“I like big tasks”: Zuzana Stivínová on Havel, Forman and joy of acting at National Theatre
Zuzana Stivínová is a well-known Czech actress. She played one of the main roles in the stage version of Václav Havel’s Leaving in 2007 and today is most commonly to be found on the boards of the National Theatre in Prague. She has also worked with such screen directors as Věra Chytilová and Miloš Forman, and starred in the acclaimed TV drama Wasteland. Stivínová, who comes from an artistic background, also spent several years living in New York in the 2010s.
Your father Jiří Stivín is a famous flautist. Your siblings are musicians and you also sing. But still, what drew you to the acting profession?
“I am from a musical family, yes. My father is actually a multi-instrumentalist, so I started to also play the cello when I was young; I wanted to, I wasn’t forced.
“But I actually always wanted an actress and a singer; I always wanted to be on the stage.
“Also my passion was fashion and costumes, but I’m unable to draw, so I actually decided to perform [laughs].”
Were you a kid who would show off a lot?
“I think I was very extravagant always. Loud. And it was quite natural to be on the stage for me, yes.”
As I say, your dad is famous. Did you as a child get to meet lots of significant people through him?
“Well, my father is famous now – we can say he’s a living legend.
“But when I was a kid he wasn’t actually famous, because jazz wasn’t a popular music. So he wasn’t on TV, people didn’t really recognize him.
“But his friends were amazing. So I was growing up surrounded by Bolek Polívka and really the best performers from Czechoslovakia.
“Also once I went home and there was a tall beautiful man and it was a journalist from Melodie, the music magazine, and it was actually [Slovak singer and musician] Richard Müller, who was doing an interview with my father. And then later he became famous, of course we all know him.
“I was surrounded by special people. Really.”
You were I believe 16 at the time of the revolution. That must have been a great age to be at for those events?
“It was amazing. I was in the first of second year that didn’t have to graduate in Russian, which was amazing, because I didn’t learn anything.
“We were forced to speak Russian, so when you’re forced to do something you hate it of course.
“I was growing up surrounded by the best performers from Czechoslovakia.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“Now I feel sorry, because sometimes I would like to speak it, because I love the language, but I didn’t learn anything.
“But the time around and after the revolution was really the best, yes.”
And you got to experience legendary ‘90s Prague.
“You came then?”
I was here from ’92, ’93.
“Every family had somebody who spoke English, because we all wanted to quickly learn English.
“So we all had some friends from Canada or England or the USA [laughs]…
“It was really a great time and also I was lucky enough to be around Václav Havel, because he was always involved in the theatre.
“I played in his play Leaving later, but I also did… it was the play after the revolution, I can’t remember the title now [Asanace/Redevelopment], at Realistické divadlo, which is now Švandovo divadlo.
“So I also played in his plays.”
You studied in Prague at the Conservatory and since then you’ve worked at many of the city’s theatres. But who are some of the actors who you worked with who made the most impact on you? Or maybe even who you enjoyed spending time with the most?
“I really had an amazing relationship with Vlasta Chramostová [1926–2019] – she was my close friend, until her last days.
“She was again playing theatre because before she couldn’t…”
She was banned under the Communists.
“Yes. So we actually were together at the National Theatre 30 years ago, and then I left.
“But then I came back and we were together again, which was lovely.”
What do you regard as the main turning points, or biggest steps, in your career so far?
“I always was prepared. I learned other lines, other parts, in plays, and usually if somebody got sick or pregnant I stepped in.
“So actually my biggest role was in Leaving by Václav Havel. I stepped in instead of Dáša Havlová [VH’s wife], which is bizarre, because Václav wrote it for her.
“But then it was 12 days before the opening night and we had to finish it, so I did it.
“They hadn’t thought about me for the role, but then it was actually great that I did it, because I played the part; it was kind of better than if it had been Dáša – it would have been too confusing for the audience.
“And I think it was something new, something where you feel you’re growing up and you can finally play a part of somebody who is totally different than you are. It’s a challenge for an actor.
“I loved it, actually.”
The director of Leaving at the theatre, Archa, was David Radok. For you, what’s the perfect director? What’s the kind of director you most like to work with, either in theatre or on screen projects?
“I really do like demanding directors. I mean: Věra Chytilová, Jan Němec, [Jan Antonín] Pitínský in the theatre. David was very demanding. And I actually like it.
“I like to do what directors want. I like to create new characters, I don’t want to just do, naturally, what I think is right.
“I like to create new forms. I actually like methodical directing – some actors don’t, but I do.
“I really do like demanding directors.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“So, these people I said. Of course, also now I’ve been working with Marián Amsler, which is a beautiful collaboration, also at the National Theatre.
“And yes, I like big tasks.”
But would it make you uncomfortable if a director didn’t give you any feedback or any notes? Some directors just choose the person they think should play the part and then stand back.
“This is actually something I spoke about with Stellan Skarsgard this summer, because we both worked with Miloš Forman.
“So I asked him how was it, and he actually said…
“Because Miloš Forman always said that 95 percent of success is the cast – he casts you and then he doesn’t tell you much, because he thinks it’s your job, and that’s also a way.
“And Stellan said, He was always talking about food! Was it the same with you?
“Stellan [Skarsgard] said, [Miloš Forman] was always talking about food! Was it the same with you?”
Zuzana Stivínová
“I said, Yes, he was always talking about food.
“When they were shooting Goya’s Ghosts and Natalie Portman, I think, asked him, Can you please tell me something about the part?
“And he was like, What do you want to know?! I cast you, you play it!… And when is dinner? [laughs]”
How was it in general working with Forman? I guess that was the last film that he made – a film of a stage play – and he was probably in his 70s.
“It was on the stage, what we did together, Dobře placená procházka [A Walk Worthwhile], written by Suchý and Šlitr.
“It’s a jazz opera and we did it on the stage of ‘Kaplička’, of the old National Theatre, and it was something special, because he already allowed himself to be pathetic.
“He loved it – it was like his goal, to be once in the National Theatre.”
Speaking of the National Theatre, you had a previous stint there, now you’re back full-time for the last five or six years. How is it working there compared to other Prague theatres? And what’s it like going there every evening or afternoon or whatever you do?
“I really love old theatres, so I don’t have many choices. I really want to be in the National Theatre and play in these old houses.
“For me it’s hard to play sometimes in a cinema, because there are now theatres created from former movie theatres. They’re not bad, but the acoustics and the space are different.
“So I will stick with the National Theatre as much as I can.
“And always when I open the golden door I always tell myself how lucky I am.”
What about theatre versus film and TV work – is either of them more comfortable for you?
“I totally love theatre life. I like the creation. I love when nobody sees us and we’re working in the empty National Theatre – it’s always a lovely atmosphere.
“But I also like the lights. So sometimes I like to have a movie and go to Karlovy Vary film festival and present it.
“It’s hard to play sometimes in a cinema, because there are now theatres created from former movie theatres.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“It’s a different world. I never compare them. I always see things as a particular job. It always depends who is directing it, who’s in it.
“And I actually like to mix it. I kind of relax.
“It’s more intimate for me, actually, to stand on the stage of the National Theatre than to have a camera in my face.
“Some people would say it’s the opposite, but you can hide the camera, you can work with the camera. It’s like your buddy.
“And on the stage you’re really naked.”
Is it hard to switch one to the other? People say theatre acting is bigger and film acting is more subtle.
“I would say it’s a question of technique. You just speak a bit less loud [laughs].
“It’s not about switching something. I think it’s either good or bad.
“A few Czech directors think I can be too much for the camera.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“Of course there are some differences, but I don’t think it’s difficult.
“I’ve been doing it so long. I’m very often behind the camera, only doing voiceovers. I work with people with vision problems, so I do audio descriptions – sometimes your ego has to go out and you’re only commenting on the movie so people actually see what’s in it.
“So I actually know all these versions, I suppose.
“And I think a few Czech directors think I can be too much for the camera, but I think [director] Ivan Zachariáš proved that I can do enough in Wasteland.
“He let me be natural, not to be loud, also in the emotions, and I think it was a masterpiece from him.”
And that’s I guess one of the greatest ever Czech TV series.
“Is it still?”
I think so.
“I hope so [laughs].”
You also do stuff like audio books. You told me earlier you’re now between projects, but how do you balance everything? You’ve got two kids and do all kinds of different work – how do you organise your life?
“Well, I go to tennis lessons. This is what I love to do in between jobs, so I have some sport.
“I kind of always have to get in good shape, because while I am shooting or performing or rehearsing I usually don’t have time to go work out.
“So I kind of use my free time to learn, to do research and to go to tennis lessons, which I love – I would go every day, if I could.
“And then I kind of can do my art, yes [laughs].”
Did you come to tennis later in life, or did you also play when you were younger?
“Yes. I was always a super fan. Once, in 1990, I even waited 15 hours to get a ticket for Wimbledon in London to see Martina Navrátilová win her last Wimbledon in singles.
“I was always obsessed with tennis as a spectator, but now I really play. I have three coaches and I am really serious about it.”
Three coaches?
“Yes.”
Is one for, like, service?
“In 1990 I waited 15 hours to get a ticket for Wimbledon to see Martina Navrátilová.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“One is not enough! I am a member of Sokol Vršovice, where I have an amazing coach, Mr. Jaroslav Pilát. And then I have coaches in Olšanka and I go with friends to Štvanice.”
Do you take part in competitions, or do you more play with friends?
“Yes, we actually have the Public Interest Tennis Cup. It’s going to be the seventh year this year.
“Once I won it, in doubles, so I won it with a friend.”
Public Interest is a bar, no?
“It’s a bar, co-owned by Ivan Zachariáš. That’s actually how it started.
“We had the Pustina [Wasteland] Tennis Cup. It didn’t go well, I couldn’t organise it well, so the guys made the Public Interest Tennis Cup, and we even have sponsors and it’s really big.”
About film in particular, how do you choose your roles? I have to be honest, a lot of your colleagues, good actresses and good actors, do some wonderful movies, and they do pretty low-quality comedies in particular. I sometimes think, Why are they doing this? But you don’t seem to take on those kind of “crazy comedy” roles.
“It sounds nice, How do you choose?
“I wish to choose. I wish I had five scripts at home and could choose.
“But usually you don’t have this luxury. You have one collaboration and you speak about it with the director or producers.
“I don’t think I have many options, so I usually only have to say yes or no. It’s not like I have to balance it, you know, This is more arty, this is more commercial.
“But I think what you ask for usually comes. So I think it’s also collaboration. Some people know that I wouldn’t do these anyway, so they don’t even ask me.
“I think that’s natural.
“But for Czech actors work in the theatre is really hard – you don’t do it for money in the Czech Republic, unfortunately.
“So sometimes it’s not a good project but you do it, because you have to feed your family.”
You had a small role in the Netflix movie Spaceman, and I’m pretty sure I met you one time at a casting agency. Do you get much international work?
“Because I don’t have an agent in London I usually get what they call ‘locals’.
“They cast projects from London and then the ‘locals’, that’s what we are, get the smaller parts. Usually it’s only one or two sentences, or without speaking.
“So actually maybe I could get an agent in London – it would be lovely.”
Speaking of London, where did you get your great English accent?
“Oh, come on! My sons are always laughing when I speak.
“I’m very promiscuous, as you say in English, because it depends who I am speaking to – I will even speak with an Indian or Italian accent if I speak with Indians or Italians.
“So it depends [laughs].”
Did you have an American accent when you lived in New York?
“I don’t think so. But my boys are New Yorkers – they speak that way.”
You spent seven years in New York around the first half of the 2010s. Your husband Lukáš is a molecular biologist and he was working there. You even lived in Manhattan. How was it going from your busy career and social life in Prague to this whole other environment of New York?
“It’s New York, you know, so it’s not a small village, it’s a big village.
“But I have to say we were a Czech household, so I always spoke Czech at home with the boys, because I didn’t want them to lose it or for it to be awkward when we came back to Prague; I didn’t want them to have an accent, so I was forcing them.
“Now I am happy, but they hated me, of course.
“But I have to say I actually found villages… You know, the East Village in New York, it’s something you’re part of.
“It was ‘my New York’. At the time we lived there I really knew people by name.
“I love the city and I will always love it, even if it’s different now; it’s not my New York any more.
“But it will always be the place where my children grew up, so I kind of have a sentiment for it.”
After seven years, especially considering the ages of your boys at the time, was it hard for you and your family to readjust to living full-time again in this country?
“For me it was of course easy, because I came back and I started to do Wasteland and I started to work in the theatre, so it was ‘my’ environment, something I knew very well and was just waiting for.
“And for the boys I think the transition from New York to the Czech Republic was harder than from the Czech Republic to New York, because they were very small when we went there.
“I think they now know what it was about and how important it was, but I think it was tough for them to move from New York City to Prague, where everybody was angry – you can’t really do small talk.
“So I think we had to get used to it, but we have the luxury of being surrounded by great people; we have friends here, and families, so we are safe.”
I read a previous interview with you where you said that you like small talk, which seems most unusual, especially for a Czech person.
“I love small talk. I always did. But I am very communicative.
“When I’m on the bus I even know the name of the bus drivers [laughs], and I speak with them about their daughters.
“But some people don’t like it, of course.
“I would only recommend young directors not to be afraid to ask me to work with them.”
Zuzana Stivínová
“And when I, you know, just smile at somebody they usually think I am smiling because it’s awkward or funny – they are very suspicious.
“Czechs are very suspicious. You know that – you had to integrate [laughs].”
My final question: Is there anything you’d still like to achieve in your career? Or anything you’d like to do you haven’t tried yet?
“I would only recommend young directors not to be afraid to ask me to work with them.
“And I would like to actually work on new characters and create new roles, like even somebody who is not similar to Zuzana Stivínová, somebody who is totally different.
“That is what I am actually looking forward to – to doing different things than I did until now. That’s it, probably [laughs].”
