Mira Furlan
Author: Callum Noble
Email: callum@DELETEMEnoble.clara.net
Date: 1998/10/04
Forums: alt.fan.mira-furlan
Message-ID: <36178825.3716073@news.clara.net>
Mira Furlan is an extraordinarily gifted and talented actress who is
now well respected in America and on a lesser scale here in the UK for
her role as Ambassador Delenn in the popular science fiction saga Babylon
5. The story of Mira's travel from Zagreb, Croatia to Los Angeles, California
is relatively unknown story of amazing courage and one woman's stand
for what she believed.
From an early age Mira's childhood was filled with various aspects of
the arts, languages and Yugoslavian literature. Her retired father once
taught child psychology at the University of Zagreb. He translated many
books on psychology into Mira's native tongue of Serbo-Croat from English
and Russian. Her now dead mother was, like her father good with languages
and was a professor of French and Yugoslav literature. In her childhood
Mira was often taken by her to see plays, Mira was and feels that she
still is very close to her mother: "If I have any talent, emotional
depth, passion, or capacity for love, it definitely comes from her."
Her grandmother was also a linguist and spent a lot of time with the
young Mira passing on her knowledge of languages to her. The high school
that Mira attended used English as the main language but also focused
on the study of other languages. This was Mira's main exposure to the
English language in Croatia and these skills have benefited her greatly.
Mira feels that her exposure to languages from this young age has helped
her greatly in her chosen profession of acting.
She first realised that acting was the profession that she wanted to
follow for the rest of her life when she was in high school. Mira was
performing a play that she had been rehearsing for a whole year. Looking
back she still sees this as a pivotal moment in her life, "in those
moments when I entered the stage, trembling with stage fright and excitement,
under those spotlights, I felt that I'd found the one thing that I wanted
to do in my life. Nothing could match that flow of adrenaline!"
After graduating from High School she attended the University of Zagreb
to study English and French. She also went to Zagreb's academy for Theatre,
Film and Television. At the academy she enrolled in the Department of
acting, this was considered to be an old-fashioned way of starting a
career. From her second year in the academy she was landing parts in
TV movies and theatre plays and a few films. In fact her first film
role eared her a Golden Arena Award for best supporting actress this
would be the equivalent of an American Oscar! Mira feels that she learnt
everything that she knows about acting through doing actual work. At
the academy she was just taught how to act and not anything to do with
how to start a career. Once she had graduated she was just "thrown into
the world to learn the practical things". This represented a large change
in the way that she had to organise her time because up until then she
had been getting work given to her. Now she had to start a career for
her self.
Mira's career took off as she got the opportunity to work with the countries
already established and respected actors and directors. By landing herself
many roles in film, theatre, and television she managed to create a
successful career. She felt that she was loved by her Yugoslavian audience
and that they really knew her. However her fans did not respect her,
instead she was treated as an icon. While she felt that she was "giving
a piece of her soul" to the people sitting at home watching her. They
were not involved with her. They were not exposed as she was. Mira has
said that it was like being owned by them.
One extreme case of this was before she had met her husband and was
living alone. She had been receiving letters for nine years from this
individual. One night he came to her door and Mira did the only thing
she thought she could do, speak to him. She said: "Please, go away!
Could you please go away". This, she found out later was the wrong thing
to do. She had made contact with him and involved herself. This happened
a few more times and eventually she called the police. The police where
a perfect example of how the general population treated her. They "came
like three macho guys" they enjoyed being in a famous actress's apartment
and said things like "Well, you have to be ready for stuff like that,
you're a beautiful woman!" They liked her, but they did not respect
her.
Then she met her husband Goran Gajic, a Serbian film director. She met
him while trying her hand at being in a band because her was directing
a video of the band that was being produced. Mira's stalker got to hear
about Goran and got the crazy idea that he was being paid by the government
to keep him and Mira apart! He sent her letters, twenty page letters,
letters Mira could not read. The last letter that she received from
the fan was from a mental institute that he was at, the letter contained
these words: "This is what I did for you; this is all because of you."
This shows the way that she was first loved by him and then hated and
blamed. He could not find a reason for the way that he behaved and so
he made the simple action of turning round and blaming Mira.
For Mira and for that matter the whole country money was at a shortage.
This gave actors a greater sense of freedom because money was not the
greatest concern. This absence of money made for more freedom and an
increase time available compared to the arts in the US, which are motivated
by money. Long shots on movies could be done over and over until perfected
and plays in Theatres were rehearsed, in the words of Mira, "forever".
Mira was often bored by this but she realises that this meant that there
was more time to enjoy and explore the creative process. This was all
soon to change.
The war broke out in the country. Forces based in Belgrade targeted
Zagreb. Mira, who is a pacifist, did not feel it her place to comment
on "the question of nationality, nation, belonging, you know -- blood."
Not responding to these things proved unpopular. Mira tried to keep
communication between these two warring cities by performing a play
in each city on alternate nights, each night travelling hundreds of
miles to get to the other city and the next night retracing her steps.
When questioned about her reasons for this she released a statement
that showed how she felt, that it was the "duty of our profession, to
build bridges. To never give up on co-operation and community. The professional
community, the human community. And even when things are at their very
worst, as they are now, we must insist to our last breath on building
and sustaining a bond between people. This is how we pledge to the future.
And one day it will come." Mira was persecuted greatly by the general
population and, just as her stalker had turned to hate her because she
was there, and so easy to blame, the people turned against her. In one
of the last conversations that Mira had with her best friend she was
told this "'They hate you so much because they loved you so much." Again
this was love, the wrong kind of love, a love that is more about possession
that letting someone be who they are, and this love turned to hate because
the population could not posses her any longer. The "possessive attitude"
that Mira had previously felt as being dangerous had now become a very
real threat. Mira has said that it felt like "the audience in my country
had slapped me in the face, after many years' work."
On the 15th of November Mira and her husband left Yugoslavia. After
being persecuted for standing up for what she believed and trying to
keep a nation together in a time of suffering. But she was hated for
it. Mira left behind a large body of work, a lot of which was lost during
the war. Both literally, and metaphorical a whole period of her life
was erased. Before she left her war-torn homeland she released a letter
to the press which shoed how she felt about all that had happened to
her since she made a stand against the break-up of her country. The
letter was written on September the 31st and was published on the 1st
of November in many national newspapers. After parts of her letter were
used in a short story "An Actress Who Lost Her Homeland," she realised
the Letter in full and signed feeling that she was regaining a "right
to her own words and her own life". The letter ended with these words:
" I am sending this letter into a void, into darkness, without an inkling
of who will read it and how, or how many different ways it will be misused
or abused. Chances are it will serve as food for the eternally hungry
propaganda beast. Perhaps someone with a pure heart will read it after
all.
I will be grateful to that someone."
Mira has succeeded in making and new life for herself in America, where
she moved to in 1991 after leaving her homeland for the last time. Mira
had been to America a few times before and she felt that American culture
was something that she could easily relate t o because her "generation
gad been brought up on American literature and American rock-and-roll".
Mira understands however that it is a very different thing to be a tourist
in a place and then trying to make a living there. She can see that
her feelings about the country are partially contradictory because she
feels like she likes the country because of the new opportunities that
the country can offer. She dislikes it plainly because she had to leave
her home to get there and when she thinks about why she is in the country
there is a harsh reminder of home.
A great advantage to Mira was her ability to speak fluent English and
because of this and of course her superb talents in the field of acting
she was able to make a career in acting for herself in America. For
Mira acting in English is quite and exciting and interesting task because
every day she is learning more and more about the language. She has
not acted in her own language in over six years and it is now the language
that she knows best in terms of acting. Mira has found it quite easy
to start a career for herself because that is exactly what she had to
do in Croatia when she was living there. Mira feels that there are a
lot of differences in the way that filming is carried out in America
compared to what she was used to in Yugoslavia. When In Yugoslavia there
was no money but a lot of time it is the exact opposite in America where
there is money in the industry and there is no time wasted getting a
finished scene filmed. The work that Mira had done previous to coming
to America is mostly ignored by people that have an interest in hiring
her for a film or play because they are not able to look behind the
low budgets of the films and see the good work that lies there. Now
Mira feels that she has discovered one thing that links her to lives
of work from bot countries together: the "frustrating aspects"!
On one of her first jobs in the states Mira felt like she was not allowed
to make even one mistake but she feels that she is more relaxed now.
Mira's first audition was for a pilot of a new science fiction series
Babylon5. She got the part but she knew the statistics for shows continuing
after the pilots in the America, only around 1% managed to become proper
TV series. Babylon5 succeeded and became a series and Mira landed herself
her first long-term job in this new land.
Working on Babylon5 for Mira as the character Delenn she has been shocked
by the characters past history compared to her own because they are
so similar. Joe Straczynski, the creator and main scriptwriter for Babylon
5 didn't know anything of her history when she was cast for the character.
Joe has been so understanding towards Mira in writing scripts that often
parody her past life. She feels that the character would have been possible
to play without having gone through her past experiences but because
she has, she feels that she can offer even more to the character and
that experience makes the whole business of acting Delenn even more
interesting. Mira now finds it easy slipping into the character of Delenn
after acting her for so long. She relies on her instincts on how the
character would behave and so because of this she feels that this is
one of the best characters that she has had the chance to act to to
date. There is however an element that Mira missies in acting for TV
as supposed to for the stage, this is the reaction that is given when
a scene works well. This is because she does not particularly having
the camera as her audience but she does admit that there is a feeling
of protection because she 'can know who the camera is'.
The science fiction fans are totally different to the fans of her work
that Mira left behind in Yugoslavia. She has a relatively large following
on the Internet, although she sometimes enters chat sessions with fans,
one of which I have been privileged to attend, she would rather not
know what the fans are saying about her. This is because she is just
not interested people's opinion's of her past work as she feels that
because they have already been done she can't change anything about
them. She has her own newsgroup on the internet alt.fan.mira-furlan
which her husband subscribes to he sometimes calls her to the computer
to show her what the fans have written but she is not particularly bothered.
There are also quite a few Internet websites that are dedicated to Mira
or have something about her on them. These sites do not intimidate her
as fans dedicated to other actors do to actors who read them. She feels
that because she was a victim of a stalker in her home country she can
see the respect that the science fiction fans give her.
Even though Mira and Goran have succeeded in creating a new life for
themselves and leaving there country they feel that they would not wish
it on anyone because of the difficulties and the emotional stress of
it. Mira has said that when she moved to America she felt she was stripped
naked because you have no history or reverence points in which others
can relate to. She also goes onto say that it is still possible to 'reinvent'
your self and integrate into a new culture, especially in northern America
because it is the normal thing to do there. On the point of immigration
to America and people that are against it because it does not work Mira
has said, "it is still possible. And I'm proof if that."
In a fourth season episode of Babylon 5, Moments of Transition: Delenn
is trying to end a civil war between the different castes of her race.
To do this she prepares to sacrifice herself putting her own life on
the line to help stop the civil war and to restore piece to her planet.
This is just fiction and it is easy to write a fictional character to
something like this but we must not forget that this was exactly what
Mira did not that many years previously. Mira understands that science
fiction fans must not forget that it is just fiction that they are watching
on television, but also says that it is important to remember that some
of these fictional situations have there roots deep in reality. Science
Fiction, I mean proper SF like Babylon 5 really are the events of today
or possible events translated into something that contains a little
more fantasy. If Mira's comments on acting in science fiction have taught
me one thing it is to remember that even though it may be presented
as fiction we must learn to separate the fiction form the fact and find.
Then we can find the hidden meaning which, in this case would be that
people have and will defend their beliefs to their death because they
know no other way.
I sincerely hope that if the situation ever arises where I may have
to sacrifice all that I have, even my life, to stand up for what I believe
I would be able to what Mira did and risk all for my beliefs.
Bibliography
Mira Furlan Biography - by Brigitte Just
Across Two Cultures - the Zocalo on-line newsletter
Talented Aliens and Dangerous Women - by Jackie Jordan Ross
Stranger in a Strange Land - by Michelle Erica Green
Mira Furlan Interview (Sci-Fi Universe) - by Stephen Smith
Minbari Moments by Joe Nazzaro
Furlan on Acting (Sci-Fi Universe) - by Stephen Smith
Yugoslavia: The Flash of War - Time Magazine: Sep 30th 1991
All extractions from Mira's letter are © 1991: 'Mira Furlan'
The full unabridged version of Mira's letter is available from:
http://jhupress.jhu.edu/demo/performing_arts_journal/18.2furlan.html
--
Computing Definition:
Device - Medieval torture instrument such as thumbscrew, iron maiden.
The alt.b5.uk webste is at:
http://come.to/alt.babylon5.uk
Callum Noble : callum@noble.clara.net ICQ=12260945
Remember to DELETEME
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