Pääru Oja recalls drama school auditions as a painful ordeal

Actor Pääru Oja said the entrance auditions for drama school were an ordeal he recalls with great reluctance, in an interview with ERR’s Ringvaade. He also said Estonian films are improving in quality.

“Luckily, I don’t remember what I had to do there, or even if I do, I don’t want to remember,” Oja said. He described the auditions as a form of torture, saying young people who already feel self-conscious are put in situations designed to make them feel even more embarrassed.

Oja and fellow actor Jarmo Reha spoke about Reha receiving this year’s Bruno O’Ya Young Film Actor Award. Reha said the award brought him joy, but also made him slightly nervous. He said O’Ya was an Estonian who worked extensively in Eastern Europe, and that the recognition made him wonder whether he might follow a similar path.

Oja, who received the award in 2021, praised Reha’s work in the films “Mo Papa” and “Mo Amor”. He called “Mo Papa” a film made with a talented approach and said Reha’s role in “Mo Amor”, which is due in cinemas soon, was exceptionally human.

Oja said the quality of Estonian films was continuing to improve, though he could not assess the quantity. He also noted that young people increasingly have opportunities to study abroad. A new scholarship named after Peeter Simm, intended to support overseas study, is to be presented at a charity evening at Kinomaja on Nov. 21.

Oja and Reha are now appearing together in “Life in the Theatre”, a play by American playwright David Mamet. Reha said Oja had been his “godfather” at drama school, where students are assigned godchildren by drawing lots. He described Oja as an independent-minded person with much to teach, and said his advice was to work with heart and appetite and, when necessary, to go for it at any cost.