His Brand Is Excellence”: How Vassili Became A Global Movie Star
In an age of pre-branded franchises and social media currency, Vassili is a unicorn in The Entertainment industry. As a world-renowned Radio Host, Actor & TV Presenter, he is best known for his work on “Cool Japan” which is a popular TV program that focuses on International guests sharing their thoughts on Japan and why they think foreigners are endlessly fascinated by the country. Vassili was also featured in mainstream Japanese Film Classics like “ Detroit Metal City” and “20th Century Boys”.
We have the pleasure of interviewing Vassili and learning how he became a global phenomenon.
Vassili Welcome To Medium!
Who are your biggest influences?
As an actor, I am influenced by all of the arts, theater, poetry, literature, music, opera, painting, dance, photography, and of course cinema. In life, I surround myself with as much creativity as possible which is the generator of my ideas, including scripts and my process in which I build my performances.
The film director who has influenced me the most is Pedro Almodovar, I appreciate his approach to acting and the long term relationships he has built with his actors. The performances of Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, and Victoria Abril have challenged the way I think about my own craft.
In addition, there are other actors who influenced me :
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Marlon Brando, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Montgomery Cliff, and John Cazale.
You speak 10 languages, is that helping your career? How?
Each language teaches you the different nuances of the human condition, the culture, the way teach culture thinks. Definitely my languages help me characters better.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
There have been many highlights in my life but I will tell you the most important for me.
I was casted for a nominated five times movie “Amnesia”, directed by Gabriele Salvatores, Oscar and Golden Globe awards winner total 25 wins and 24 nominations. Working with such a talented director was an honor for me. The cast in this movie was highly talented actors such as Sergio Rubini with 18 awards and 30 nominations, along with Diego Abatantuono 6 awards and 11 nominations.
Another highlight was when I was hired to host “Cool Japan” at NHK and NHK-World, a program on public television. “Cool Japan” is a program about Japanese Culture. In 2009 it was voted the best program in Japan. Its popularity is still growing.
A recent highlight was when I was in Spain and I was hosting the “Playasol Ibiza Radio station”, where I was working in 3 languages: English, French, and Spanish. I was in charge of writing the interviews and organising all the schedules.
Every week I was writing new inspirational messages for my listeners, in 3 languages because the radio is worldwide. When I was working at the radio we had two millions listeners. I had a lot of stars at my show such as David Guetta, who was voted the number one DJ worldwide, and Ricardo Urgel, the founding number one in entertainment and hospitality businesses. Urgel received the Gold Medal for his work by the Spanish Government. It was very interesting to interview these people, I’ve learned a lot from interviewing them.
How was the experience working for “COOL JAPAN” a show viewed by millions of people in the world thanks to NHK-World?
It was an interesting experience for me to be part of such a large scale production.
Through this job, I gained another level of professionalism.
How was it living in Japan?
The experience of living in Japan was like being reborn. The culture was very foreign for me. It was a very different way of approaching production in my career. I learned a lot from working with those people who are very efficient and humble.
In Japan, it is very rare to have a foreign artist on television and who speaks Japanese fluently. People on the street always recognized me from “Cool Japan” as the show has millions of fans.
How was working with an Oscar-winning director like Gabriele Salvatore?
It was such a big honor for me working with such a talented director. The most important think for me was to observe and absorb the experience. I was already a fan of his work, so getting this job was a major highlight.
I was extremely impressed by his Oscar-winning film “Mediterraneo”. I learned that working with that caliber of talent can be eye-opening. I feel very blessed.
What was your favorite project so far and why?
My favorite project was the one-man show that I wrote directed and performed. This project was a major challenge to go through the entire creative process as the sole creator of the project. It was here that I gained my largest learning curve. This project demanded that I look at the structure as well as the small details that make up a successful project from beginning to end.
How do you seek out opportunities?
I have a huge network of other artists with whom I collaborate with and I continue to expand this network. Thanks to my languages I am in direct touch with artists all over the world.
What are your future plans?
I have many plans:
One of the projects I have set for production is “Bell, Book and Candle” it will be directed by Jay Weston, he is known for producing “Billy Wilder”, “Buddy Buddy” and the Oscar-nominated “Lady Sings The Blues”. I really admire such a legend, Jay Weston was the head of ABC’s feature film division, Palomar Pictures where his first project became “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” The film went on the be nominated for eight Academy Awards and win one. Weston produced the Broadway play “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie ?” which launched the career of a then-unknown Al Pacino.
Another project that ‘s in the works is a film titled “Frank and Malcom” it will be produced and directed by Peter Valentino, a pre-nomitated Grammys director. His huge success has been phenomenal as he has toured internationally, releasing 4 music videos which gained air time on MTV plus a one-hour rockumentary. Valentino’s talents also lie behind-the-scenes as he found himself co-producing, shooting, and editing the rockumentary for the band’s European tour for MTV. When I met him I was really impressed to know that he trained with the best directors of the industry like Donald Petrie (Director of Miss Congeniality, Grump Old Men, …) and with Barry Pearl (from the movie Grease).
And the last project is the movie “Gliders” as well will be produced and directed by Peter Valentino.
I consider myself very blessed to have such opportunities already and to be trusted by major producers. My background and international experience definitely played as a positive factor for my good luck. My plan is to continue to build these types of relationships.
You’re a successful host and actor, what is it like working for some of the top artists in the world?
It’s a huge honor and I have to pinch myself sometimes. Of course, you have a lot of pressure working with these people, but I can support a lot of pressure, don’t forget that to make diamonds you need pressure.
Do you have any new challenge?
My dream is to work in a Musical.
