Franjo Dijak

In theatre, he is widely known for his work as an actor in the drama ensemble at the Zagreb-based Gavella Theatre. He made his debut as a guest in 1998 with the Strindberg work Miss Julie, alongside Daria Lorenci.

In 2007, he became a permanent member of the ensemble and later established himself as a drama champion in Gavella, with best-known roles include the lover Lysander in A Midsummer's Night Dream, Joseph II in Amadeus, Fernando in Candide, Lasić in Fine Dead Girls, Segismundo in Life Is a Dream, the title character in Othello and Pomet Trpeza in Dundo Maroje.[6][7]

In 2009, he has done acting work for the Filip Šovagović project Iliad 2001. That same year he achieved a lead role in Babarelo a play by Biljana Srbljanović directed by Paolo Magelli, and a supporting yet major role in Balade Petrice Kerempuh by Miroslav Krleža, with Sven Šestak, Ozren Grabarić and Dijana Vidušin.[8] In the 2009 season, he was proclaimed Gavella's Actor of the Year.[9]

In 2013, he received critical admiration among Bojan Tesić and Milivoj Jukić for his lead role as Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, starring alongside Ozren Grabarić as Porfiriy Petrovich and Živko Anočić as Razumikhin.[10][11][12] He won the 2013 Ardalion Award for Best Actor in a leading role for his performance.[13] He previously portrayed the troubled law student in a production at the National Theatre in Rijeka directed by Tomi Janežič, with Marija Škaričić as Sonya Marmeladova and Zdenko Botić as Porfiriy Petrovich.[14][15]

Saša Anočić cast Dijak as the vulnerable scholar Melkior Tresić in the 2019 adaptation of the Ranko Marinković classic Kiklop. The version was only the second time the novel had been adapted into a theatre play (with the first one being in 1968 by the legendary Kosta Spaić).[16][17] For the lead role, Dijak received widespread acclaim and gained a Croatian Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role nomination.[18] His performance was praised by peers and other public figures, including prime minister Andrej Plenković.[19]

He has also appeared in numerous theatres in Eastern Europe, both prominent in light-hearted comedic and serious dramatic roles.[20][21] Among his roles outside the Gavella Theatre, he starred as Clive Staples Lewis in the Theatre Planet Art's production of the Mark St. Germain-written duodrama Freud's Last Session, alongside director Marko Torjanac who played the title psychoanalyst.[22] The play was met with positive reviews, with critics praising the acting, directing, tone and chemistry of the two leads.[23][24] At the Kragujevac Theatre and Culture Festival, the play won the Gran Prix and Dijak was awarded the Ring of Joakim for Outstanding Achievement in a Play.[25]

Dijak has appeared in over thirty films, appearing as a leading man and a character actor in critically acclaimed box office hits including The Blacks, Behind the Glass, Koko and the Ghosts, and Goran. From the 2004 cult classic Sex, Drink and Bloodshed, he reprised his lead role in the Antonio Nuić's 2018 film Mali, starring Dijak's son, Vito. The film went on to be a success within critic circles and the box office, winning the Big Golden Arena for Best Film.

His perhaps best known film role is that of eccentric drug-addict Filip in the Branko Schmidt adaptation of Metastases. He did not reprise his role in the 2016 sequel, ZG80.[26]

Dijak joined other acting stars including Marinko Prga, Živko Anočić and Krešimir Mikić with doing parodic-satirical sketches for the Motovun Film Festival's segment "The Green Carpet", about established actors who want to take on new career challenges. In Dijak's sketch, he wishes to conceive a career as a German pornographic actor and signs a deal with "Udo Kugelschrieber" (a fictional porno-scout director played by Vili Matula), thanks to Lukas Nola.[27][28]

Dijak worked with Fadil Hadžić on the film First Class Thieves, starring Mladen Vulić, Goran Grgić and Dijak. The comedy screened at the Pula Film Festival received mixed reviews, but Dijak and Vulić were singled out for praise in terms of acting performances.[29][30] Dijak also notably appeared in the Dejan Aćimović comedy I Have to Sleep, My Angel and the Rajko Grlić Festroia-winning Border Post.

For his role as the titular character in the Nevio Marasović film Goran, Dijak won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Award at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Canada.[31]

During his time as a student of the Academy of Dramatic Art, he starred in a series of awarded independent shorts, including Bokun Mira, Šnjevka, Ljeta and Hura.[32] He also appeared a short film adaptation of Cymbeline, combining the bard's verses with the 21st-century Croatian temperament.[33]

In 2017, he won the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama for his leading role as Uzelac in Čuvari dvorca.

Alongside Jadranka Đokić, he starred in the television film Trebalo bi prošetati psa, directed by Filip Peruzović. While the film failed to reach commercial popularity in its native country, the film became a huge hit in South Korea, winning a Seoul International Drama Award for Best Film at the country's national film awards.[34] He was awarded the Croatian Actor Award for Bes Actor in a Television Film for the role as well.[35]

On television, he is perhaps best-known for hosting the popular children's show Žutokljunac. He also appeared in guest roles as Robocop in Odmori se, zaslužio se and Hupi-Dupi, the ill-fated brother of Ćupi-Dupi (played by Ozren Grabarić) in Zakon!.[36]

Dijak is also known for his rich career in recording radio dramas.[37] To date, he has recorded over a hundred works, spanning both literature milestones by Ante Kovačić, Albert Camus, James Joyce, Fyodor Dostoyevski, Miroslav Krleža, Marcel Proust, August Strindberg and Leo Tolstoy with independent and modern works.[38][39] For his activity in the field of radio-drama, he was nominated for three Croatian Theatre Awards for Achievement in Radio-Drama.

Dijak has also actively performed voice-work for Croatian dubs of animated feature films and television series, including Sa'luk in Aladdin and the King of Thieves (dubbed 2003), Kenai in Brother Bear (2003), Mel in Balto 3: Wings of Change (2003), Howl in Howl's Moving Castle (2004), the Magic Mirror in Shrek 2 (2004), Lenny in Shark Tale (2004), Jon Arbuckle in the Garfield series (including the 2004 film and 2006 sequel), Betameche in Arthur and the Invisibles (2006), Arthur Pendragon in Shrek the Third (2007), Leonardo in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film (2007), Sting in Bee Movie (2007), Po in the Kung Fu Panda films (2008-2016), Lord Scott in Megamind (2010) and Victor in Ballerina (2016).[40] Alongside Arbuckle, Dijak voiced Sheldon in the Croatian dub of U.S. Acres and Garfield and Friends. Dijak is also one of the Croatian actors who provided his voice to Spider-Man on several occasions, the others being Mitja Smiljanić, Sven Šestak, Frano Mašković, Siniša Ružić and Rakan Rushaidat.[41][42]