Tudor Aaron Istodor, winner of the Shooting Stars program

Romanian actor Tudor Aaron Istodor is one of the winners of the 2017 Shooting Stars program.

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Corina Sabău, 04.03.2017, 17:41

After being short-listed for the prestigious program of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, Tudor Aaron Istodor impressed the competition’s jury with the very natural way in which he manages to approach any part.

Tudor Aaron Istodor is a graduate of the “I.L.Caragiale” University of Theatre and Cinematography, class of 2009, and has been playing in both theatre and film productions. Ever since he was a student he has collaborated with famous directors such as Lucian Pintilie, Radu Muntean or Paul Negoescu. He has played in three films by Fanny Ardant (“Rouges sont les reves”, “Cadences obstinees”, “Ashes and Blood”) and in “Mrs. Christina” by Alexandru Maftei. He also played the part of Edward 2nd in the BBC series “The Plantagenets” and can be often seen on the stage of Godot Café-Theatre or the Jewish State Theatre in Bucharest. The part thanks to which Tudor Aaron Istodor was selected for the Shooting Stars programme of the 2017 Berlinale is that in the film “The Fixer” by Adrian Sitaru, which was premiered in Romania in late January. The film tells the story of Radu, an intern at the Bucharest offices of France Presses who dreams to become a journalist.

Tudor Aaron Istodor told us what made him accept the part in “The Fixer” and how his collaboration with director Adrian Sitaru was: “I liked the script enormously. I liked all of Adrian Sitaru’s films and wanted to be in one of them. His films are full of sensitivity, have many layers and reveal themselves gradually. The actors playing in Adrian Sitaru’s films are also extraordinary. When you see this kind of film you want to be in it. So when I was called for an audition I was very excited. It’s a very humane film whose protagonist is a fixer, a jack-of-all-trades who fixes meetings of foreign journalists travelling to his home country, in this case a group of French journalists who want to interview a repatriated under-age prostitute. The collaboration with Adrian Sitaru was exceptional. He is a director who loves actors, is open to improvisation, knows exactly what he wants but also likes to discover things together with his actors and it’s a joy working with him.”

“I think it’s good to play different roles, both in terms of characters and style of acting”, says Tudor Aaron Istodor. He also told us how he prepared for his role in the film “The Fixer”: “The protagonist wants to become a journalist, but he is not yet a journalist. He is 30-years-old, he is neither a boy nor a fully-grown man, but at an age one still makes mistakes while trying to prove one’s worth. I have done a lot of research with the help of Adrian Silisteanu, a director of photography and scriptwriter. With his help I found out more about the occupation of the main protagonist because he worked for a while as a fixer himself. Apart from his occupation, I was very interested in the human side of my character, Radu Patru. Because irrespective of what happens to him and irrespective of the job he has, it is about how far one is willing to go to reach one’s aims. Generally, great movies and scripts are about something human and have something in common. And you can identify yourself with one of the characters in such movies no matter your job or the culture you come from”.

A chip off the old block as he is the son of two famous actors, Maia Morgenstern and Claudiu Istodor, Tudor Aaron Istodor confesses that, in his childhood, he never dreamt of becoming an actor. On the contrary, he was eager that his parents finished rehearsals so that they could play with him. In time, however, he realized he was meant for this job and he resigned himself to being an actor.

“I very much like to ask mom and dad attend my premieres. Especially because the first show is magic, and even if it is not the best, it is the first public performance. It is a moment when you are not very sure of yourself, when you want to show something and naturally you need favourable energies. My parents do have a very good energy when they come to my shows. I believe they are the best spectators. That is why I ask them to come to my first show, to be there and support me, to give me their feedback because I have big trust in them. I am very nervous and I hope I’ll be nervous not only at premieres but also at each performance. Nervousness is different from stage fright, and it’s good that it is so. Because once you are no longer nervous, than it’s high time you gave up performing. When you think you know everything and you’re not hesitant at all, you don’t feel vulnerable, you don’t ask yourself if what you are doing you’re doing well, then you cannot discover new things.”

Tudor Aaron Istodor is the 7th Romanian actor participating in this program after Cosmina Stratan (2014), Ada Condeescu (2013), Ana Ularu (2012), Dragoş Bucur (2010), Anamaria Marinca (2008) and Maria Popistaşu (2007).