Favorite actress Kamila Magálova in an interview for spoke about shooting noof the Czech-Slovak film based on the fairy tale book of the same name When the Dragon Hurts in 2018. She starred in it alongside the legendary singer Karel Gott († 80), whom she remembered.
The story was created in the author’s workshop of Petr Šiška and Dušan Rapoš, who managed to fulfill the Czech-Slovak intention of the fairy tale in a rather unconventional way – one dragon head in the story speaks Slovak and the other Czech. One of the main roles was played by Karel Gott, who took on the character of grandfather Kováč. Charlotta Gottová, Ján Koleník, Kamila Magálová, Zuzana Mauréry, Kateřina Brožová, Miroslav Noga and others also play. The voices of the dragon heads were lent by Libor Bouček and Igor Timko.
At the end of the fairy tale, the song “Love is our gem” is sung by Magálová together with Gott. Although it is commonly broadcast on the radio in our western neighbors, it is not so in our country. Magálova regrets how the Slovak media perceives the work. “This Czech-Slovak song is not played at all on our radios. It is on Czech radios,” she said.
She enjoyed working with Karl Gott very much. “It’s a very nice duet and I’m very happy that I could record it with this great man,” she remembered the maestro with whom she worked shortly before his death. What was he like in real life? “Humble. That says it all,” she revealed about the singer, who is loved by whole generations.
Although they had known each other for a long time, they had never been closer. However, working on a joint project changed that. “He was so great, but at the same time so modest… An incredibly pleasant, intelligent and modest person. Usually these great people are modest, they don’t want to exalt themselves,” continued Magálová.
Gott was already struggling with health problems during filming, but he didn’t show it. “He had an incredible sense of humor. We laughed so much… Although he was already quite ill at the time. But he tried… Very much,” she said bitter words. He always knew how to impress people. “He had such a brisk humor, so English, dry, but I liked it very much. He liked to talk very much and he talked very interestingly,” she remembered him.
While a giant like Gott was humble, Magálova sees a contrast in some celebrities. “You see the exact opposite in some untalented person or a bankrupt who just makes himself visible… But when you meet such a great artist as Gott was, you can talk to him about anything and he won’t let you know that he is more than you.” added the actress.
Gott died shortly before midnight on October 1, 2019 at the age of 80 after a battle with acute leukemia. A legend of the Czech and Czechoslovakian music scene, who was indelibly written in the hearts of millions of fans, she died surrounded by her family.
He fought with an insidious disease earlier. In 2015, doctors informed him that he was suffering from a malignant cancer of the lymph nodes, a few months later he reported that he was healthy. However, he also struggled with other health problems, including pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized.
