoslavia was looking at, was a single market. And that belonged, simply, to another time that no longer exists. Because, literally, with the “Better Life”, with the cessation of its broadcasting, the disintegration of Yugoslavia began. We are no longer the country that once existed, it has a, perhaps, nostalgic note. We still believed then. We didn’t know what was waiting for us, no one knew that no one – says Bojkovic sadly.
Don’t worry
When asked how she would see Emilia in today’s world, if the filming of “Better Life” continued, Bojkovic pointed out that it would be a completely different story.
- Some even talked about the continuation of “Better Life”. Oh, no, that shouldn’t go on at all. It is recorded and imprinted as some fossil remnant of that time, which is beautiful, of course, and a culture unto itself. Everything has changed. All those things, and series, and theaters, everything is changing. Everything has happened since then, tragic things, deaths, wars, everything, so that chastity, which existed before that, is no more. I always like to say that a better life is almost forever. In a figurative sense – Bojkovic points out.
Sometimes he thinks it’s not worth thinking about that past life.
- I’m sorry that better life has stopped, but it’s not worth it. It is no longer a matter of our choice and desire. We may remember some calmer, nicer, more stable weather, but that’s it. And a man while living is obliged to somehow design his life, to create it to be as good as possible in the given conditions. I avoid thinking about the uncertain future in advance, so as not to be shaken. Whatever it is, it will be. I avoid anxiety situations as much as I can. It is not worth worrying in advance and being afraid. You only make your life miserable – concluded Bojkovic.
I was in a situation to cut
The acting diva also referred to the case of Milena Radulovic, an actress, who reported Professor Miroslav Aleksic for sexual abuse.
- Of course, I support, above all, these brave girls, considering that I saw that, indeed, an avalanche started, I expect that it will simply not die, but that it will release many girls and women, who have experienced any kind. violence to advertise, because that is the only way to stop it – said the actress.
She says she has noticed inappropriate behaviors throughout her career as well.
- Not many times. But I was somehow in a position to cut it off right away. I was already an actress by then and I wasn’t as young as these girls were. That happens on jobs of any kind – Bojkovic pointed out.
I’m eager to travel
- Life has accelerated, not only our work, but everything has accelerated. I am eager to travel, especially since we belong to that generation 65+, we didn’t even leave the apartment for a few weeks, let alone go somewhere outside Belgrade. And I really miss that – says Bojkovic.
Many people died
- Many doctors and nurses have passed away. Where I was in the hospital, almost every third medical worker or doctor had a crown. And they were lucky to end well, but there are many who died, unfortunately – said Bojkovic.
