Don't wait for anyone's permission to start

Introduce yourself in a few sentences..

My name is Boyana Avdjieva, actress. Recently, I have also been working on my own project as an author and producer. Sometimes I am a guest lecturer in schools or academies focused on extracurricular cultural and creative activities for children, aimed at developing their imagination and creativity. I grew up in Sofia, recently lived and worked in Los Angeles, and at the moment I am trying to build a bridge between these two realities by sharing my experience and knowledge with colleagues who also want to develop internationally. I like to do things that are hard to achieve and make them look easy.

What did you dream of becoming in your childhood?

They were all things related to art. First, I wanted to be a painter, then to draw animations and comics, then a punk rock star, then a ballerina, and finally I decided that acting would allow me to be everything I wanted. I am still true to my childhood logic.

At what age did you earn your first money? Tell us an interesting story?

I was 4 or 5. I was chosen to voice a shampoo commercial. With my fee, I bought a Barbie doll and baggy jeans and was very proud of myself.

What are the main factors and examples that shape us as individuals at an early age and form our interests?

I think the real factors are what we lack, what annoys us, what pushes us. I have always been curious about the world because it seemed to me that what was around me was not enough. That's how I started looking for answers – through books, movies, people. Curiosity does not come from comfort, but from hunger. If you are hungry for something real, you will find it.

What is your recipe for curiosity, sources, and wells of information and inspiration at this stage of our human development?

Books have always been important to me. It may be old-fashioned, but that has never changed for me. I find a lot of truth in pop culture – what is trendy at the moment says a lot about the level and state of the public mind and taste. I find it interesting to observe how momentary it is, how it dies, and what it is reborn into. But even its most superficial layer is indirectly influenced by literature and the history sealed within it. Therefore, books are my eternal source of information and inspiration.

Has there been any significant difference in your perceptions in more mature age about what motivates you to do or not do something?

Before, I was motivated by the need to prove myself. Now – the need to be myself. Before, I wanted to be the “best.” Now I just want to be good and true – while there is still something to say.

Whose decision was it where to pursue higher education and what to study? Was that decision correct, looking back today?

I made the decision. But the story is longer. I believed that I was not cut out for university life; if someone asked me, I wanted to pack my bags and leave for Los Angeles, but that desire was not based on any real or financial possibility at that age. So, my mother convinced me to try at NATFIZ. It was the right decision. Not because everything started easily – but because nothing started easily, and that taught me what it means to be serious about your art.

Share more about your interests, knowledge, skills, and hobbies?

I love to write, read, edit videos, share all kinds of practical knowledge regarding the technical details related to developing an acting career internationally with colleagues from around the world. I mainly do this on Tik Tok, but I have told my Bulgarian colleagues not to hesitate to ask me about anything. It annoys me how much misunderstood information is presented on this topic, mainly by people who are more interested in their own PR than actually enriching Bulgarian actors who have a keen interest in it and are even willing to pay to receive it. Not to mention that some present outright false or at least outdated information due to a lack of experience that they claim to have. I am not afraid to say it as it is. Information is valuable and should be presented responsibly and selflessly. I love to draw, dance, sing, listen to the stories of old people, and watch and listen to musicals and ballet. I am interested in everything that is uncomfortable, funny, or difficult to tell. I love to play the guitar and compose music, but only for myself. When I was little, I loved to watch football with my brother and knew the names of the entire French national team from the World Cup in 2006; I was crushed when they lost to Italy; it was absolutely unfair, but then I got over it. One day I would like to teach acting, but I believe that you should have tried everything, worked hard, failed, and succeeded enough to start teaching someone else how to do it.

Would you change your profession today and which areas of activity grab your interest?

Only to play someone who changes it in some role. Otherwise, no. If I don't do what I do, I become dangerous to society and to myself. If it really came to that, maybe I would create a publishing house for strange books or a kindergarten for emotionally immature men. Actually, I just remembered – contrary to my entire artistic essence, I graduated from a mathematical parallel class in high school. I wasn't good at almost anything scientific, but when we studied nuclear physics and astronomy, I was quite good at it. I even lied to everyone who asked me if I would apply to NATFIZ that I was accepted to study nuclear physics in the Scandinavian countries. Maybe it's not too late; who knows.

They say that personal branding is everything that people say about you when you are not in the same room with them. What would you like to hear today?

I don't know. Does that mean I don't have a brand? In fact, they have told me (when I was in the room too) that I inspire them. That touches me a lot. But mainly I would like to hear that I am useful. Is that considered a brand?

Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and flexibility, as well as our soft skills, are key conditions for success in recent years. How do you cope with the daily challenges of life to stay in good shape and mood?

I try to be better to myself because for a long time I wasn't. Ambition and perfectionism are wonderful qualities, but they have a very strong own “gravitational field” that sucks you in with great weight. It was hard for me to resist it. What I do now is literally go to therapy – I think it's a sign of good emotional hygiene to invest in something like that, especially if you are in the most wonderful zone of your emotional growth – when you are still young, have no family and children, but have lived a little, life has knocked you around, you have a broader worldview and understanding of who you are and what you want. I also try to maintain my faith; this is something I started to develop more in the last few years of my life, and it helps me a lot. After all the personal losses, challenges, and battles that my family and I have gone through, I started to believe that it is too arrogant to think that everything begins and ends with you, with your desires and pains. My faith helps me to stay more detached from them, even when it is very tempting to give in to them completely. And I try to think that people are inherently good, regardless of whether something has gone wrong along their path. Before, I believed that people are inherently bad, so this is an important lesson from my emotional growth.

What are the most important conclusions you have drawn so far about maintaining proper communication considering the different characters of the people you meet daily – colleagues, friends, close ones?

I try not to expect people to think like me. I have learned to ask questions instead of making assumptions. And to listen – not to respond, but to understand. This is my hardest lesson, but also the most useful.

What do you think about money? What is their influence on your life? What is your advice to people who often ask themselves questions related to money and how sufficient they are?

Money is nothing if you don't know what you want them for. For me, they are an opportunity – to create, to travel, to experience adventures and beautiful moments with the people I love. I don't believe in the mentality of “no money – no life,” but I believe that when you have them, you need to know where they go. My philosophy is: money is not a goal, but a tool. Choose what kind of world you want to build with them.

What is the most valuable career advice you would give to people?

Don't wait for anyone to give you permission to start.