Actress Maria Ylipää will be seen for the first time in a psychological thriller. She longs for more diverse roles for women and knows that the direction is right.
Jenni Gästgivar / Iltalehti
It had to be a light and compact “crown job”. I saw the actor Maria Ylipää thought when he got another lead role in the series The Substitute.
– There were less than 20 filming days and I thought that this was a nice, short filming period, but the whole process turned out to be a really tight and intense experience. The intense scenes and the things my character went through sent me into quite a spin, but it was also rewarding. I enjoy when I get to act from side to side, to use a wide range of my acting palette.
– There were a few scenes in the story that triggered so strongly that they came to sleep, Ylipää says.
In the series Sijainen, Ylipää plays an architect named Ella, who has to leave her job in the architectural office to a substitute because of her maternity leave at the moment of the biggest opportunity in her career. Paula (Pamela Tola) is hired as a substitute, who begins to reveal obsessive traits.
– The threat to children triggers strong emotions in me personally, like in my character Ella. Ella has lived a controlled and career-oriented life. Becoming a mother and Paula entering the picture make the otherwise rational Ella act impulsively, Ylipää describes.
More interesting roles
Ylipää, who has entertained on theater stages for decades, is known from the big screen and TV series, will be seen for the first time in a psychological thriller. Helsinki-Filmi Oy
Ylipää enjoys the well-written female characters of the Sijainen series. The dynamic between the actors was in a large part of the auditions.
– When the characters were auditioned, I was really happy when I noticed how widely different actresses had been invited for both female roles. I thought it was amazing. There was a chance for any kind of combos. That is the basis of role-playing at its best, says Ylipää.
Ylipää is hopeful that there will be enough interesting roles for middle-aged women as well.
– As a parent, I have been able to play many more varied roles. Change is also underway. More diverse roles are written for women now, when there are more female screenwriters, directors and producers, Ylipää is happy.
– Now that I’ve turned 40, I feel like I’m just starting to have something to give as an actor. Now I have professional skills and a lived life behind me. That’s one of the things to draw from for this job, says Ylipää.
When he was younger, Ylipää wasn’t interested in audition invitations.
– When I was younger, most of the auditions I was asked to do were very uninteresting – mostly girlfriend roles. I wasn’t that interested in camera work then either. I wanted to focus on theatre, says Ylipää.
Ylipää says that as a child he identified more with boy and male characters.
– I understand now why I identified with characters who are active, make their own decisions and end up in exciting situations. I got all the boy characters’ roles in the school plays, Ylipää portrays gendered roles.
Actress Maria Ylipää knows that men also have to play a lot of narrow roles. Jenni Gästgivar / Iltalehti
Tired of performing
Ylipää enjoys TV and theater work as well as music performances, even though coordinating the work sometimes requires compromise. Ylipää says that he has learned the importance of recovery over the years.
This year, Ylipää has been on vacation for five weeks. It’s been a while since the last long vacation.
– Five to six weeks is pretty good. It lets you get away from work stuff. I’m constantly trying to learn how to clear enough space in my calendar for recovery and for things other than work, says Ylipää.
Pamela Tola and Maria Ylipää act together in the Sijainen series. Helsinki-Filmi Oy
Elisa Viihde’s original series Substitute starts on August 14.