Ewa Farna: A man gave me some
underwear and keys from his apartment. I was 15 years old!
She’s
23 years old but she’s been working for 10 years now. Ewa Farna started her
career at 12 years old and she didn’t quit as many child stars do. She says: „I
need to show people that I’m not a child anymore. I grew up.“
Right before she left to visit the United States she
came to meet us, wearing a shining ring on her hand. and her Facebook name
changed to Emma Chobot. Did she really get married in the US? No, she denied
that. That ring is not an engagement ring and she was using that fake name on Facebook, because her profile always got blocked when she used her real name.
Ewa Farna just stays miss Ewa Farna.
You’ve
been working for 10 years now, which is fantastic considering your age. How would you sum up those 10 years?
It was beautiful, amazing, but sometimes hard.
But if I should really sum it up shortly, I’d say it was the best school of
life and a huge preparation for life that I don’t regret.
Have
you ever felt like you lost your childhood for your career?
I don’t feel like I’ve lost it, it just was a
little bit different. I went to three of my friend’s parties instead of ten, I
went twice to have pizza with them
instead of fifteen times. That’s true, but when I think about it, I have to say
life brought me much more than it took from me. That’s why I’m happy and why I
want to continue doing it.
So you
haven’t ever felt sorry when your friends went to a party and you couldn’t join
them?
Of course I have, terribly sometimes. I
even cried a few times, for example when I couldn’t attend my friend’s birthday
party. I’ve always told my friend if they could plan all these events a half of
a year ahead and if it could be any day but weekends (laughs). But thanks to
all this I’m now more capable of organising my time. When I really want to go
somewhere now, I find time for that.
Many
child stars couldn’t handle the fame. Who helped you not to go crazy about it?
I didn’t find it too hard to stay grounded. I didn’t go crazy because people recognised me on the streets and
because I started to earn money early. My parents helped me of course, and I
always reminded myself that I’m just an ordinary person and the fact that
someone yelled „I love you“ at me didn’t mean anything. It’s psychically quite
hard and it can easily destroy people who don’t have the balls. It didn’t happen to me though and hopefully
never will.
You
probably have the balls.
I was just raised well. (laughs) That’s really
Important for me. I haven’t ever really felt the need to rebel.
Not
even in puberty?
I
guess I didn’t really have one. I always appreciated what my parents had to
give up so I could do what I love, so I haven’t even think about rebelling against them.
I haven’t got the tendency to fight them, it felt so ungrateful to be mean to
them. Maybe the puberty was showing in other ways, I’m not sure. Of course
there were times when my mom told me that I couldn’t go out with my friend,
because my room was a mess, when I just got back from a concert with an
unpacked bags. Those times I was mad that I had to go out two hours later. (laughs)
But nothing serious happened. I’ve always had really good relationship with my
parents, they were always by my side.
Have
they always support you in your career?
Certainly yes. I don’t mean that they always
pushed me somewhere and wanted to implement their unfulfilled ambitions, no.
They always told me, that the most important thing is to be psychically okay
and that if I don’t want to do something, then I shouldn’t do it. It wasn’t
like when I got an offer from Playboy, they would go like: great, go for it, we
can build a garage for the money. (laughs) It sounds ridiculous, but from what
I saw in Polish X-Factor, many parents would really sell their children to
anyone.
That
Playboy offer really happened though, didn’t it?
It did, twice actually. One from Czech and one
from Polish Playboy. First offer came right after I turned 18. And they were
really surprised when I refused. One time I would like to shoot some tasteful
nudes, but only for my husband. Definitely not for a magazine that anyone can
buy. I’m not judging it, some of those pictures are really nice and every girl
should decide that by themselves. Some of them will later show their
grandchildren how hot they were when they were younger. But I’d rather show
mine some pictures from the scene, instead of showing how good my boobs looked
like. (laughs)
You say
that your parents supported you. Have they ever discouraged you?
That moment happened too. It was right at the
beginning of my career, I found some hate going on my song Měls mě vůbec rád.
Back then I found out people writing some really awful things – that I won’t
last long, that I should go back to Poland and much worse things that I would
be ashamed of saying out loud. And I read all of this back then and I broke
down. I stopped going to school, I was afraid going out and meeting people, my
hands were shaking so much I couldn’t even hold a pen. So my parents said no.
They meet with my manager and talked about what to do, because nothing is worth
seeing their child like that. So they
forbid me to read all these things and told me that people can be mean, which I
couldn’t understand. But I stopped reading it and I still don’t, it’s useless.
As you
got popular and successful, you also got to make more money than most of
people your age. Do you know how to handle that?
Thank God, I didn’t have to deal with it for a
long time. I say thank God, because it helped me to stay on the ground. I was
getting pocket money just like others. Even when I turned 18 and I could handle
my money myself, I didn’t because I didn’t want to. Young person could easily
go crazy because of that. My parents are both economists, so thanks to them and
thanks to what I saw they were doing I kind of figured it out myself. But I
also read some books about it, I wasn’t afraid to ask my parents what to do, I
didn’t think about money as a unspeakable topic. In one hand you have money but
in the other you have to know how to handle it. I know I’m only 22 years old,
I don’t have a house or a family, I want both of these things and I need to
save money for them. One day I want to not think about which butter is cheaper,
I want my child to go to a great school. Sure, I’m earning money, but I still
can mess it up, and I really don’t want to.
And how
do you handle the fact that many people go crazy about you?
They don’t!
You may
think so, but it’s unimaginable for many people. And it’s probably not always
that nice.
Not always. I needed to tell a few fans that
what they do is a little bit too much, I can do that. (laughs) But in general
it’s really nice, I appreciate it a lot. Always when I get back from a meet up
with my fans, I’m moved. Most of them is amazing and kind and I know it all wouldn't
be possible without them. You can have a great team and a great voice, but if
there’s no one to support you, it’s useless. But there are also some psycho
fans. One man once gave me underwear and a keys from his house. I was fifteen
and he around thirty-five. It was really crossing a line, but at least I have a
story to tell. (laugh)
It
would be too much now too, when you’re no longer fifteen years old. Do you
manage to step out from the „child star“ box?
It’s hard and I’m now having a phase, when I
want to tell people I’m not a child anymore, that I grew up. It’s a kind of a
rebirth, transformation, but a loose one, I don’t wanna go all extreme. I don’t
really like the way Miley Cyrus did it – to rebel, show yourself naked
everywhere, to show people that your boobs got bigger. That’s actually very
childish calling for help. I want to show people in a different way.
Your new, grown up video clip came out
recently, promoting the song Na ostří nože, and people talked about it a lot,
because many famous people are starring in it, along with Jaromír Jágr…
That with Mr. Jágr was a coincidence, I texted
him without knowing him personally, I didn’t even hope for it to work. I just
wanted to aim high, he really fits to the theme of the song. Well, it paid off,
a reply – which i still have in my phone – came, saying: Hi, great song, I like it. I’m really busy next week, but we can work
it out. I was really shocked. So we shot it, which I still don’t
understand, I still find it unbelievable, when I watch the clip. I’m really
happy that it worked out, but I’m also happy about other guests, such as
Mandrage, Tomáš Klus, Klára Vytisková, Libor Bouček, Jiří Mádl etc. It’s a clip
from my dreams and I’m really proud of it.
Obviously
friendship can form in show business as well. You found not only friends there,
but also your boyfriends…
Yes, I did, but it’s logical, because that’s a
place I spend most of my time at. So where else should I meet them?
Can you
imagine having a normal student as your boyfriend?
Of course I can. Sometimes it would be
probably better, because I could totally turn my head off while being at home
and rest, not thinking about work. That could be great, I never wanted to date
only musicians. But it always worked out that way. But it has its pros as well,
because these people understand you, they know what it takes to do this kind of
job, that I have to work on weekends… And they understand that it’s really a
job.
What do
you mean?
Many people from other spheres doesn’t
understand, some of my friends ask me when finally am I getting a real job or
going to study. They are taking classes, I’m shooting a photo shoot, someone
does my make up, then I do interview, or doing rehearsals with my band… That’s
not a job for them.
Aren’t
you mad because of that?
I’m
more sad actually, mostly because of my parents. Our neighbours are coming to
them asking when will their daughter finally get some normal job. An hour on a
stage in Saturday, you look pretty, make a lot of money, and when you sweat,
you don’t smell, and then you have a week off. (laugh)
That’s what they mostly think. For many
people, if you don’t sit in a office for 8 hours a day, when you don’t do what
makes you happy for living, and at 5 pm you go home, then you don’t work. I
don’t want to throw shade on that, I respect it, but my job looks different.
And if your job will be your favourite activity, you won’t spend a day at work.
That’s what I wish everybody could have.
Let’s
get back to your boyfriend Martin Chobot. a guy from your band. You live
together, work together…
We are together really often. In the three
years we weren’t apart for more than five days. (laugh)
And
you’re not getting on each other’s nerves?
Of course it’s important to manage it to not
get on your nerves, in every relationship. Which is probably harder for my
Martin than it is for me. (laughs). It’s amazing from me to get out off of
stage, where I put out my best, and have there someone who you can share that
moment with, who hugs you. Some time ago I actually felt alone – you are on the
stage, people are clapping, screaming, some of them are saying that they love
you… But then nothing, you are on your hotel room on your own. You can’t call
your mom, it’s too late and everybody is already asleep, your friends are
hundreds of kilometres away. You don’t have anyone to share all these big,
unusual emotions. Now I live my private life right after work, not many days
after.
Are you
planning to move on? Wedding, children…
If you’re referring to this ring (pointing at
her ring on her finger), than it’s definitely not an engagement one. But even
if I planned something, I wouldn’t say it publicly, so… (laughs)
You say
it with such a smile on your face, I would almost thing you actually are
planning something!
That’s more likely because I always find it
funny, how much you need to talk about these things. I’m not planning anything.
And as I said – I love my job and my fans, but there are things I don’t want to
share with them.
Thanks to Tereza for the translation.
