“The hotel is made in an excellent style and with good taste that is to my taste so I’ll be really sorry when I leave”

Park Hotel & Spa, as a supporter of art and its development, strives to support a growing number of cultural events in the country. This time we supported the new monodrama “Kiro” dedicated to the football field star Miroslav Kiro Blazevik and we had a great pleasure to welcome Tarik Filipovik who plays the main character and is an author of the monodrama, as our special guest.

We were honored to discuss with him the first impressions of the monodrama, his stay at Park Hotel & Spa and in Macedonia. Welcome to Park Hotel & Spa.

What is the purpose of your visit to Macedonia?

– I have a tour with my mono-comedy, monodrama, in four Macedonian cities for 8 days, with our base being here in Skopje at Park Hotel&Spa. I really enjoy my stay in the hotel, moreover, I look forward to every return in my room.

How do you like staying at Park Hotel & Spa?

I have only praises for the hotel. I visited the spa center, the restaurant for breakfast and lunch, everything is made in style and with good taste, that is, to my taste. I really cannot say that something is missing, the service is great, I’ll be really sorry when I leave.

Can you give us more details about the monodrama, what is the impressions of the audience so far?

– The first time I played this monodrama was in Bitola at the Comedy Festival, and now we did the second performance in Bitola that went great. I can especially distinguish the performance in Skopje, it was great, quite a night to remember. The wonderful audience made it a really special and emotional experience for me. I have acted in front of a much bigger audience, however here in Skopje was something special, I must admit. I really enjoyed it and I hope we can do it again in the future.

You have played in many plays and TV shows, which role mirrors you the most and which one is the closest to your heart?

– There are more than one, for example, the TV show ” Bitanga I Princeza ”, a generational TV show, followed by younger generations nowadays as well, I do not know if you’ve seen it, it is very similar to “Friends”. Another one is “Konak kod Hilmije”, something that we are currently working on, great TV show, I think it will leave a deep mark on the audience. In the theater, I have many dear roles, but I enjoyed the most when playing Marko Antonio in the play “Julius Caesar”

Playing in the theater in front of the audience is a rather stressful and difficult job, how do you experience it, and how do you prepare before a show, do you have a special ritual?

– I have some discipline. My latest time for lunch before the show is around 4-5 hours, and I’m really strict about that. I don’t like going to the theater too early to avoid some waiting anxiety, so I come 40 minutes before the show time. I do around 10 minutes of reset and relaxation before the show and that’s it, nothing in particular.

Have you ever forgotten your lines during performance or have had an unexpected situation, and how do you manage those moments?

– When it comes to that, I’m gifted with really good memory. Not only I don’t forget my text, but I remember other actors’ texts as well, which is why I am the one to remind those who will forget their lines. I think this happens as a result of my father’s lessons when I was a child, to study in a way to understand the matter rather than to just learn it by heart, this way I take the whole text in and I don’t forget it. If you understand the situation, the text is not that necessary, it is simple. For example, if I approach your table and I am supposed to greet you, there is no way for me to forget what I need to say, because I can say the greeting with so many different words, and there is no room for confusion.

Macedonian audience recognizes you from the show “Who wants to be a millionaire?” In what ways this show affected your life?

– That show and the whole TV career happened accidentally for me. I thought it will last for a year or two, but here we are 15-16 years later and still on TV. I am currently working on my fourth quiz show, and if millionaire returns next fall, it will last some more, hopefully, I will reach 20 years on TV. This is a parallel career that has given me a lot, but taken a lot as well. There were a lot of roles offered by directors, especially for the movie, but the power of TV and the millionaire show is too big, so they have given up. I made my peace with it, I accepted it, and I love doing it, that’s how it was supposed to be.

Which role mirrors you better, the role of a TV host or as an actor?

– I am an actor. As I said, the TV career was not planned, and even though I consider it as my job as well, I have always been an actor and that’s the thing I do the best in my life.

How many times have you visited Macedonia? Have you ever been here for vacation or you come only for business purposes?

– Mainly I come for work and as a guest in some TV shows. Since the 90s I have been many times in Macedonia and made a lot of friend along the way. Now I visited some new cities for the first time here, and it is my pleasure I got to know better Strumica, Shtip, Bitola, and Ohrid.