A Guide to the wonderland

By Christina Katsantoni
Translated by Alexandros Theodoropoulos

As a young boy, he couldn’t bear to see distressed people and wished he had a magic wand to make them all happy. Growing up, he discovered that a wand wasn’t necessary. Vasilis Charalampopoulos found the wonderland in the theatre, which allows him to make the people around him smile, feel and share magical moments with him. 

The first role models
In his childhood he was shy and silent. He was only transformed when along with his brothers and other friends of the neighborhood, made sketches, inspired mainly by the black and white pictures of the old Greek cinema. Dinos Iliopoulos, Thanasis Vengos and all the great actors who were always present in his house through the TV screen were his actual childhood heroes, whom he hoped to look like at some point.

He grew up in Vyronas and wanted to become an actor since he can remember himself. When he saw stars falling, he always wished to be on stage. He achieved that for the first time at the age of 13, in an improvised school stage made for a two-day student theatrical sketch. He immediately felt a strong and beautiful connection with the audience. At that point he was sure that this was the career that he would follow in his life.

Vasilis Charalampopoulos's parents didn’t object to his dreams. It wasn’t easy to do so anyway. All his theatrical plays as a student were crowned with praise and encouragement from other parents who advised his parents not to hinder his talent and fortunately they didn’t. After graduating from school, he began his studies at the drama school of the Athens Conservatory and made his first appearance in the theater in 1992 at "Cabaret Story" by Vangelis Seilinos.

The road to success
The following years weren’t so easy. In 1999, the failure of the play "The Diary of Adam and Eve" that he staged with a troupe, led to a play that made history in theatrical events, created a new audience and changed the established and old-fashioned theatre and its habits.

The play "I Just broke up", which turned into the theatrical hit of the year, gave him the opportunity to play a Spaniard in such a convincing way that spectators looked for him in the dressing room and spoke Spanish to him! At the same time, there was a good opportunity for him to take a role in TV with the comedy series"Eglimata". Success was just at his door...

Since then, success has consistently dominated Vasilis Charalampopoulos's rich career in theater, television and cinema, even if that wasn’t the case. He had to turn down a lot of offers from an early age in order not to be standardised in the same character, to spend all his time in rehearsals and uninterrupted performances, to travel the whole country on endless tours and to go on stage to play while being sick, tired, physically or psychologically exhausted . He never chased success. He just didn’t want to see distressed people around him, exactly like what he was feeling as a child. He just wanted to be able to make people laugh, get excited and actually feel something.
 
Happiness is...
Today, theatre for Vasilis Charalampopoulos is what he loves in his life, but it’s not all he got in this life. He has managed to find the balance between theatre, rehearsals, filming and his personal life, spending time with his family in the small garden they made at their cottage.

His journey so far has taught him that happiness is everywhere, as long as you can comprehend it. One shouldn’t confuse happiness with success or the glow of a fake world. Happiness is a way of perception and a choice. As for those who made a wish every time a star fell, his course in life has proven that wishes come true, as long as you chase them.