 We don't boss talk one-on-one, one-on-one. Yeah, we gon' talk, we gon' have fun. We be on fire, we be lit, lit. It's a unique hustle. Check it, check it, check it. It's a unique hustle. It's your boy, E.C.O. And I'm here with the lovely, amazing official, Mr. Maker, what's going on? Nah, nah, I need him a day to walk on. Man, hey man, we got a guy here today. He don't need no introduction, man. This guy right here is a actor, man, for, he's been in the acting business, man, for a long, long time in the theater for over 27 years, man. We up here in New Jersey, right here outside of New York. Manhattan is real close by, it's right behind us. And it's going down, man. Lazar is in the building, man. What's going on? How you doing, man? Thanks for having me. Man, thank you for coming on the show, man. We gon' get into a lot of different things. You've been in a lot of different movies, man. A lot of different, just a lot of different acting roles and doing your thing for years, man. And just wanna know what motivates you and drive you to keep going, man. From being in the vampire diary, sleepy hollow, blacklist, man, and the list goes on. The last joker, and like some of those things that I was naming, like I just wanna understand the drive that motivates you to keep going, you know? Like, but knowing Miss Jamaica, she gon' wanna try to go down a road to understand who you are and where you're from and a whole another level of detail. So go ahead and hand it off to Miss Jamaica. Okay, so you're from Russia. Macedonia? Macedonia. Sorry, Macedonia. What was it like growing up in Macedonia? Cause that's the same Macedonia that's in the Bible, right? It is, actually, yes. Okay, and we can only read and know Macedonia from what we read in the Bible. Or of course, if you do research on YouTube and stuff like that, but for a local who lives there, tell me about Macedonia. Tell me about the people there. It's a lot has changed over the years, of course, but like every other country. But Macedonia is still one of those, how should I put it, like extinct countries that you still want to actually go and pay your bills at the register or like go still at the store, like on more than anything online. We still wanna like talk to people on a daily basis. And after work, every day we would like to see our friends, meet our friends and sit down and talk with our family for a little. So, but how is the culture like different? Like, okay, so if I was supposed to come there, what would, what do people tourists come there for? What is it, Macedonia? We do have a lot, a whole lot of historic places, like goes back like this, like 2000 years ago from Alexander the Great. Two years ago, we just discovered the grave of Philip II, the Alexander the Great's father. Really? That made a lot of changes. So we do have a lot of nature, a lot of forests. We have a couple of lakes and we're one of the oldest countries in the world. Really? Wow. It is small still, but it is like makes that like impact on some way or the other. I don't even know why I would, I thought about it when as I talked to you because I met a guy from Malita, Amalta. And this guy years ago, probably around, I want to say 17 years ago, I was talking to him about just God, the movement. And the one thing he told me was that in that country that they are not building churches, buildings like they do in America. He was saying that the original buildings that they worshiped in, they still worship in those buildings and it's not about how many buildings you build, but about how many people you can build up. Is that, am I right? It is, yeah, it is. It is true and it is same. It is same in my country, Macedonia as well. It's the same way. It is the same, yes. So when you come here, you see how people are. Commercialized. Commercialized and manipulating somewhat the people through building buildings and financial gain off of a lot of times the spiritualism or the Protestant movement. What do you, does it make you look at it a little different or do you see it from a different angle being from Macedonia? It's not that, I don't see it as a different angle and I don't want to see it as a different angle but the thing is in those smaller and older countries is you trying to make the best out of what you already have. So that's why I wouldn't want to build anything new. Like we don't want to commercialize everything. So we just appreciate everything we had over the years and we're just trying to save and preserve all of that. Wow, yeah, because like I said, the history is so prominent and even the tourists that will come over there and look to see Macedonia, to see where in that 200 mile radius where Jesus we believe walked, you know what I mean? To see that it's still history being made and found in these countries. People don't understand what went into all the religious wars and the wars that when it came to the literature, you know how it was something that, you know, some people don't believe, some people say it was something other than what people say it is. There are so many different things but I'm a believer so I'm gonna be honest with you. I just know that when you start looking at the canon scriptures and you start looking at the scrolls, the way that they found different things when they would go do their research, I believe in the historians and what they found. Yeah, yeah, I believe as well, yeah. And this new generation says it's not, they don't believe it but they just don't have time to believe because we have all these different systems like everywhere in the world and they growing up kind of differently that back in the day while we were growing up and that's why it's not they don't want to believe, they just don't have time to believe because they don't see it on a daily basis. Well, that don't change the rules. Excuse me? That don't change the rules. Oh, no, not at all. That don't change the rules at all. Not at all, not at all. Let's also, I mean, you know, like I said, man, thank you for coming on the show. Us being up here in New York, we wouldn't, I mean, we would not miss the opportunity to sit down with people who really understand what it takes to grind to go out here and land these roles like you've done. You've been in law and order. You've been in different TV shows, different movies and I think that's just to be commended. You know what I mean? So thank you so much. But how did you get into it? How did you get into the film industry coming from Macedonia to here? Like all the way from here, yeah. There's this one thing that we all have in our lives that we're so good at it. But after a while doing it, we think that it's our like a lifetime thing. But after a while, you just realize it's not for you. So I've been doing like so many different things. I started working when I was, I started writing and working when I was like very early age like nine, 10, 11, 12. Okay. So I was working pretty much anything that I can get my hands on. And after a while, you just realized it's not that thing that it's like supposed to be like when you open your eyes in the morning. You can't wait. And you either says like I can't wait to do that or you says, oh my God, not again. Yeah, yeah. So how old were you when you came here? It was about 10 years ago. I was 23 at the time. Hmm. So you started late with that transition. You know, a lot of people when they're younger, they're like, I can't wait to leave. Yes, I grew up, the European country is like, we kind of, we're drawn more than theater than the movies and we like to, more like to breathe than to watch movies. We do like watching movies, but we like to go to the core of the story and what made all that characters like do that and go there. So the film industry there is different from here. It is, it is way more different. The way how you view it and the way how you portray the stories, like what you're saying. The way how you portray the stories, yes. Wow. And so you were doing film before you came here? I was doing a little bit of film here and there, but I was drawn more to the theater. To the theater. I just kind of stuck to the theater. I mean, not stuck. I love what I do, but... And is that the reason why you came here into the States is because to do more film? Not mainly for film, but that was one of the reasons, but there's this time we all have to do in our life because we call it Soul Search. And I've started that since my very, very early age and I felt that I need like a huge difference in my life and I decided I'll just, because I didn't know what else to do at the time besides like writing and reading. And I said, okay, I'm gonna try like travel halfway the world and see what happens. And I'm... How many places have you been? Is that half? I've lived in like so many countries. Like I've been living in Russia for a while. Back in my college days, I was there and like in Europe, a couple of countries. And when I came to the States, I said, okay, I'm sure this is the place. California, yeah. Wow. Have you been here ever since? I've been here ever since. I wanna talk about Vampire Diary for a minute. Like how was it even landing that role? You know, to even play part in that? Like break it down to me. How did you even know about it? Well, there's this thing, I was doing a photography back in the day. I was doing it for so long and I won like so many exhibits all over Europe. And when I came here in 2012, I started applying as a photographer, not right away as an actor, because now and even then the competition was just huge. And I started applying as a photographer and I said, okay, I'm gonna start there and see how it goes and I'm just gonna move from there. And my first like big job, it was actually Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy, okay. Sleepy Hollow, yeah. They just started the pilot episodes in 2014 and they hired me as a photographer and they liked it, they liked what I did and they were like satisfied with my job and that's how I got transferred from Sleepy Hollow to of Empire Diaries. Wow, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so as you, like when you was on set, were you nervous? Well, it was like a whole new thing for me because the sets here in the States and sets in Russia, sets in like Australia and New Zealand in Europe are totally different. So I didn't know what to expect. So when I showed up the morning and when I saw like a 500 people behind the camera, I was like, this is the thing, this is the thing. Had there ever been a time when you on set that language barrier became an issue for the language barrier? Because sometimes it can be a plus. Oh, sometimes it can be a plus. Because you play in a certain role. You play in a certain role, yes, but it was one of those guys that I'm, how do I call it, like a fast thinker and whatever they say, I just, I didn't understood it at the time, like right there in a moment, but after five, 10, 15, 20 seconds, when it sinks in, I understood it and I can reply back and have the conversation and if they wanna change the script, I'll just memorize the new thing right away. Wow, like law and order is a long running deal. We out here, we've been out here interviewing ICT and I just, for you to work on this set, with it being such a long running film, episode after episode over 25 years, running the longest running show out there really when you look at it. Like how big was it for you when you landed those roles? Some of those small roles or big roles, whatever you were doing with them, stand-ins, how was it? Well, it was, the feeling was the same. Like when you have that feeling, when you make like big decisions in your life, like either you're getting married, you go live in a different country, you decide to have kids. So it was pretty much the same for me. It was like, I went there and I just, when I saw like over 1,500 people over there and they're all like doing their job and everything is so on point and that should be. And I said, this is the number one thing because I've never seen anything like it. And still I haven't seen anything like it. Wow. And that's something else. Like when you get in somebody, did you want to? Yeah, I have a question about that. With Law and Order, did you ever get to interact with I.C.T. at all? Were you filming at the same time? That was way back in the day when I filmed a couple of episodes. That was back in 20, when I transitioned from Sleepy Hollow to Vampire Diaries and I'm from a photographer. This was an interesting story actually, from a photographer, the director saw me and he says, you go change wardrobe and you're going to act. And I said, bingo, you got the right guy because I've been like this for a pretty long time. So at that point, those actors, I met those actors but I wasn't like aware of who they are because I don't watch television. I've never watched television in my life. And but when I went there and when I met I.C.T. I was amazed by how big of a human being he is instead of how big of an actor he is. Correct. Like how sweet these people are. Yeah, yeah. So you never watched TV? Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You never. I watched some TV like here and there. Oh, okay. The TV kept me going. That was like, actually not now. It was like a very long time. I just thought you were that phenomenon who's never watched TV ever. I haven't done for about 25 years but sometimes I watch but not TV like on a cell phone when my cousin wanna show me something where my friend says, hey, look at this on Instagram. I watched that. But what really kept me like, like woken up in me that is. Pull that microphone up a little bit to you. There you go. All right. Is when I was nine actually, eight or nine and I saw this movie Giant with James Dean and I was just amazed of his performance at one point he's this young guy in the next scene, he's this seven-year-old guy and at the time I was thinking like the production is waiting that guy to get old so they can film the rest of it like after 56, 70 years and I got so confused and then I asked my mom. I said like, what is going on? And she explained me actually. You put makeup. Yeah, you put makeup and she says like, you have to be a genius to pull something like that like to be this young guy and old, like someone old in the same day. And I said, okay, that's interesting. And that's how kept me going. All these years. Wow. I just like I said, when I look at acting, you know, y'all say makeup, you know, how, you know, how much preparation goes into getting set up to do a certain scene? Well, there's this thing back in the academy when I was in the academy, they used to teach us never see yourself while practicing, never see yourself in front of the mirror. Because after that, all you do at the theater or in movies is you just going over the same gesticulation that you've done before. So I've never done that. And what was the question again? I'm sorry. It's like the preparation before scenes, you know? The preparation, yeah. But the first thing you do is you memorize the lines whether you think about the character or not. And you memorize the lines that takes a while. Do you forget sometimes? Oh yeah, always. Always, like a word or two. Like when you have to film something and when the production says we want it exactly as it is in the book. But other than that, you have this thing called improv. So you improvise. And the preparation is you first thing you do is you memorize the lines. And after that, you're building the character and the scene. And after that comes the wardrobe and the makeup and everything that comes last. Because you don't want to see yourself in the mirror because you don't want to repeat the gestures in the theater or in the movie. You want to dig deeper and you like to bring out that character. Can you cry? Oh, yeah, of course. Of course. OK, let's go down. No, not now. I'm having the right. Oh, I'm crying. I'm just having the most talk one-on-one. My wife loving every minute. Oh, this is so beautiful. I'm having a good time with you guys. I'm not going to cry now. But if you're so awesome. If you had to, you could. Yes, I can, yes. Well, how do you go to that place? Well, there is no other way that you think about something sad that happens to you or someone close to you. But even then, I've tried doing that. I've tried to be like, OK, let me see if I can just cry on the dime. And I started thinking about something sad. But it takes a minute to really get you. And it don't just happen in two seconds. Like, if they're filming, you're like, OK. All right, do it with that money. If that money is right, then there's money, right? You try that. You'll see. They tell you tonight you make 100,000, or you won't make that 100,000. Oh, you will cry. I'll tell them, let's give me some eye drops or put something right here. And I'll put the eye drop in there. And then I'll blink. And it's just going to cry. Now, the thing is, you have these things called rehearsals. We all know about that. So you rehearse that scenario. You rehearse that scene for many, many days before the filming. So when the time comes, you're just ready. You're there. Wow, man. Lazar, man, when I think about acting and just the preparation and the time that you've put into it, man, it's just truly an awesome thing. Like I said, I definitely, to be way up in New York and not talk to Lazar, I'd be missing out. So I knew that. So I just thank God for him putting you in my life to where me and you sit now. Who would have thought an old boy out of Lodi, Texas, would be talking to a guy from Macedonia, way in a whole other country in New York, New Jersey? You know what I'm saying? Who would have ever thought that? Encounters don't happen by accident. It was predestined. Yeah, I don't believe in accidents. And God always works this mysterious ways. Is it tough? You know, back in the days, you know, and you and I know during the times of the biblical times, it was Roman rule and all type of different things going on in your country. But now these days, how's the government built up? Is it something to where it's easy living? Is it tough? You know, how is it? Because I hadn't been there, but just break down the living process of being in Macedonia. Well, it is. I'll go in the middle. It's not easy, but it's not tough. It's not tough at the same time. Because we, not that we don't care about money, but it's not the first thing that we always put at the top. The conclusion from that is that I can pull is we all need money, of course, at the end of the day, but at the end of the same day, we also need this thing called life, and you want to live as you feel it at the moment. We're not chasing money, we don't have that much, but we're not chasing it at the same time. But when you think about just the roads and the highways and the traveling, the eating, the restaurants, all of the different things that go into things in America here, what is the difference in a Macedonia? I know being a third world country, right? Well, the difference is when we go out to restaurants, we do have really, really good food. But when we go out, it's not the food the first place, and it don't matter how far you will travel to eat certain food, but the first thing that comes to mind is you're going out to see your friends and to see your family. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. So whatever the roads will take us, we'll go there and it's all the same. How's the crime rate? The crime rate, I would put it at zero. And why is it so low? Because like I said, we don't chase money, we just want to live our life and make the best of what you already have. I've seen living in different countries, I've seen this thing, people are so scared when the doorbell rings and they're hiding behind the couch. In my country, if you open your door and if you leave it and leave it at home, the only thing that will happen is someone come there and close the door. Yeah, that's the only thing that will happen, that's it. Why wouldn't it be nice in America if somebody just came to your house and closed the door? If somebody come to your house in America, they taking that TV, they gonna take the car keys to come back later, think about it. It's been different things that happened in people's houses, man. I had a partner and I'm gonna tell you about this, LeZor. He was dropped off and drunk at the wrong house and they beat the hell out of my partner. Oh my God. He could have died. Yeah, he could have died, yeah. He was drunk already and he laid on the couch because he drunk and they tried to, and this is a real story I'm telling you. Like, and it caused him to have to be in the hospital and everything else. So what I'm saying is, man, it's crazy, but crime is a different level here. And then the police brutality here, how's the law enforcement in Macedonia? Well, you can, well at the end, you don't want to mess up because we do have some... You have prisons? Some pretty amazing like navies and... Yeah, we do have prison, yeah. What about three people in there? Four, I would say. What a life, right? It's not about like America or Macedonia or New Zealand or Russia or whatever. It's about the way I see it, my point of view, it's how many people there are. You guys have here like millions and millions of people. Macedonia is only 2 million people. Only 2 million? Only 2 million people. Do you know what happened with 2 million people in the wrong place in America? Man, purge. Man, you know, I just, like I said, I wanted to get you on the set, man. How was it in the movie with 50 Cent? Which one was it for life? It's called For Life, yes. How was it working on that set? And did you get to meet 50 Cent? Well, I got to meet 50 Cent, yeah. But the thing is we haven't seen each other like that much because he was actor and producer at the same time. Okay. So he was taking like mini breaks. Oh, he takes a lot of breaks. He takes a lot of breaks, yeah. That didn't sound good, Lizar. I mean, he's a leader role and producer. He can do whatever he wants. He can do what he wants or what he wants to, yeah. So, yeah, he was taking these breaks and at one point you'd see him there, at the other point you'd see him like two buildings in the back. You just can't catch his pace. So do you think that, do you think that, did you know he was who he was? Oh, yeah, of course. Who doesn't know who 50 Cent is? Some people don't, let me ask you this then. We up here on East Coast, that brings up a good point. Now we up here in New York, New Jersey, whatever. We in New York, New Jersey, we here. You know what I'm saying? And you just made a valid point. Who doesn't know who 50 Cent is? Yes, who doesn't know who 50 Cent is? Okay. There are certain people that say 50 Cent may be in entertainment more impactful than JC. You see what I'm saying? Because of the star power. Yeah, but I do not want things for me. I don't know about others, but for me, when I'm having a hard times in my life, I have five people helping me and I put Tupac on the second place. Man! That's why you have it! So you're a Tupac fan! Tupac on the same place, yeah. I'm not a fan. I mean, just listen to his songs. He has, that boy had a lot of stuff to say. He liked it, Tupac. You know, and that's what makes Tupac a legend is because you can be from Macedonia, you can go anywhere in this world and people are gonna know who Tupac is. And were you listening to Tupac when you were in Macedonia? Of course. See what I'm saying? That's crazy. It's crazy, but it's so real. It's so real. So how did you feel? You was in Macedonia when he got, when he got killed or were you here? 97, no, I was there. You was in Macedonia? I was about, let me say I was born in 88, that was 97, I was nine years old. And you knew it happened? I didn't know then. You didn't know he had got killed? But after a couple of years, when I started listening to music and digging deeper into the music, and I realized that there, I actually realized who Tupac is. Yeah. And you was like, I like this Tupac. I like this Tupac. What's your favorite song? Never underestimate Brenda's got a baby. Hey, but Brenda barely got a brain. But I don't ever underestimate no one else because when 50 showed up in Macedonia, the entire country went on that concert. Whoa, you say 50 Cent came to Macedonia? Yeah, he came about, I don't know, like 10, no, it was like maybe 15 years ago, I don't know. Were you there? I was there, yeah. You went to the concert? Sure. That's crazy because now I really, I'm tripping off the fact that you was in that movie with him because that was big for you. Oh, it was huge. And even when I was in the movie, it was still huge. I was sitting with him like having breakfast, drinking coffee, and we having like normal conversation. And I was just in my head, what the hell is going on in here? This is 50, that's crazy though because you never thought when you was at that concert in Macedonia that you would end up sitting and hanging out with 50 Cent. And that, I don't try to like pull like selfies or stuff like that because I respect, yeah. And I think that's big, that's noble. It is big, yeah. And I appreciate everything else time. Yeah, yeah. Would you like to work with 50 Cent again? No, for sure. Do you follow the powers? You know, you could be on one of the power series that he got going on, because he got some different. Yeah, he had the mob on. He got the mob on the one with Tommy. With Tommy, yeah. Yeah, I don't even know what they called that though. I didn't, that's probably my least, I didn't like that one a lot. I don't know the reason I forgot the name of it because it's due time for it to come out and it hasn't come out. So, yeah. Yeah, man, he's grown so much since that movie that you were in with him. And what was that again? Because you have to say this couple of times because I have to remember it because you remember, I don't watch other things. He does power, like it's on stars. Okay. He does episodes, they're episodes, TV episodes, on stars, it started off with power, then it evolved and goes, what he's genius about is the fact that he have all these different TV shows that really interlink, but it didn't start off interlinking. You know what I mean? So he has like three or four of them that come on back to back to back. What I mean, like this season is finished, his other season and the other show comes on. And that's how he does it. But all the people in it sort of interlink because at one point or the other, because most of them deal with the drugs, the street, so different cities, they eventually interlink. But it's just a dope series. Yeah. I'll look that up. I wanna know, man, Luzor, how can people get a hold of you if they look into link with you or come, you know, your Instagram. I'm looking for a movie. I am on Instagram. What's your IG? Facebook. Instagram, I go by a stage name that I used way back in the day, but I still like it. What is it? It's a letter B and then space and that's a Milan with two L, M-I-L-L-N, and then another space and then Macedon with K. M-A-K-E-D-O-N. Wow. There's Instagram. Okay. Okay. Top three actors? Actors of all time. Dead or Alive. Dead or Alive. Of course, Dead or Alive. Number one. Number one is James Dean. James Dean. Oh, I like James Dean too. Number two. I would go with Marlon Brando, of course, and the third place I will put Paul Newman. Hey, okay. Okay, that's me. So... Had a lot of old schools. Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, he's deep, you know what I'm saying? So, hey, man, listen, man, wouldn't have missed this for the world. Thank you so much for coming on our show, man. We love you, brother. I appreciate it. Lazar. I appreciate it. God brought you into our life. I'm gonna keep... You about to lock in with us on Instagram, right? Yes. And we gonna rock out with you, man. And if you ever... You gonna fly to Dallas and come do the show in Dallas? Sure. I'll be in Texas, actually. This end of May, I have some feature I'm filming there. I will stay for about two weeks. Where? Oh, wow. I don't know where yet. They just mentioned that. So, let's go to... I'm in Texas. So, if it's close to Dallas, you come up and do something on the set? Even if it's not close, I'll still come there. Hey! Hey, man, Lazar, man, thank you so much. And if you know anybody looking for someone to book, we can always pass the information on, because we've been meeting a lot of... A lot of actors, a lot of producers, and people always looking for certain people. Sure. Man, hey, man, thank you so much, man. Hey, it's been another great segment. A boss talk 101. What a boss is talk. And we out. Man.