Filip Šovagović is a Croatian actor, film director, comedian, playwright and journalist. At first known simply as the son of renowned Croatian actor Fabijan Šovagović, he has established himself as one of the most prolific Croatian actors of the 21st century. He has appeared in over sixty films, starring in My Uncle's Legacy, Sokol Did Not Love Him, Hamburg Altona, Četverored, Transatlantic, The Infection and the Academy Award-winning No Man's Land. Šovagović also starred in the extremely successful Croatian comedy series Naša mala klinika as Ivo Zadro. He made his directorial début in 2005, with the critically and commercially acclaimed film Pušća Bistra. Šovagović has also been widely praised for his work in the Gavella Drama Theatre and as a playwright in his repertoire of five authored plays. His most acclaimed work, :hr:Filip Šovagović|The Brick, has won the Grand Prix of Italia. He writes a column in the Croatian daily newspaper 24 sata.
Career
Film
In 1988, he appeared in My Uncle's Legacy, marking his film debut. The film, based on the Ivan Aralica novel Okvir za mržnju, was nominated for a 1990 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He later appeared as Ilija in the 1991 Đuka Begović adaptation, directed by Branko Schmidt. In 1995, he starred in the Zrinko Ogresta-directed Washed Out. The film was the Croatian submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in 1995 and had garnered positive reviews. For the role, Šovagović won the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the Pula Film Festival. He would later win Golden Arenas for Best Actor for his roles in Transatlantic and Slow Surrender. In 1995, Šovagović portrayed the smooth-talking Spanish television star Juan in the celebrated box-office hit The Three Men of Melita Žganjer. Opposite Rene Bitorajac and Branko Đurić, he had a starring role in No Man's Land, a motion picture that won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. His portrayal of the eccentric wounded Bosniak soldier Cera was praised by acting teacher and director Dalibor Rajić. Before his success in directing feature-length films, he has directed three short films: Drvo života, Putnici potonulog broda and Say No. Šovagović has continuously referred to these projects as his "biggest flops" and "hopes no one will ever see them again". In 2005, he directed the comedy Pušća Bistra, starring Enes Vejzović. With a screenplay based on Šovagović's cult play Cigla, the film earned praised for its dialogue, directing and humor, but received criticism towards the acting performances.
Theatre
He graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre directing. Since 1995, he has been a member of the ensemble in the Gavella Drama Theatre in Zagreb. Some of his notable acting credits in the theatre include adaptations of Three Sisters, Peer Gynt, Antigone, Richard III, Fine Dead Girls, Iliad 2001, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Revisor, Turandot, Cyclops and The Imaginary Invalid. In 2017, he directed his own play Tesla Anonimus, starring Ozren Grabarić. The play was met with positive reviews, with many critics praising the concept, characters and score, composed by Šovagović himself. In 2019, he appeared as chiromancer ATMA in the Gavella rendition of the Marinković classic Kiklop. Apart from his performances in the Gavella Theatre, he has performed in Croatian National Theatre in Split, The Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik and Theatre ITD. He has also directed Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot in the Zagreb-based theatre ITD.
Television
On television, he is widely known as gaffe-prone hypochondriac Ivo Zadro in the massively successful Croatian comedy series Naša mala klinika. The show, created by Branko Đurić, has spawned an entire franchise with Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian counterparts. He has also done supporting roles for the comedy Lud, zbunjen, normalan, the improv series :hr:Moja 3 zida|Moja tri zida, the children's show :hr:Žutokljunac|Žutokljunac and the dark comedy :hr:Dome, slatki dome|Dome, slatki dome. In 2012, on behalf of the "Sova Zone" project, he created, produced and starred in the sitcomŠpica, in hopes of "capturing the contrast and dynamics of the Zagreb society". The series also stars Ornela Vištica, Mia Biondić, Nenad Cvetko, Ranko Zidarić, Živko Anočić, Luka Peroš, Jure Radnić, Vera Ana Goldstein and Ankica Dobrić. Since 2018, he stars in the prominent Serbian series :hr:Žigosani u reketu|Žigosani u reketu.
Animation
He is the official Croatian-language voice of Garfield, and provided the voice of Baloo in the Croatian dub of The Jungle Book and the sequel. His other notable Croatian version voice credits are the second Ram in Brother Bear, Bruce in Finding Nemo, The Underminer in the Incredibles franchise, Fillmore in the Carsfilm series, Captain Hook in Shrek the Third, Big Z in Surf's Up, Django in Ratatouille, Buford in The Princess and the Frog, additional voices in Marmaduke, Mike in Hotel Transylvania 2, Hank in Finding Dory and Jerry Jumbeaux Jr. in Zootopia.
Personal life
Šovagović, nicknamed Šova and Šovica, resides in Zagreb. His sister, Anja Šovagović-Despot, is also an actress working in the Gavella theatre. From 1992 to 1997, he was married to Ruža Grizelj, with whom he has a daughter named Klara. In 2019, it was reported that he is in a relationship with actress Nina Violić.
