Martina Preissová: New Book, Family & Father’s Legacy

If an actress Martina Preissováknown from the boards of the National Theater and the series Sunny, Friends, Anatomy of Life and others, knows how to create a great and friendly atmosphere around her. We met at the launch of her book, and after just a few minutes of talking with her, you get the feeling that the world is right. When she says she’s a family type who feels best surrounded by her loved ones, you believe her to the letter. She is simply a pleasure to be with.

And with what words did she introduce her book to the world? “I felt a compelling need to write to my father about my life, which he no longer lived. The book is not sad, not serious or tragic, because I would say that my life is quite cheerful,” explained Martina Preissová. In a way, it is actually an autobiography, so whoever reads the book will know much more about the actress than before. “It’s open and spontaneous,” he says. Which was also confirmed by the godfathers of the book, Pavlína Saudková and Olga Menzelova and Lejla Abbasová, who moderated the baptism. “I chose women who are close to me. They are strong women of strong men,” Martina explained her choice.

The christening included a musical performance, when her seventeen-year-old son Matouš and his girlfriend sang Zuzana Navarová’s song “Andělská pošta” to her mother. “He offered himself. I was glad that he dared. But he is very natural, the kind of soul who is self-confident enough not to be ashamed. He is only an amateur musician. Although he is interested in art, he is studying at an art school,” revealed the proud and obviously moved mother Martina Preissová.

But our conversation was not only about her new book. We also talked about where she is best, why she actually started writing, whether she could live alone or what kind of mother-in-law she thinks she will be. And whether she makes a resolution… Perhaps she is the one from the interview comfortwhich accompanied our hour together, should be properly known.

I know about you that you prefer to be calm, even if you seem rather temperamental on the outside. Where and how do you find it within yourself – is it a certain physical space, sound, activity or something else?

I was probably born with a certain peace of mind. Or rather, I inherited it from my ancestors. Dad was very calm, even quiet. And my mother planted that temperament in me. Mixed like this, it seems a bit contradictory, but I prefer the calm “I”.

You spent your childhood in South Moravia, now you live in Prague. Do you ever miss the “countryside silence”?

I’m lucky that we live on the outskirts of Prague, so keep quiet countryside i enjoy Every time I close the front gate of our house, I think how lucky I am. I would probably get used to it inside the city, but I’m really happy outside the busy streets. But make no mistake, it is sometimes busier in Moravia than here in Prague. When several groups “dump” out of their cars among the cellars on the weekend and go out to have fun, you won’t sleep peacefully there either. Peace and quiet are a rare commodity these days.

Maybe that’s why a lot of people leave big cities and move at least beyond its borders, do you no longer long for a smaller city?

Small towns have their charm, that’s for sure. Znojmo or Jemnice, where we spend a lot of time with our family, enchanted us. But I have to admit that I have grown to Prague. I know her well now and I stopped feeling lost here.

You often talk about how writing is another path in your artistic life. When did you feel the need to write? And was there a moment when you said to yourself: “Now I have to do it fully”?

Actually, I still don’t do it fully. I never suffered from romantic visions of driving around the Mediterranean and writing stories in various houses overlooking the countryside. Rather, I steal time where I can. And I write, for example, in the dressing room of the theater to get my stories out of my head and onto paper. I started before covid broke out. It was a period when working in the theater did not satisfy me, and I sat down and started writing. Out of some inner need to realize oneself.

Your last book is actually letters to dad to heaven… Why this topic?

Dad died very young, already thirty years ago. And I realized that form letterswhen the addressee can’t answer anything I write to him, is actually an ideal way for me, which forces me to find answers to the questions I have asked myself. And despite the fact that my father has not been here with me for a long time, I felt that he should learn something about me up there after all.

Do you live in a large family, are you a family type in the true sense of the word?

So yes. I think that I am hospitable and practical, so inviting even the extended family for joint lunches or dinners is not a problem for me. And what’s more, I like it – having the family together nicely.

But many women, at least occasionally, reach the point where they wonder if they would be better off alone. So this has never happened to you?

To be alone? Not that. I never really got to that point. I’m probably destined to live in a couple, like a swan. I can’t imagine it even more so when our children are born and we both have an influence on them. I would not be able to be alone, and if I were forced to do so by circumstances, I would have a hard time bearing it.

Society today is quite driven by the cult of the body, in which social networks play an essential role. Have you come to like your body or is there something you would like to change about yourself but haven’t yet?

Everyone deals with the body, and not just women. This was and still is very annoying to me. I try to listen to my body and comply with it. I don’t scold him and I pamper him. The fact that it doesn’t look like what the people around me dictate, I kind of don’t care anymore. My husband likes me and I’m healthy, and that’s enough for me. I am a little bit dropped in the last year. It’s not much to recognize, but I’m fine. My body is telling me it’s fine with me.

But your life was not always completely easy or simple, it was also strongly affected by the topic of addictions. Do you feel that some people are just attracted to them, or is it a coincidence that you have to deal with?

I really don’t know and I’ve never been that deeply interested in it. Just like everything that has happened to me in my life, so too dependence or my dad’s death was something to deal with rather than wondering why it was happening to me. Maybe I’m attracted to it, but that doesn’t change the fact that life has to be lived in all its colors.

You have two sons — are you raising them to be gentlemen? Have you ever thought about what kind of mother-in-law you will be?

I don’t know if that’s how I raise them. They see how their dad treats me or their mom, and in him they have a role model and an example. So I’m happy with what they’ve managed to capture so far. They are not rude, they are sensitive, attentive and helpful to me. And I hope that when they bring their girls, I will be a good mother-in-law. I had no idea how to be the bad guy. I hope I can do it.

Do you feel that today’s teenagers will have it easier one day in their lives, or on the contrary, more difficult when the world is so hot today?

I would not like to generalize how this generation will or will not have a hard time. It is individual. Everyone reacts to the pulse of the times in their own way. They don’t have an easy time with what’s going on around us and how much information they have to swallow every day, but they’re definitely fighting it somehow.

However, parents often advise their children or try to protect and help them. What is the best life advice you ever received and from whom?

Definitely from my parents: “Walk straight, take small steps and every pain has an end.”

And which one did you ever give?

I often tell people around me lately that when they feel like there is a wall in front of them and they can’t go on, to patiently look for a crack. It will take time, but after a while everyone will find a way behind the wall.

We are at the start of the new year, with what resolution do you enter it?

I don’t make any resolutions. The assignment stresses me out, and when I fail, I feel sad. So I enter the next year without goals, with my eyes wide open and the expectation of what good things will bring.