Quotes

[on working with Jan Werich]: "Werich was a giant for me. A giant of calm, of sovereignty. And I fell in love with him all the more when I found out on the set that this great Werich also had stage fright, that his soul was also fluttering."

[on playing negative roles]: "I never want to portray a negative character as a deterrent. I always want to find something human in it. You're not bad because you want to be bad. To master negative features of the character also needs a bit of courage to reveal one's own."

[on his acting style]: "When a situation is so-called funny, I look for its sadness and seriousness. When it's serious, I try to find the humorous side of it. I believe it's the basis of acting, and it defies the division of actors into comedians and tragedians and questions about which is more difficult."

[on his unfulfilled aspirations]: "I thought many times that I should get behind the camera and direct. I should have done it, I had no shortage of ideas, but the times didn't favor one person directing, writing and acting - he would have been too visible. It wasn't possible. I'd have had more money, too. That wasn't possible either."

[on Vladimír Menšík] How did we even meet? I don't know exactly, I'm still in a fog about it, but I think it was in some kind of a big hurry. We were pulling it off in some big company, day and night. And I suddenly woke up in a completely strange apartment, I look around, I see a man sitting next to me with happy eyes, a mouthful of teeth, I can't help wondering. I see him for the first time and he jumps up and says, 'I'm Mensík!' That's how our friendship began.