They told him that at 25, without success, it was better to retire, but he didn't give up and today he shines with Francella: "I believed and knew I could achieve it."
Clara Kovacic was 10 years old when Cris Morena's production company was about to begin casting for a Chiquititas movie. After many years of success on television, it dawned on her, and especially on her heart, that since she was very young, she had loved to dance, sing, and dreamed of being an actress. It was something she carried deep within her.
Her musical comedy teacher at the time contacted her with the casting call, where nearly 2,000 girls applied. And Clara was selected. She was happy, thrilled, one step away from fulfilling her first big dream.
However, one of the film's producers told Clara's parents that to be in the film, she would have to stop working double shifts at school. She attended a "super prestigious" English school, and for them, school was paramount.
“I remember during a phone call between my parents and the producers, I was crying and begging them to let me stay , because I really wanted to. Despite my words, my parents stood by their decision.”
Beyond that disappointment, Clara didn't resent her parents; quite the opposite. "I'm very grateful for school because it gave me a lot of tools, and I feel like if I had dropped out to do Chiquititas , I wouldn't be who I am. And I'm really happy with who I am ," she says.
When Clara was just a few months away from finishing high school, she began to feel a lot of pressure from her parents, who wanted their daughter to pursue “a career like everyone else.”
"What do you see in your daughter?" her mother asked her father one night.
"I see it in Bioethics," he replied.
“I had a good GPA in school, I was a really good student, and very passionate about studying because I loved learning, exploring the world in some way. So, they expected me to pursue Political Science, Institutional Relations, or Philosophy.”
-Clara: That world is very difficult- her mom and dad told her.
"I'm sure I want to be an actress," Clara answered them, very confidently.
-You can do it as a hobby.
-But I don't want to study any of those courses. I have this passion deep inside me.
Clara, she says, came from a family where that choice wasn't considered a way to achieve something in life. Over time, she realized that her parents didn't understand her passion, something very different from what they expected her to be.
However, he had a dream to fulfill. And he prepared himself with determination, perseverance, and always giving his best.
“I studied theater, dance, and music, but without a clear understanding of how I was going to break into the industry. And when I was just getting started, I had a very serious personal problem where I had to start over. I encountered death and the fleeting nature of life . And that awareness also encouraged me to take the plunge with my beliefs and let go, knowing that if I hit the wall, at least I'd tried,” she confesses.
On that trip, she began to encounter industry sentiments that made her feel terrible. " If you're already 25 and haven't made it yet, start retiring because you won't be able to ," she says she was told. However, she kept pushing because she was convinced she couldn't stop doing what she loved so much.
“I couldn't not do it. They told me no, but I believed in my talent and knew I could make it . And then doors started opening with the casting calls I sought. I got really into independent film because it opens up a lot of possibilities for what you can do, and also because through action, you gain more confidence .”
Once Clara made the decision, nothing was easy. No one gave her anything; she had to fight from the bottom up. For example, when an agent told her that because she wasn't well-known, they wouldn't give her any roles. Or when another person involved in the matter told her, bluntly: "No, listen to me, the reality is you have no talent, you're not going to make it ."
“It was cruel when your agent told you you didn't have the talent to make it, but instead of sitting back and crying, I decided to keep going and not give up . I always say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's the truest saying in the world. The stones keep hitting you, the key is to keep bending down and keep moving forward.”
In that moment of sadness, anger, and pain, Clara recalled the image of her grandparents and the resilient spirit they forged when they managed to escape from a concentration camp in Croatia in the post-war period: “Without material things, they didn't know the language, they worked their way up from the bottom until they had their own house.”
From them, she inherited strength, perseverance, persistence, fighting spirit, courage, and a willingness to never give up, even when everything seemed bleak. “My grandfather told me that he saw people dying. They had to walk for four days without food or water. And on that walk, he survived because he ate in his mind. He trained his mind on that massacre; he sensed that this was the way to survive . What he told me moved me, and it stuck with me, as did the will to face adversity,” she says emotionally.
Clara began her artistic career with small roles and casting calls, and since 2015 has participated in several films and series. Her most notable works include the films Baires , Jazmín (shortlisted at the Mar del Plata Film Festival), El juego de las cien velas , La parte oscura , and the international film No miren arriba , alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.
“That's how I started, little by little, doing small roles in independent films, then bigger roles, and, as I moved up, I began to enter the world of horror films because it's super open.”
And the accolades were quick to arrive. She was nominated for the Silver Condor and Sur awards for Best Newcomer for her performance in the film El desarmadero. "For me, it meant a lot; it was a giant step in my career."
Recommended by a producer who had seen her at the Sur Awards, she was called by the casting director of Homo Argentum , the film in which Guillermo Francella plays 16 characters. And Mariano Coni and Gastón Dupra, the film's directors, gave the green light for that opportunity.
It was a casting call where Clara was given two scenes in which she gave her all. “I even lost my voice because there were five pages per scene. And between repeating auditions and requests for things, you have to be able to give it your all. I screamed a lot because that's what it took.”
That giving of her all, that desire, and that conviction of knowing this was the place she wanted to be were rewarded when, after a month and a half, she received the long-awaited call. Just as she had felt unloved, unappreciated, and unchosen on other occasions, after that short phone call, she felt that this time they had seen her full potential, her drive, her passion, and she turned out to be the chosen one.
“I almost fainted from excitement. All my hard work and perseverance paid off, and I ended up landing the longest story in the film, with a character who let me play with all the colors I could play with. Suddenly, I found myself on a red carpet with some giant names in film, with monsters of the big screen,” he enthuses.
The first encounter with Francella, she says, was at a rehearsal. Clara was delighted to be able to share that moment with an icon of our country's acting. It seemed like something out of a dream.
“The relationship during filming was really nice; he's a great partner . Attentive and easygoing, even allowing for improvisation, which is what I enjoy most. From him, I learned about the energy that flows with someone at a high level in their career: the small gestures, the details. That's something I love to observe in films.”
Clara also wrote and produced the film El Sotano, which she describes as a plunge into the depths of cinema. “I feel like something incredible came out of it. It won several awards, and for me, that's thanks to the team behind the film and the cast I chose.”
With all her experience under her belt, despite being only 34 years old, Clara says it's very important for her to celebrate every achievement: both small and large. "I would have liked to have played a role like this sooner, but you also have to be patient and resilient. You have to give it your all every day. Move forward, seek out proposals if they don't come to you on their own. Sometimes it's a matter of having confidence in yourself and not waiting for the other person to accept you."
It's hard not to let the "NO" get the better of you . When you have the feeling inside that if you're given the chance, you can do it, you have to stay strong and confident. Being resilient is crucial to avoid falling into frustration. It always hurts. But out of ninety-nine "no's," getting one "yes" is a glorious thing.
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