By Natalie Gallenti
FOR Kealba resident Ivan Bradara acting is his life.
The 20-year-old always knew he wanted to be part of the entertainment industry and with a new series coming out later this year on the ABC, he may have just cracked the big time.
Bradara has just completed filming the television adaptation of the book The Slap, which boasts Australian actors Alex Dimitriades and Melissa George.
“I’ve always loved performing,” Bradara said.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else. I don’t see it as a job, it’s what I want to do 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
However Bradara, who trained at Screen Actors Australia, knows that while acting may seem glamorous to the outside world there is still a lot of rejection and months on end without work and that is why he is also a part-time student at Victoria University studying business management.
Bradara plays Lenin in The Slap – who he describes as a “fun and goofy” teenager.
“It was great rubbing shoulders with the actors on the series. I think my own acting benefited.
“It really cemented that this is what I want to do.”
He has also landed roles in Neighbours and other pilot programs and was a lead character in the movie Shoplifting which screened at the St Kilda Film Festival.
“I’m most happy when I’m on the set,” he said.
And one day he hopes to make it to Hollywood. Only last year he trained with some of the world’s best teachers at the Stella Adler Institute Of Acting in Los Angeles, was picked up by a talent scout and has been auditioning for productions since then.
