The actor Dimitris Kapouranis from the series “Wrecked” spoke openly about his origin, while referring to the racism he experienced during his childhood in Crete.
On Tuesday night (06/02), the protagonist of the favorite series “The Shipwreck” appeared as a guest on MEGA’s “Night Out” show. Dimitris Kapouranis.
In a confessional interview, the well-known actor spoke to Theoharis Ioannidis about his origin, about the racism he experienced and about his childhood in Crete, describing what it’s like to grow up in Chania as a child of immigrants.
Dimitris Kapouranis: Origin from Albania
The well-known actor was born in Albania and came to Greece at the age of 3. As he said: “I grew up in Albania with my grandparents. My parents immigrated to Greece, at some point they arrived in Chania and then my grandfather took me to Crete, then he left».
«It is very traumatic for a child to grow up with grandparents and then be separated from them. They were my carers, my mother and my father were my grandparents and suddenly one day they cease to be. This is traumatic for a child and I think it is a trans-Balkan issue. I have this conversation many times with guys from the Balkans who have exactly the same story»Dimitris Kapouranis explained.
And he added: “We share the same problem with these children. That here we are Albanians and back in Albania we are Greeks. The point is that there is an identity crisis, I think it’s a collective trauma of a generation».
Dimitris Kapouranis: Racism in Crete
Regarding whether he experienced racism in his childhood in Crete, Dimitris Kapouranis said: «Unfortunately I experienced racism but because I was a prudent child and my parents did not give “rights” we did not experience acute racism. Sometimes I had the feeling that our interpersonal relations reached a point.”
“I think things have changed and I hope they change more. Our identity, what we choose to be, is our weapon, the source of our creation and inspires those around us. If you hide who you are and don’t communicate it then what kind of person or artist are you? This is the source of our creation”said Dimitris Kapouranis.
Dimitris Kapouranis: “I used to say that I was born in Greece”
Also, the famous actor admitted: “Too many times I had thought of hiding my origin. I started saying I was born in Albania when I was at the Polytechnic. I usually said that I was born in Greece to finish, it was easier. I was to blame for this, because I have and had this belief, but it is true that it was easier. I was putting the other person in a position that we are the same.”
“I saw racist behavior, but as a child, I tried to take it as humor, I tried to laugh” write down.
Finally, regarding how and why he started talking about his origins, he said: “I saw that I felt better and that there was acceptance. I saw other people doing the same thing, with other issues. At the Polytechnic we had strong collegiality and that helped me a lot. And that’s what we need. Everyone is and can and should be what they want to be, they have defined their own identity».