If I could you can!

On the February 21st, a renowned athlete, producer and actor Aleksander Nevskiy, who is currently serving as the director of the GUU run sports industry management training center, joined forces with his Hollywood colleague, a renowned actor, and a Martial arts master Mark Dacascos, in a master class given to the students of «Music Business and Entertainment Industry Management» RMA program. During the class, they have discussed the path for professional development, the benefits of good academical and physical education, and why it is important to learn off of success of others.

«My life has been very crazy, – says Mark Dacascos. – I can only compare it to a roller coaster. As a child I always wanted to became a monk. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. My parents were the teachers of kong-fu. When was 12, my family moved to Germany, where my parents opened up a Martial arts school. At that time, I did a lot of training, drawing my daily inspiration from movies with actors like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Even as I kept participating in various competitions, I was still confident in my desire to become a monk. At the age of 17, I have saved enough money to buy myself an airline ticket to Taiwan, China. There I taught English to the local businessmen, having made just enough money to pay my rent and buy food. These were the difficult times, but I consider them as the best in my life, because, it is then I have came to realize who I really was. I was hungry, lonely and certainly no longer interested in becoming a monk.

I began to develop a better understanding of the human world. A the age of 18 I moved to San Francisco, where I had a distinct set of choices – either go to the Army, or to college. I had good chances in either one of these endeavors, in part because of my good knowledge of languages. And so finally, one day when I was returning home from the yet another training session, I was stopped by two people on the street, who asked me: «Are you an actor?». – «No». «Do you want to become an actor?» – «No». «Well, if you change your mind, come to the casting». So when I returned home that day, I've recounted that conversation to my mother, who then told me: «Why not?». And so I've decided to take up my chances. But given the complete lack of any such prior experience, the casting was a complete failure (laughing). I've pretty much abandoned all hopes, but three days later they called me back, and offered me a role in a film.

During my very first day at the studio, a film director approached me and said: «See that beautiful girl over there sitting on top of the car trunk. She is your girl, which you had not seen for 4 months. And now I want you to go and kiss her». At that moment, I thought to myself: «Wow! Being an actor is awesome!». However, after that role, it took me long 9 years of hard work and learning, before I was able to get my next serious role. Back then I must have been a really bad actor (laughing). So that is my story. And I would like you to understand one thing, life – is just one crazy joke. It proved me, that nothing is set in stone, and nothing is predetermined. That is why you've got to focus yourself on whatever it is that you do and learn. And if I made it, then you certainly can as well, and that is the most important thing!

Of course, it can be very difficult, when you are working hard toward your goal, and others just say «No» to you. But I well understood, that what I really want, is to reach people's hearts. I absolutely love playing, because in that moment I become a part of something much bigger, and if I also get paid for that – then it's just simply terrific! And of course, another great benefit of working in this business – is, for example, being here with you and Alexander today.