60 years old | “We don't have an accent,” says actor Taisto Oksanen, who was born into a military family

“Human should get acquainted with history”, the actor Taisto Oksanen says.

He is currently participating in the 150th anniversary production of the National Theatre First Republic. Esa Leskinen The play directed by

In Oksanen's opinion, a hundred years ago, much is the same as in today's movement.

“Then we saw the rise of militarism, the rise of the extreme right. History repeats itself, for better or for worse.”

States become aggressive towards each other. So man never learns?

“Sometimes it seems like that,” Oksanen smiles.

Oksanen says that he was interested in history as a child. This was influenced not only by the atmosphere at home that encouraged reading, but also by the environment: Oksanen grew up in the garrison of Upinniemi, which was formerly part of the Porkkala area leased by the Soviet Union.

“Now it will become a NATO base. The village has changed some time ago, but back then it was a paradise to live and live in. There were two shops, a library, a post office, a swimming pool, a cinema, a school and friends.”

The father served in the navy, and the mother also worked in the defense forces. However, Oksa was not a stereotypical military family.

“We don't have a teacher. It used to be said to go and do it. I didn't have a lot of wealth, but I was able to do scouting, sports, theater. And I learned to value hard work.”

The father sometimes suggested a military career for the son, but Oksanen chose otherwise.

“Then I've been able to play soldiers.”

Childhood At home, there is also an attitude towards Russia as a country with which one should be realistic. The father, who was therefore not a leftist, even ordered the Soviet magazine and urged his children to read

“I remember the strange smell of the magazine,” Oksanen says and laughs.

Since then, Oksanen studied Russian as a minor at the university. Learning languages ​​has been very useful, he states. Shots have often been fired behind the eastern border, for the first time already in the 1980s. Oksase has friends and colleagues in Russia. Language and contacts have given a new perspective to the whole country.

Oksanen was in Russia also in 2014, when Putin launched the annexation of Crimea

“Even then, Europe and the whole world should have woken up.”

Now, many would be ready to cut ties with Russia because of the war.

“Through friends, the current situation has of course become concrete. I personally don't think that it is possible to meet Russian people. People are people, the same everywhere.”

From the theater Oksanen says he dreamed of it when he was young. He already got a taste of it in a children's theater project in Kirkkonummi, which eventually lasted ten years. The doors of the Theater Academy opened at the age of 25, on the seventh application. The year was 1989 and a transition period was underway: Bunch Turk and Jussi Parviainen had gone, Kari Heiskanen was taking the bet responsibility.

Well, was it worth trying seven times?

“I could have chosen a slightly more lucrative profession,” Oksanen answers with a laugh.

“But this profession has given me a lot. I have been able to meet and get to know so many different people.”

First a year after graduation passed in Lahti, but since then Oksanen has been working as a freelancer. It seems to suit him well: there is variability in the calendar and, if necessary, room to do what he wants.

“But I do notice that I miss a community to belong to, although of course I've worked a lot at, for example, Q Theater and Group Theatre.”

The people around are extremely important in an actor's work.

“Vierikon Vesakin I think someone said in an interview that when you ask to join something, the first thing you think about is who else is involved. Who can play with. Yes, the text and other things will come from there with their own weight.

Second an important guideline for Oksase is to say “yes” rather than “no” when asked. It has led to a career during which I have been able to do all kinds of things: theater, television, film, audiobooks, audiobooks, dubbing.

The feedback thus comes on a nice wide scale. Someone praises a theater role, while the children in the neighborhood ask if Oksanen is the voice of that and that animated character. And when Oksanen was involved in the legendary in the 1990s Evening milking-satire, people meaningfully wished “good evening”, as he used to do in the show.

“Comedy, drama – everything is equally important. But each time you have to claim your own place”, he sums up.

And Oksase has a third guideline.

Everything you do should be done as well as possible.

Correction on December 30, 2023 at 8:10 p.m.: Oksanen was born in 1964, not 1963, as was wrongly claimed in the story at first.