Filmmaker Jiří Mádl (37) talks about his third film, Waves, which broke box office records in cinemas

How do you choose your actors? You once said that you could play the lead role yourself.

“That’s true. But taking the lead role and directing such a big movie was so demanding for me that I eventually had to back out.”

Ten actors?

“I have some favorites, but I waited a long time for them. For each role, I pick two or three experts from my long-term casting. For example, she plays Vera Tanya PauchovaI cast about thirty actresses. Of those, I picked three who were playable. So I did have Tana as my first, but I’m still waiting to see who will be chosen next so they can sit together.”

Mádl on the role in Vlny: Kotek got it without casting!

This is alchemy.

“It is. Before I had the main character Thomas, there wasn’t much choice because you chose the others based on him. Without it you couldn’t move. It was Wojta who Vodokhotski He was one of the first ones and I liked him right away. I had a feeling it was him. But I thought I couldn’t give him the lead role completely for free in the first round. So I waited, but it was him.”

What did Vojta make you believe?

“There’s a huge vulnerability inside him. The closer the camera gets to it, the more vulnerable it becomes. It’s interesting because that’s also something about the character – he tries to act strong, even in front of his brother, but he’s not really like that.”

Stanislav Majer has won the editor-in-chief position at Milan Weiner. Is he an obvious choice? “Neither. He even has a foreign actor, a German actor, as a rival, and I’m considering him.”

You don’t choose based on physical resemblance, but somehow she did. Why not at the Weiners?

“If we had him without the beard and glasses, he would be very similar. But somehow that wasn’t enough for me. I needed more to make him that lion. So I had to give him something to make him unique. Weiner has a strong personality, but his appearance is not very memorable. So we helped him a little bit.”

But still – you have the pictures, the mementos, even his daughter. Doesn’t that tempt you?

“Unlike others, I was not drawn there. I was mainly concerned with the emotions. I told myself that I would be happy if it was successful, and surprisingly, that happened with Táni, Vojta Kotek as Dientsbier or Martin Hofmann as Dobrovský. They were almost copies.

How long did it take you to get the actors together?

“It’s been a long time. When we first read it, it was fascinating. They sat at the same table, reading the script. I remember Vojta Vodochodský came over and said: Man, that’s part of America! I said: That’s not an orchestra, that’s an amusement park! What a great piece of work, a very strong cast.”

Jiří Mádl about the film Waves: I hope that the audience will have strong emotions!