We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yevhen Shekera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Yevhen , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I was at the end of my audition process to the Juilliard School. I received an email from Juilliard inviting me to a final callback weekend. It meant the world to me. I was one step closer towards achieving my dream. As anyone would, I started my preparations. Then, on February 24th the war began. I ended up moving to my grandparents’ town near Kyiv. We facilitated and accommodated our basement, so it could serve us as a temporary shelter from permanent bombings and continuous shelling. All this time I thought to myself that no one could have ever imagined a scenario worse than this one. I was ripping apart between saving lives of my family, pursuing my dream and going to war. And, obviously, I questioned my future. Juilliard Staff was incredibly supportive and all of them were perpetually reaching out to me, making sure that me and my family are fine. At some point I received an email with an offer to move my audition to the next year. I read an email and almost immediately replied saying that I would not like this to happen and if possible, I asked them to make it real for me to still participate in the audition. They agreed. I just thought to myself that I made it to the end, which was already unreal for a guy from Ukraine, who lives 8 thousand miles away to get into such school, so that it would be foolish of me to end the process halfway through, as I dedicated a year of my life to it. In a couple of days, I was in the basement, under attack of Russian jet-bombers, somehow still having a Wi-Fi connection, with my family around, having only one bulb on, wearing two sweaters, because it was negative 10 degrees Celsius, performing “to be or not to be” on Zoom in front of the Juilliard Drama Division. In a few days, I received a call with the invitation to join the school. And the rest is history. I would say that whatever the risks are, and no matter how difficult the circumstances are – it’s always worth a try. And if you truly dream about something and do everything you can do to get closer to it – eventually you may get there. Just never give up and don’t leave things unfinished. Easier said than done, I know, but this is my story. And, of course, your health and well-being always go first, no matter what! Always. That’s all I have to say.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Yevhen Shekera. I am Ukrainian actor and musician. Currently I am getting my MFA degree at the Juilliard School in New York City. Being an actor was my own choice and a well-thought decision. At some point I decided to commit to the craft and do as much as I can with it. I am also a songwriter. Soon I am finishing my 6th album and hopefully all of them will go into a full production. I plan a big project, and three of those albums will eventually become a trilogy. I plan to move on with acting and music, as I believe that I may reach out to many people breaking down the barriers to help, support and contribute to the overall unity of people. Especially, it is important nowadays as my country is dealing with a disastrous war and the whole world is experiencing cataclysms and changes. I am really hoping that in the future the characters I create both on screen and on stage, and songs I write will help other people to cope with their daily lives and feel happier overall and become inspired to live to their fullest potential.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Something I really had to unlearn was to “write and edit” at the same time. It took me 5 years to realize how to use this helpful skill. And it can also be applied to any artistic form of expression or an active creating process. When you are in the state of doing, acting, playing, building, performing, dancing, creating, painting, designing, composing, writing etc., sometimes the notorious “inner critic” shows up suddenly and starts criticizing and “editing” things as you go. It is important to learn not to “edit” and not to get in the way of your creative process. Just try simply doing it and letting it out as it comes to you without putting any judgement on it and only after you can review and make “edits”, or as I prefer to say to make “choices” you would like. Unlearning to do both “write and edit” at the same time gave me the freedom of expression and a natural flow of the things being created here and now. And I am still working on it and it’s very hard to navigate. It’s always a work in progress and yet it’s worth trying.

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

Often there are times when I ask myself: why do I do what I do? What is the meaning behind my profession and what’s my goal. I remember one time when I was lost and confused, and I was even considering quitting my job because I could not find an adamant justification of how I am really being useful. I spent a lot of time pondering over it and looking for an answer. One day I bumped into my friend by an accident. He asked me how I was doing, and I decided to share how I felt about everything and told him that I was lost. He gave an incredible piece of advice. He said that being lost is wonderful because I may find a treasure. Those words were a gift. You never know what may happen next. You never know who you might meet. Who may give you a valuable piece of advice. Although, it is important to keep searching, and such moments of being lost are precious, because there will be a moment when you might inevitably find a treasure. Only if you don’t stop the search and keep asking questions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yevhen.shekera/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yevhenshekera

Image Credits

Photos are made by Dominique Froud and Nastya Telikova.