With the last season, season 3 of il-Klikka ending tonight, (I have been the show's stylist since the show's inception), I have decided to interview some of the principal actors and actresses (the main characters) for their final thoughts.
Today we meet fantastic actress Tezara aka Julia Camilleri (as she is known on klikka) who is as lovely in real life as she is on screen and in her own words, here are her final thoughts:
Il-Klikka is now coming to an end…how does that make you feel? Relieved, sad or a combination of the two?
A combination of the two! I’m relieved as I get to resume my social life a little bit and get the chance to enjoy a Sunday lunch with my family but I can’t say I’m not going to miss my evenings and weekends with the cast and crew.
They’ve naturally become my second family after 3 seasons together.
We’ve cried, we’ve laughed, we’ve yelled at one another but I honestly can’t imagine this experience without every single member of the team on board.
The show probably took up a lot of your free time…do you feel that it was all worth it?
Sometimes I didn’t – there were those one-off times when I’d look at a shot and say iz-zikk I missed that bday party to take that shot and it was edited in such a way that I barely show! Lol. But it was definitely worth it because of the friends I made – I know it sounds cliche’ and double cliche’ because the show is called klikka haha but we spent so much time together, you automatically share your thoughts and problems with these people and they always lifted me up when I couldn’t even think of carrying my own weight alone.
I think it was fantastically written, edited and executed by everyone involved. I feel that we were right up there, standard wise, amongst some of the great things being produced in Malta right now (and in the past).
Your funniest memory?
I would say my funniest memory was this one time when someone stopped me in Valletta. I work in Valletta and I'm always roaming about during my lunch break, people sometimes recognise me, or rather recognise Julia and stop me and comment about the show (which is AMAZINGGGG I LOVE IT!). Anyway, this one time, this guy stopped me, he was a super fan of the show and he was shouting “Julia Julia” and I stopped and went to say hi. He started saying how upset he was and I asked why and he said that he had been going to STREAT for a couple of months hoping to find the Klikka there hanging out. In season 1, Streat was like the Klikka girl's Central Perk (tipo like of the one of the American series 'Friends') and this guy honestly thought we used to hang out there because he honestly thought we were the characters we played. When I told him my name was Tezara and I worked at The Times he was like
"u leeee Juuuu int air hostesssss meta se tkun issa eeee???" I was honestly gob smacked. Things got even funnier when he started quoting the show line by line (not even us actors know the lines that well lol) using all our different voices; male and female.
Another good memory was, this one time last summer, I went to buy meat for a bbq. The butcher told me that his daughter was a fan and asked if I could take a photo with him for her. No problem at all. After taking the pic, he politely showed it to me and asked if I liked it, it was at that point that I burst out laughing as I noticed the hanging dead chickens behind me in the photo LOL. I couldn't stop laughing honestly!! Thennnn, to make things even more awkward, I asked for a Maltese sausage (it was only after I asked this question I realised it could have been taken badly). I then asked for the bill and he said "tghidx mhux ta niccargjak al zalzet malti HIHI"
I COULDNT STOP LAUGHINNNNGGGGG
Your saddest memory?
I had the honour of filming with John Grech when he played his very last scene as Matthew Tabone. Coincidentally, both of our very first scenes of Klikka were together at the airport, which is where and how the journey ended for him; together at the airport. It was a scene during which I saw him off as he was leaving Malta to start a new life in the UK; it was both a goodbye on camera and a goodbye to our characters’ coinciding stories. It was weird at first because I was so used to be on set with him and joking around with him. We filmed our scene and after it ended we went to the zebra crossing where we filmed our very first scene in season 1 and took a few pics and held traffic – as usual :P I'm still in touch with John and I'm sure we’ll work on a few projects together again very soon but it was obviously very sad to watch him leave.
Your favourite part about playing Julia?
Everything; I honestly love how she can cry in one scene and laugh in the following one . As an actress, it made me face challenges every time I played the part. If she’s in a bubbly mood, I have to preserve my energy throughout the shots as I’d be repeating the lines for a couple of hours and playing bubbly after a day of work is sometimes, the last thing you want to do haahaaha. If she’s in a sad mood and I have to cry, then I have to try my best to actually cry (hate it when you see actors crying and there are no tears present) anddddd to not look as ugly as I do when I'm balling my eyes out (maaa xi kruha!). I love how you never know what she’s going do next and that she’s a character you can play around with both in wardrobe and in interpretation.
I’m really going to miss her – doubt I’ll ever get to play someone like her again
Since this is a fashion blog….will you miss the clothes?
Very much, Oasis were my main sponsor for this last season. When I first found this out, I was taken aback as I didn't think they had clothes which suited Julia’s style but I was greatly mistaken as I underestimated their stock and Caroline’s eye for combining certain items to perfectly suit Julia.
Favourite outfit worn?
Probably the black suiteblanco dress I wore in season 1, It had a criss-cross styled back and it sold out within a week after it appeared on the show. I was gob-smacked – and honoured: P and highly flattered :P
Do you think Julia grew up throughout the show?
I guess so. I mean she did get married and all and because she wanted to impress her husband she tried to act as mature as she could. I don’t think she was ever immature though, maybe a little naive but I think she was aware of many life realities and chose to ignore the ugly parts of life she didn't want to see.
Just because she’s very happy go lucky, doesn't mean she has to grow up you know?
Although, I think we got to see a side of her we hadn't seen before over the last season.
Hope you enjoyed reading that.. I am certainly going to miss dressing Julia!!!
