“I’m not going to give up Ismo Laitela”

The iconic actor of the Salatut elämät series Esko Kovero admits that he is surprised by his current age. Today, Saturday, Kovero turns handsome 65 years old.

– These years go by very quickly. It feels like I just turned 50. When you start thinking, it seems like a big number. That either it came now, Kovero laughs.

– I remember when my father turned 50, and I thought he was like Methuselah or something from the Jurassic period. Now, when I myself am 15 years over that age, I don’t think of myself as that old. Like Juice has said: I feel like I’m a perpetual teenager with two kids.

Kovero describes himself as 65 years old in moderate condition.

– There is stiffness and you can feel it in your joints. The step is shorter and does not rise as high as before. But summa summarum, I feel that I’m still an okay working man.

– Let’s say that when you wake up in the morning at this age and if you don’t feel any place, then you are very likely dead, says the actor, who keeps himself active with daily exercise and fishing.

Competitive to be an actor

Kovero’s acting career started early, but few people know that before that he had time to work in a completely different field as a young adult. Kovero, who is from Outokumpu, says that he left high school after the first year in order to study as an instrument fitter at the local vocational school.

– I had heard that after graduating as an instrument fitter you could quickly enter the working world, so we decided to apply to study it after the first year of high school. Many of us got in, and when I graduated, I was soon offered a job at the Outokumpu electric utility. I first got to install electric meters, for example, and after that I got a job as an electrician’s helper. I got all the way to the lines to install electricity in the town of Outokumpu, Kovero says proudly.

After the army, Kovero returned to work at the electricity company, but in the spring of 1979, he decided to apply to Teatterikorkeakoulu.

– From a small town, it’s not easy to go to Teatterikorke, but you had to have suitable support people and recommenders. I set out to get there a little secretly and when the announcement came that I got in on the first try, many things in life changed in an instant. The rest is history.

What is the best thing about being an actor?

– I guess we actors must have some narcissistic and existentialist traits when we enjoy being on display. When dopamine starts to rush through the body after a successful performance, it definitely feels good. In that sense, this job has something in common with professional sports. Getting to those dopamine peaks is full of pain, but then it feels good when things go smoothly.

– The best thing about an actor’s work, especially in Secret Lives, is also the crew and good co-actors, with whom it’s fun and rewarding to imitate the art ball.

For retirement?

Kovero reached retirement age a year ago, but he wasn’t quite ready to stay away from his work then.

– Yes, I kind of knew that retirement age all along, but it still came so quickly. I felt like I haven’t had time to do everything I want yet. Only after I turned 64 did it (retirement) start to come to my mind more. However, the idea here is not to work until the age of 100.

Even now, retirement is not a topical issue.

– When it’s still possible to work in Salatui eläm, we’ll go one production season at a time. I’m not going to give up Ismo just because of retirement.

Kovero says that when he eventually retires, he still does not intend to completely give up acting.

– This acting is so much in the blood. If only the memory is working and the physical condition is enough, then it would be good to keep the skills up to date even in retirement.

Kovero doesn’t think about the most significant turning point in his life so far.

– It’s definitely becoming a father in 1986 and 1988. A good second is getting into Teatterikorkea.

TV favorites

Salatut elämät has been one of Finland’s most loved series for 24 years, and Ismo Laitela, played by Kovero, one of the most loved characters. But what series and programs does Kovero himself like to watch on TV?

– Now I’ll give a boring answer: nature programs and documentaries. I especially like historical documentaries, because as they say: if you don’t know history, you don’t understand the future or the present either.

– But if you really press me about which series I like, the TV2 English series Saalistajat has stuck in my mind lately. In general, I like the English series.