Dragan Marinković

Dragan Marinković "Maca" (born 17 March 1968) is a Serbian-Bosnian actor and TV personality.

Widely known by his nickname Maca, though trained as an actor, Marinković is most notable for his outrageous personality showcased during his stints on reality television. In mid-2007, he was a contestant on the first season of Veliki brat VIP (the Serbian version of Celebrity Big Brother), making it all the way to the final day. In early 2010 he repeated the same on another reality contest Farma. He currently resides in Novi Sad with his family.

His biggest acting job is a role opposite Mirsad Tuka and Mira Furlan in the 2010 multiple award-winning Bosnian film The Abandoned.^[1]

After graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, Maca experienced trouble breaking into the business. Initially only involved with acting through supporting parts on film and in theater, he could be seen in the occasional play on small Sarajevo stages such as Kamerni teatar 55. Later he got small parts in various international film productions depicting the Bosnian War where he played stock character portrayals of local "bad guys" - usually cartoonish Serbian soldiers and paramilitaries. Two most notable such gigs were his appearances in Hollywood productions Welcome to Sarajevo and Behind Enemy Lines.

However, more substantial parts in local productions eluded him and he eventually turned to TV presenting as his main career activity. After getting some prominence as a television personality in Sarajevo and the rest of Bosnia, he often complained in interviews about various acting clans as the reason for his lack of headway in the local cinematography.^[2]

After getting some prominence outside of Bosnia in 2007 as a result of Veliki brat VIP appearance, he also started getting more acting gigs such as the 7-episode engagement on Serbian TV series Agencija za SiS on TV Pink.

With his acting career stuck in a rut in the mid-2000s, Maca simultaneously started appearing on television hoping to gain more exposure. He became one of the many rotating hosts on the morning programme called Balkan.Net, simulcast live on three TV Pink stations throughout the Balkans. His off-the-cuff nature quickly made him stand out among the various hosts. Around the same time he was involved in Pile and Maca Show on Pink BH, which he co-hosted with Zoran "Pile" Radojković.

That exposure led to Maca getting a show of his own in October 2005 - the aptly named One Man Show - Niko kao ja on OBN television in Bosnia. Conceptualized as a free format with street bits and in-studio pieces such as wrestling with strippers in chocolate and turbo-folk performances, the show often bordered on vulgarity with profanity, sexual innuendo, and street lingo being the norm. Following the controversy that erupted after the episode that aired on New Year's Day 2006, the show was taken off the air.

From January 2007, Maca was back on TV in a remake of Ruski rulet quiz (aired in Serbia from September 2003 until July 2005 hosted by Irfan Mensur) for Bosnian market, airing on Pink BH.^[3]

Arguably, Maca's biggest break on television came in May 2007 when he was included among the contestants on the first season of Veliki brat VIP (Celebrity Big Brother). Being seen by a wide television audience outside of Bosnia for the first time, his wild personality and attitude were impossible to ignore as he became the most talked about housemate. Profanity-laced tirades directed at fellow housemates and compulsive scratching were just some of his behavioural quirks that marked his time on the show in which he ended up making it in the final two, only to be beaten by retired football player Saša Ćurčić.

With his public profile raised in Serbia as a result of the show, Maca started getting jobs there as well.

In early September 2008, Maca was announced as part of the hosting crew on another Emotion project - Operacija trijumf reality show that started in late September 2008. In addition to co-hosting the gala evenings alongside Milan Kalinić, Nikolina Pišek, and Ana Mihajlovski each Monday, he also co-hosted a live broadcast called Najgori od sve dece on Saturday nights with Marijana Mićić.

In February 2009 he entered the Veliki brat house again, this time on the Veliki Brat VIP All Stars edition. Staying true to his reputation and imposing personality, he had ego clashes with everyone from rapper Gru, over to Miki Đuričić, and finally even Milić Vukašinović. Maca also frequently groped and harassed model and former Miss Yugoslavia Tijana Stajšić who surprisingly seemed receptive to his aggressive sexual advances.

In early July 2009, Maca started shooting episodes for the Balkan version of the Distraction game show, hosted by him, and set to air in the fall 2009 in five countries (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Montenegro).^[4]

"Like wife, like life" In 2019, Dragan Marinković premiered his monodrama "Like wife, like life," which quickly captured the hearts of the audience. This was followed by a major tour in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and other countries in the region and Europe. The success of Maca's play is evidenced by the award for "exceptional acting performances, masterful play, and stage presence" at the Balkan Independent Theater Scene Festival - PROVOKACIJA in Skopje in 2021.

Although often controversial, Dragan Marinkovic is a successful actor and television personality. He is a recipient of the Chamber Theatre 55 award for best acting achievement in the 1999/2000 season, and his performances have become hits, filling theaters throughout the region.

The success of the play "Like Wife Like Life" is also evident through the recognition it received. It was awarded for "exceptional acting performances, masterful play, and stage presence" at the Balkan Independent Theater Scene Festival - PROVOKACIJA in Skopje in 2021.

He always enjoys going back to Sarajevo, his hometown. His mother and son used to live in Sarajevo, so he would often visit for that reason. In that city, he "recharges his batteries," and although many of his friends have moved away from Sarajevo, he always has some who are still there, and he likes to meet up with them, chat, and joke around. He believes that the divisions that arose after the dissolution of former Yugoslavia are unnecessary. He always emphasizes that he loves all people. He enjoys having coffee with his friends in Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb, on the waterfront in Split... In principle, as he said, he has friends in almost all cities of the former Yugoslavia and doesn't divide people. He is happy to see everyone equally. He enjoys light-hearted topics and avoids the heavy ones as they burden an already difficult life.

In late September 2009 Maca opened a burek parlour (buregdžinica) called Burek.ba in Miloša Pocerca Street in Belgrade.^[5]

• Official site
• Dragan Marinković at IMDb
• Interview with Dragan Marinković Maca