Jussi Vatanen has kept his head cold, even though the corona pandemic has reduced work gigs.
A year ago, Korona stumbled, and Jussi Vatanen prepared for the filming of Bad Women. There was a lot of excitement in the air, as there had been a break due to the pandemic.
– I remember very well that before the filming the feeling was special, it had been a bit longer in that more or less isolation. Nevertheless, we got to do a production where there are a lot of Actors. It was a real flash of light that I got to meet colleagues and work with the group, Vatanen says.
Despite the pandemic, the actor’s work situation has not been inconsolable in recent years, and various productions have kept Vatanen’s bread aside despite the difficult times.
– But even though I myself have not been so inconsolable, I do understand the feeling of distress and mistreatment of people in the event industry.
Stress has not skyrocketed in difficult times either, because Vatanen has already gotten used to the fact that from time to time there are eras between work projects when the calendar is empty.
– I have never been attached anywhere since I graduated from the Theater Academy in 2005. I remember being excited for the first eight years as a freelancer, but at some point I gave up and decided I couldn’t control my nights here wondering if the point was to work.
The years as a freelancer have also boosted credit for new projects to come ahead despite the breaks.
Excitement in the air
Even if quieter times are viewed with impatience in one’s own calendar, performance breaks have another significant effect on Vatanen’s work. He says that always after a break, stepping on stage or in front of the cameras is always a degree more challenging.
– As time goes on, I have time to think about whether I can even act anymore, when the performance has not been that normal state of being. It is such a certain sensitivity to performance that it is not so easy to go in front of people if there are long breaks, Vatanen says.
The number of live gigs has decreased to non-existent due to the corona pandemic. Miia Vatka
– Anyone who has ever given a presentation knows that the first time is always the most difficult, but then the second time it is a little easier.
Although there have been a huge number of performances from the live stages in front of the TV cameras along the way, the excitement is still present today in some form.
– It’s always exciting to perform! Vatanen laughs.
– I think that the goal is not even not to get excited at all, but to learn to deal with that excitement. My own approach to excitement has become more mundane as the experience of performing has accumulated.
An eternal surprise
In the case of films and TV series, the actor only sees the final version when the editor and director have racked up a huge amount of material on their own vision of the end result. Vatanen says that it is always an equally exciting moment to get the episode of a movie or TV series he has starred in front of his eyes for the first time.
– Then there are always promises of surprises, because it is often done, as in Bad Women, that a lot of different versions of the scenes are made. For example, my character may be described as a little more agitated and a little less agitated in the same scene. The director and editor then finally make the decision on which version best fits the final ensemble.
Vatanen admits that when she looks at the finished pieces for the first time, she often can’t be very gracious to herself.
– Actors are usually quite ruthless at all about how they react to their own expression. Sure, I’ve been used to it over the years, but I may still be annoyed for a while by some small details in my own work. Then I wonder why I did just that and why I have to twist that face, Vatanen laughs.
Jussi Vatanen admits that he is ruthless in the trace of his work. Kaisa Vehkalahti
A person is often the most severe judge of himself, and this is often evident in Vatanen’s first look at his own work.
– And I guess no other person pays attention to those things, the actor laughs.
– I also don’t want to think too much about small details, because at worst, it starts to look the wrong way or how you live in front of the camera. In the final games, however, the most important thing is what you want to express, not whether the actor’s eyebrows are in the right position in his opinion.
And often the second time you watch it, the annoyance has already subsided.
– Somehow after its first time, it is able to perceive its whole better. On the other hand, it is also constantly being aware that nothing can really be done about it anymore. It’s a bit of wasted energy to start pulling a bolt on the subject yourself.
Time also does its job in terms of judging your own work.
– It’s been a year since the depictions of bad women, so I have to say that this moment of release is always a bit of a memory retrieval. When it’s been almost a year of filming, things just more or less forget. Instead of remembering the content of the productions, the feelings and feelings about what it was like to do are often the most memorable.
– And this is repeated from time to time in different work projects. The human mind works in that way, Vatanen says.
The film Bad Women, starring Jussi Vatanen, can be seen in cinemas all over Finland.