Mr. Coal, alias Daniel Vivien, in OKD commercial spots

A truck driver, a basketball player, a house-painter, a bookseller, a teacher. This is the portfolio of jobs performed by Daniel Vivien (48), the face of the new national Czech TV commercial of OKD company, before he entered the movie world. The Serbian actor, who works in London and loves Italy, plays the role of Mr. Coal.

“The audition for the commercial of the Czech mining company was the reason for my first visit to your country. I felt great during the audition in Ostrava, I was in a good mood, I liked the role which was illustrated by the result of the audition. They called me the very same day that I had got the spot. Even though when flying here I had no idea what it was all about,“ admitted Vivien.

Following the meeting with Jiří Hanych, the director of the commercial spot, who explained everything to me, the things got off the ground. “There were many talented people all around. Also the real miners did the acting and for me it was the first encounter with them and their
challenging occupation,“ said the actor who has never been down the pit, but has a great deal of admiration for those working in mines.

It happened on the very first day of shooting when he met a miner. “A man, a real worker. I was impressed. He was blind in one eye, tight-lipped. I was about to burst into tears, while he was laughing, drinking a coke and eating a sandwich. He has spent a number of years
in a dark, dusty mine deep under the ground. And now he is a real miner in a commercial spot,“ explained Vivien.

Thanks to the cooperation with his “partner“ from the mine, the Serbian actor came to realise one interesting thing. “I was almost ashamed that it is me, a professional actor who represents them – the miners, who is the main hero of the commercial spot. The miners should be the
main heroes rather than me. I should learn from those people; it was a great experience for me to work with them,“ he noted.

Daniel Vivien alias Mr. Coal grew up in a small village called Ilidža and in Sarajevo and Eastern Bosnia. Already as a child I used to give “window performances“ for my neighbours with toys and puppets in an open window. Later he emigrated to Italy, lived in Canada and now works in the United Kingdom. He acted in movies like End of the Day, War Games, Evidence of Existence or Theatre.

Radek Lukša

Julie Papíková