Rena Lykou: "The second chances are an act of faith"

A young mother struggling with her debts, obligations, and sorrows. A man who unexpectedly enters her life and reminds her of what she has forgotten about herself. A meeting that can change—and will change—all the balances. "The Neighborhood's Truth," the new series coming to MEGA, unfolds a story about the difficulties of daily life, second chances, and families that do not necessarily arise from blood ties, but from the need to find someone who will stand beside you and become a family by choice. At the center is Christina, played by Rena Lykou. A woman just under 30, who suddenly grew up, without stopping the child inside her from blossoming. She is a woman who falls, gets up, and continues, deploying humor and optimism even when everything seems to be going wrong. "For me, Christina is a modern heroine. Like every single mother and every single parent," says Rena Lykou on VIMA. With reference to the new series that will be broadcast on MEGA, the actress talks about a heroine who tries to cope with everything, about her meeting with Giannis of Gerassimos Skiadaresi, and about the family that can be created where no one would expect it. Because, as she herself believes, sometimes we need people who will help us see ourselves with a more generous gaze. People who will lead us where we truly belong. "The Neighborhood's Truth" is coming to the new MEGA program. Will you put your heroine, Christina, into your universe? Christina's universe is a stagnant inertia. A chaos full of obligations, anxiety, responsibilities, and loneliness. She is a woman just under 30, but in reality, she remains a big child growing up with her own. The events and choices led her very early to maturity. During her studies, she remained pregnant by her great love and found herself growing up a child at an age when her peers were still discovering themselves, enjoying student life, the hookups, and their first professional steps. She is not the "perfect" mother in the conventional sense. But she is a mother who loves her children more than anything in the world. She strives every day so that they lack nothing and tries in every way to protect them from her burdens and responsibilities. Her financial situation is indeed difficult. She owes rent, bills, credit cards, while the needs of the children continue and run. She struggles constantly to stay on her feet, but she feels that something always happens and brings her back. Is Christina more a woman who endures or a woman who has learned not to have another option besides enduring? How do you perceive her? I think she has learned to endure because she was not given the luxury to do otherwise many times. She has innocence, sweetness, and a charm that make her especially lovable. A woman who faces the most serious problems with humor, melancholy, and optimism. She hides within her a teenager who has missed paternal love, affection, care, and flirting as a woman. From her own eyes, of course, things are different. Christina sees mostly her lack. She is full of guilt and sorrow because she believes she does not offer her children everything they should have. But despite the difficulties, she never stops trying. She falls, gets up, and continues. Without hardening, and that is what makes the difference, I think. For me, Christina is a modern heroine. Like every single mother and every single parent. What changes inside her is the meeting with Giannis, whom Gerassimos Skiadaresi plays? The meeting with Giannis, I think, functions as a reboot for Christina. Until that moment, she was so absorbed in the daily fight for survival, obligations, children, debts. She has learned to function only as a mother, to care for everything—even if she fails—and to put her own needs last. Giannis, therefore, reminds her of parts of herself that she had left aside for years. He gives her the opportunity to see herself with a more generous gaze, pointing out how capable and strong she is. Giannis and Christina are two people who disagree on almost everything. What attracts you most in the relationships of two people who appear "incompatible" and then discover they need each other? I am very attracted to these relationships, which result in an ideal, but seemingly incompatible balance. They offer a different view of things and help the other see beyond their own limits, causing them to overcome them. Like two lost pieces of a different puzzle that "clicked" and finally found the place they belong, so too are these two. "The Neighborhood's Truth" worships the idea of "family by choice." Do you believe that today we have an even greater need for such "families"? Today people experience—perhaps more than ever—feelings of loneliness and alienation. At the same time, they discuss family traumas more openly and set boundaries with greater ease than in the past. So I believe that there is a possibility to be more selective and to create "families" around us that consist of people who understand them, accept them for who they are, and embrace them unconditionally. See this post on Instagram. What is the experience of playing with two children and having to create a sense of parental familiarity in front of the camera? Did something surprise you in working with them? I adored children since I was little. In fact, one of my choices in MRI was also Pedagogy. So the prospect of working with them was something that thrilled me. But I am not hiding from you, that before the shoots began, I had a lot of anxiety. I wondered how I would be allowed by the child side to develop the familiarity that the parent-child relationship promises. Fortunately, my collaboration with little Amaryllis is excellent. She is familiar with the environment, bright and smart. So our "delay" ended quickly. And as time passes, I feel that a greater familiarity and trust are being built between us. Moreover, when I reach the set and hear their voices, I rush to find my "little ones" to greet them and find out how their week was. It is an invaluable experience, collaborating with children and lucky anyone who experiences it. I love the way they listen, perceive, and react to actions. Even the youngest of the group, my sweet Philippos. "The Neighborhood's Truth" is a story about the power of understanding, the value of a second chance, and the love that can blossom in the most unpredictable places. Are you a person of second chances? And third ones, I would say. Not that this always turns out well, there are times and circumstances. But within me, I continue to believe in the kindness of people and their ability to change, evolve, and heal their pieces. I don't know if there are really "bad" people. I think there are people who were not loved when they needed it, people who were hurt or faced situations that forced them to build giant walls to survive. See this post on Instagram. Of course, this does not justify everything, but it helps us to understand each other better. And having, the second chances is an act of faith. You choose to see the person behind their mistakes and give them the space to show you who they can become. Have you been through different television jobs, what are you looking for today in a role you perhaps didn't look for when you started? When I started, I was mainly interested in the opportunity to work, to learn, and to test as many and different things as possible. But today, with greater awareness and more experiences in my bags, I am looking for something deeper. I am interested in characters with contradictions. Faces that have something substantial to say or hide. A calm and placid role, which will tell through the "silence" or—what I consider a challenge—taboo roles for Greek standards. Have you talked about the "good child syndrome" that you recognized in yourself from the Drama School? What did that period teach you about the boundaries we set for ourselves and the need to relax? The Drama School period was not the starting point of this journey. But it was a period of deep redefinition, where I reconnected with those around me, but more so with myself. First of all, it taught me to breathe. It may sound absurd or even funny, but I am a quite anxious person, who loves continuity and order, and many times burdens his shoulders with unnecessary weights and responsibilities. That's when I learned to be a little more lenient with myself. To gently tap his shoulder and tell him "well done" for the small achievements and the unseen victories that we often miss. It also taught me that I don't need to always say the last word. Most of the time, after all, it's not necessary. That it is also perfectly fine not to know something or not to understand. I don't have to prove anything to anyone, nor do I need to pretend something I am not. I can stand, observe, and listen. At the same time, I started to see my parents differently. As people who were once children, students, lovers. Personalities full of dreams, passions, fears, and weaknesses. Not as parents who had to be constantly perfect. This realization brought with it a lot of understanding and reconciliation. Nurturing and accepting ourselves and the world around us is a big leap that requires a lot of dedicated work. But when you start this journey, you realize that we all have much more commonalities than we think. Simply everyone chooses a different "window" to hide or show them. At the end of the day, we are all people who try to do the best we can. And that, for me, is what matters most. You played volleyball at the University of Olympiacos, you were a student-athlete. Sports were decisive for you in how you experienced the world of pretense? Sports were decisive for me in general, and that's because it shaped a large part of my character. I consider it very important, even necessary, for children to experience the idea of a team, participation, respect, the sharing of defeat, and the joy of victory from a young age. Pretense, correspondingly, is a team sport. You must truly listen to your teammate—your colleague on stage—be present and available for them. Besides, "victory" requires cooperation and trust. You have written plays, you work on a young adult novel, and you have completed a short screenplay. What are you discovering about yourself through writing? What fascinates me in writing is that nothing is impossible and everything is allowed. I am given the opportunity to say things that I may find difficult to express differently. Whatever troubles me, what weighs on my soul, what I don't understand in the world around me, I can explore it, analyze it, question it, and of course, destroy it. With every strike on the keyboard, I can become anyone. To live experiences that do not belong to me, to build and tear down worlds and characters. I don't need to be "as it should be," nor hide my doubts, contradictions, or fears. Instead, I can turn all of this into stories. That is why I perhaps write. Because I can exist without limits and share pieces of myself through the people and their circumstances, which while fantastic, often tell the most naked truths. Is translation a dream in wait? Yes, and I would really like to make it happen someday. The idea alone fascinates me about this journey. I still watch cartoons—as a big child, and me too—and often, for fun or as personal practice, I imitate the voices and performances I hear. It is a different acting challenge that requires accuracy, imagination, and expressiveness. I hope to have the opportunity in the future. If Rena today met little Renoula a few minutes before going on stage in that school performance in the sixth grade that made her think "I want to be an actress," what would she want to tell her? I would tell her not to be afraid. To have more courage and faith in herself. Not to worry and not to doubt her abilities. She is going to do many things that today she cannot even imagine herself. She will live a beautiful and full journey, she will meet special people, she will love others who must leave her, but she will also meet those who will look like her and make her feel safe and light. I would also tell her that bright and dark days will come, don't be frightened, she will endure. To accept everything, because they will mature her and evolve her. To remember that everything happens for a reason. "Do the best you can and pursue your dream, Renoula!"