The real reason Aussie actress chased fame

Bojana Novakovic admits she got into the entertainment business to be famous, mostly because her first choice – becoming a princess – wasn’t a likely option.

Bojana Novakovic admits she got into the entertainment business for fame; mostly because her first choice – becoming a real-life princess – wasn’t a likely option.

“You can’t compare this job to anything” (Picture: Ben King)

But her desire for fame wasn’t about seeing her name up in lights or being chased by paparazzi – she wanted to make real change.

On a call from Serbia, where she is leading a campaign against a Rio Tinto mining operation, Novakovic tells Stellar In Summer that her lifelong passion for social justice has led her on an unorthodox path.

“That’s what I do full-time other than acting,” the 40-year-old actor says of running the protest.

“I started coordinating it a year ago and it’s become a national campaign. We just released documents between the company and the European Union, statements from the president that were secret, and I’ve got police following me in restaurants and activists are getting arrested. But we’re making a splash. I’ve been an activist since I was 13.”

Born in Serbia, Novakovic emigrated to Australia with her parents when she was seven.

“I remember watching SBS news when Yugoslavia was collapsing, trying to figure out what was going on,” she recalls.

“I think that led me to become an actor, because I wanted to be an activist and I thought that if you got famous you could save the world.”

Two of Novakovic’s most recent films, Birds Of Prey and I, Tonya, saw her working alongside fellow Australian Margot Robbie, who she first met when Robbie was a guest on her improvised theatre show The Blind Date Project.

Bojana Novakovic got into acting so she could have the platform to make a difference. (Picture: Ben King)

“She also did Neighbours with my sister [Valentina Novakovic] but my whole thing was like, I’m not touching soap operas; I am a trained NIDA actor,” Novakovic tells Stellar In Summer with a rueful laugh.

“And then you look at all their careers and they’re all flourishing superstars around the world. But I was a real theatre snob when I was younger.”

While she has some big-budget films under her belt, theatre work and smaller productions like Binge’s new Australian drama series Love Me are where the actor finds the most creative fulfilment. “[A show like Love Me] is why we do the big things,” she explains.

“This is why we go to the States – so then we can come back and be taken seriously. It’s a shame that that has to happen. But this show is why I went to the US: so that I could develop a name for myself.

“The kind of name that brings clout that producers can trust that I know how to play a lead on television.... know how to carry myself in that space, so that I can do this. You can’t compare this job to anything.”

Love Me is based on a Swedish series, in which Novakovic plays Hugo Weaving’s daughter Clara in the bittersweet exploration of love and loss, as experienced by different members of the same family.

Find more exclusives in this Sunday’s The Binge Guide.

“I learnt so much watching Hugo,” she says.

“I love to think that I’m 40 and I’ve got it in the bag – [that] I know what I can do and what I’m good at. But watching him and challenging myself was such a rewarding experience.”

Love Me is streaming now on Binge.

Originally published as The real reason Aussie actress chased fame