She set down the milestones that would shape her fate while still a teenager. And fate readily showed her what steps to take.

How do you feel when the floodlights suddenly go out and steal part of your freedom with every passing day? “I let myself be guided by my imagination,”goes the brief answer given by actress and model Nelly Chunchukova. Her career is a whirlwind of emotions, connected with the world cities of fashion and the film sets where she has often stood side by side with Hollywood stars. The temperamental girl from the TV shows is, like all of us now, closed within four walls and is learning the lessons of the times – patience, reflection, care and love of our loved ones.

I am a very positive person and I always try to see things in a positive light, as an opportunity, she says. But I have not stopped working on my projects and my dreams – though “remotely” I have been doing everything I can in the circumstances. For example, a few days ago I finished editing my first short film, now I am going to send it to festivals in Bulgaria and in other countries. I also sing and dance, develop my talents because everything you can do is an asset in the acting profession. So I am not wasting my time, I am not bored, I always find something interesting to do.

Nelly’s first time in movies was as an extra and she was soon given small roles in Bulgarian and foreign films. But a contract with a famous modelling agency set her on her way to travel the world, taking part in fashion shows in Milan and Paris, China and India. But she never forgot her first efforts in movies, so she went to acting classes in Italy and patently awaited her moment.

As a teenager she had a poster of Milla Jovovich on her wall, and years later she received an unexpected gift from fate – as herf stand-in in some of the scenes in Hellboy.

What we have in common with Milla Jovovich is the smile on our faces and our friendly way, Nelly remembers, and goes back to the happy times she had with Sylvester Stallone in “Rambo: Last blood” in which she played a Mexican girl. At the moment the actress is excited about her first short film.

I have a lot of film ideas and the easiest way was a short film, the actress says. “Draw me” is a love story in which the main female character is just like me – passionate, tempestuous, impatient, she wants it all, right now. Whereas the main male character, played by Martin Taskov, is an introvert, a musician, everything touches him deeply, he prefers things slow. The film’s message is that one shouldn’t sabotage one’s own self when life offers the chance of happiness or success. Because we stop ourselves in thousands of ways – fear of failure, of the opinion of others, of being judged. The other idea in the film is to learn to understand others and not to expect or demand that they be the same as us.

Nelly loves bad-girl roles, the kind of roles she played in the TV shows “Stolen life” and “Road of honour”.

The bad-guy (girl) roles are so much more interesting to actors, she says further. It is a challenge to be able to get the audience to like a villain. And one more thing that is important – for me they are a way to give vent to the worst in me in art, not in life. It is a way to prevent hurting myself or the people around me. Art is a wonderful way to do this.

Maybe some day she will play the roles of her dreams – empress, goddess, murderer, alien. But in these times of isolation Nelly has a simple dream – to be able to take a walk in the park and breathe in the fresh air of spring.

Photos: private library