We recently connected with Goran Popovich and have shared our conversation below.

Goran, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I believe this artistic/creative path revealed itself to me at a very early age. But the moment I “took” the ever breathing life of arts in general; through its transformative power, was when I knew, with every fiber of my being that I was meant to pursue it. I still remember my first performance in elementary school: it was this one-scene play and I believe I was playing a butterfly. I remember feeling incredibly terrified of performing, and then with the first words that came out during the performance, that fear transformed in such a joy and this pure light and that was when I first fell in love; the art of being yourself. That was the moment I knew that I will be always on this path.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Goran Popovich. I am actor/dancer/singer/painter and a director currently based in New York City. I am originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar, but I have worked and honed my artistic skills throughout Europe.
From an early age I had proclivity for arts in general, hence I finished The High School of Fine Arts as a Painting designer, while parallelly developing my vocals at the professional Choir.
In terms of my training through formal education, I have finished my linguistics and literature collage, majoring in translations, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Then honed my acting skills by graduating as an Actor at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
Upon graduating from the Academy, I wanted to create a safe space for international artists by offering everyone a platform for self expression through arts and decided to open up a Production Company, and with that offer work to artists.
However my artistic appetite wanted more freedom and I decided to connect with a variety of people from my tribe, so I started to expand my craft, myself in general, and open up for everything life has to offer on this path that was forged for me.

I consider myself a collaborator eager to create and simply grow as such.
It was my intuition that led me to learn more about the arts through work experience and observation. I believe this is what propelled me in variety of projects throughout New York including film, theatre and photography.
I have always had clear visuals of storytelling in my mind, weather it be through film, theatre or concept creation through photography. I consider myself as a vessel for arts.
It’s the fragility and tenderness of the human nature that has always intrigued me, and the different ways we use to communicate what we have to say; as human beings. It is that need to say and express thyself that I have fallen in love with; a pure human moment.

When it comes to problem solving in the artistic realm, I have discovered that life is truly how you phrase it. In that sense I don’t view obstacles as problems or issues but an offered opportunity for expansion, that I have maybe foreseen in my process, and as such I allow myself the freedom to accept this opportunity and ride the wave. I was never afraid of lacking control or trust within this realm, if anything I would maybe feel the guilt if I haven’t used what was offered to me, for free.
It was always important for me to maintain the sense of self and the sense of who I am in general, that authentic me that has it’s own way of expressing itself.

I will always find pride in collaboration. In this “want” to collaborate with other artists and brining our minds, souls and hearts together to tell a story. It is about the understanding and trusting each other that we truly all are in the same boat and the only way for us to move forward with ease- is to enhance each others artistic assets to the highest level possible and as such feeling grateful for each others work. Genuinely proud and joyous about each others victories. Other then that I am a pretty easy going person; always there to support people in doing what makes them feel good.

Currently, I have been working on development and exploration of human tenderness through photography and film by assessing what makes a human being actually human. Exploring the realms of that intriguing human experience through the truth of a character as an actor, or as an art director/concept creator for a story that supports the fragility of humans through the emotional life of the circumstances. I have discovered that we heal each other through sharing our stories and in our collaboration we discover different perspectives which is absolutely wonderful and mind blowing at the same time. What I find as the most exciting thing in acting, for example, is that you get to introduce yourself to a different version of yourself which, maybe, you would never experience on regular basis and that’s what’s exciting, challenging and intriguing to me; not the ability to transform, but the ability to be yourself in variety of different circumstances.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When the whole world tells you it is impossible, that is when you know you are the one to do it. I remember many times in my directing journey, there were challenges that seemed impossible to overcome, whether it be of technical nature, or a matter of vision assessment, many voices appear to tell you how you need to pivot, or change your vision. For a creative creator/ an artist, it is interesting, that once they have a vision of their project, often times it’s clear for them to what is the path they which they have to take in order to make their vision come to life, and when that is being “meddled” with, every defensive mechanism that can exist in a human being awakens. We can refer to it as a protective energy over a vulnerable part of yourself.
I remember when I was directing a musical in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at times it seemed as I personally took a huge task for myself to accomplish. For example, it seemed impossible to lead around 100 people through my creative endeavor and explain what is that I see, and how I see it move. Given that, I had to reject all the “No’s” and “That is impossible to achieve.” , by finding a way of how to communicate my vision through an understandable way. And in those times- you need to find resilience and acknowledge other creatives and their vision and see where you “meet”.

What has really built my resilience was the faith and the belief that I truly have all the necessary knowledge to create a real life in motion in this vast space.
I believe that my resilience lies in faith, which is – not me forcing myself to believe in something, but having faith in what I do to the extent where the path shows itself to me.
I am very keen on accepting the reality as it is first, and then, if I need it to change, can I work on transforming it. Disturbing the natural order of things given to me seems to be as I am forcing my way into something that I’m not made for.
I have built my resilience, because of the culture I come from as well. That is quite of a component that has built me into the person that I am. It was the constant “No” that made me create even more and as such find different approaches to assess my vision and expression.
Realizing it is not about me, but the bigger picture is what creates more ease within me, and then I can approach my craft in a free, truthful and responsive way.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn many things. Better said I had re-learn certain ways of how I operate and how I am used to doing things in order to create more freely or see the world from a different angle for that matter. More specifically, I had to re-learn how to deal with disagreements, and understand that my defensive mechanism is not always my protector, ironically, but rather a creator of resistance that creates more tension and that stops me from being free. And finding the balance in that can be a challenge.
A few years back, I have noticed a pattern within me; I would blame myself and my extroverted persona for someone’s discomfort. It has come to my realization that I used to fall into these patterns because of an old lessons I learned while growing up in school: “Don’t wear those bracelets that is not for you, don’t wear ripped pants, why do you always have to be different. “. Those, and many more statements of such sorts would be frequently said to me and that made me dim myself or shrink myself at times. Then I realized that someone else’s discomfort doesn’t have anything to with me, but with their own perception of themselves and they are just trying to create a safe environment for themselves and that is ok. In that sense I don’t need to be defensive, but I can invite our relationship to a new level if applicable. This highly informed my craft and the way I create, it allowed more truth and vulnerability in my work, which is of essential value in our creative endeavors, I believe.

Contact Info:

• Website: Currently in development
• Instagram: @goranpopovich
• Facebook: Goran Gorki Popovic
• Linkedin: Goran Popovich
• Youtube: Goran Popovich

Image Credits
Mirna Spužević Luana Seu Helmi Korhonen