He is an actor, but he is also a carpenter. In the theater, he stands on stage in front of dozens of spectators, and in the workshop he spends most of his time alone. He likes to think and create creatively while working, but contact, touch with the material during production, is also important to him. He likes to connect his worlds and can talk about both of them with equal enthusiasm. The atmosphere at work is very important to him and is also reflected in its result. Tomáš Stopa, the face of our current autumn/winter collection .
The beginnings of his artistic activity must be sought in elementary school, when he devoted himself to amateur theater, recited and achieved success at Hviezdoslavov Kubín. "I studied mechatronics in high school, and even though I really enjoyed it, I knew that I wanted to follow an artistic path, so I continued my studies at the Academy of Performing Arts," says Tomáš. "It gave me a lot, I had great teachers who gave me great basics. But I think that only after studying does an actor open his eyes and start gaining experience, on the basis of which he is somehow shaped."
At the end of the study, a graduate can very quickly realize that there is a possibility that acting will not work. Few opportunities and a lack of vacancies in theaters. "When I took that into account, it freed me up. While I was still at school, I worked as a "location" manager, looking for spaces for filming. I did that for a year after school, but I was still acting, I was freelance. Then I was approached by the Andrej Bagar Theater in Nitra, where I became a permanent member."
He also made the parquet floors, kitchen, doors and furniture in the apartment himself. What he saved for the work he then invested in machines. "I always do it that way, I invest part of the order in machines and tools so that the result will be better, more precisely processed and of higher quality next time... It's just a never-ending story. I'm starting to understand women who are always buying new shoes or handbags," he laughs. "But then again, I justify it to myself that I know what the tool or machine will earn me."
He is self-taught and likes to learn from his own mistakes, experiment and find his limits.
He works under his own brand Stopa Woodwork , and customers most often come to him through recommendations. "I usually work for colleagues, friends, acquaintances. They come to visit, see something, ask questions, and that's it. Then there are those who don't need anything at the moment, but they support me and get in touch when it's relevant to them. And it's a great feeling for me to be aware of this, especially in the art world. The younger ones say: 'One day, when I grow up, I'll have my furniture made by you.' That's great to hear."
He likes to create design things. He draws an idea, makes a model and creates a sample. "If something is to be made in a series of 10-15 pieces, I create samples so that the customer not only imagines it, but also grabs it and says, 'That's what I want!' I care about them. I've had people order 15 pieces and increase it to 20 after they saw and held the sample."
In the theater
Tomáš often immerses himself in his characters, wanting to absorb them, to put his own input, his own vision into them. "In college, I played a character who suffered from several psychological diagnoses, and therefore it was necessary to do a comprehensive psychological analysis and it helped me - (after all, that's how they taught us). I like to delve into it. Sometimes there's no time for that, if it's a smaller character, or the director works in a different style, but I want to like every character and I prepare for it as best I can."
Whatever I do, I'm all about the truth. So that the viewer can believe, connect with the character, so that I as an actor can empathically live with it. And when I feel that there's no "truth" there, that it's too "technical", I try to change it.More important to him than the character he plays is the team, his colleagues, the play. "Everyone can have their own vision, mine ultimately obeys the director's, but even if something is not quite according to my ideas, I try to find at least something in every play that makes me look forward to the performance. My teacher once advised me that and it works really well. It can be just one moment from a three-hour performance, but it's something I look forward to, and then I enjoy playing it."
In front of the camera
Tomáš has less experience acting in TV series or films than in theater acting, but we will soon see him in an interesting Slovak TV series that was filmed in Turkey.
"I've been "putting off" acting for a long time, I don't even know why. This year I opened up a little more and got a taste for it. But then again, it's probably the people I worked with. The atmosphere, the people I met there, made my work more enjoyable. Filming in Istanbul was exotic for us, but also for the Turkish part of the team. Their production had a slightly different style of work, and it was very pleasant, and interesting, I think, for both parties. When I have nice people around me, in a nice place with good food, I don't even see it as work. That's kind of my foundation, if I don't see work as work, then it's good."
For me, it's not important what I'm working on, but who I'm working with, what the atmosphere is like, how I feel while working. Because it's visible on stage, the production in the finale reflects what the creative process and rehearsal period were like.
Working with wood
Tomáš's first contact with manual work must be sought in his childhood. "I owe my skill to my grandfather. Since childhood, I worked with him on a grinder, a hand saw, on lathes, welding... He had enormous patience with me, he explained everything to me and I could try until I could do it. And then also with wood. He is a trained wood modeler, an offshoot of carpentry that has probably already disappeared."
During college, he liked wooden bow ties and decided to make one himself. There was a demand for such bow ties in his neighborhood, so he invented, created, and sewed. "It was a break for me. For a while, I sold such little things to colleagues and acquaintances. I also made a table for one teacher. And then I bought an apartment and gradually started doing everything myself, it's still not finished," says Tomáš, but he considers it an advantage. "I do it gradually because I don't have time, but I gradually get used to it, things are increasing, and I feel like I'm always in the new."
In the carpentry workshop
Tomáš's first workshop was a small room with a table and a single saw. "Now I have a bigger space, but it's still relatively small, but it suits me. I even thought about making it bigger and hiring someone, but I actually like the concentrated space, and being alone there. Sometimes big things happen in my small workshop."
Tomáš's passion for cooking and quality food has also spilled over into his world of carpentry. "I had the opportunity to design serving accessories for the Eck restaurant. Chef Daniel Tilinger gave me free rein and I've been coming up with different things for them, lately maybe even beyond what they currently need. I'm also inspired when I sit at their place for dinner, watching them at work... The calm, the balance, the professional approach, the focus on details and the highest possible quality that they can offer the customer that evening. And probably most of all the goal of being better at what they do. For example, I made serving trolleys for cheese, alcohol, serving trays and other small things for them," he describes.
Attention to detail
I enjoy a lot of the things I do. And I don't judge them by size. I'd like to go back to smaller things over time. I've given up power tools and started using just a plane and a chisel. Maybe in retirement I'll make exclusively handmade top furniture.
Hobbies
The opportunity to try it out in front of his actor colleague Richard Autner's camera pleased him, even though he doesn't feel like a model. "It was a great experience, I'll remember it fondly. I thought of Alain Delon as a huge company with thousands of employees, a large-scale production, where everything would be approved for a long time, it would all take a long time, and it would be boring. In the end, it was all intimate and great. We talked to Riš and he was clicking. And the result is great photos. (By the way, he's always taken the best photos of me since school). They give off a pleasant atmosphere that reigned there . And I also like your things, I like wearing them. And that's how it is everywhere, in the theater, on set, and in the workshop. Atmosphere is essential for me."
Sometimes I get fed up with social contact and then I'm happy to escape to the workshop. I'm more of an introvert. After a premiere, I need to recalibrate for a few days, to be alone in the workshop. And then, on the contrary, I finish a project for a long time, and when I hand it in, I'm happy to go to the theater, play, and it's great. I like to alternate it, and I would like to maintain this balance in my life. Alternating theater with the workshop and also with my private life. That's a current challenge for me. Finding that time for my private life.Photo: Richard Autner, Alex Kiňová, Barbora Podola, Restaurant Eck, Martin Mondok, Tomáš Stop archive
