From ER's nice doc to mobster bad guy Australia TV Week, 2001 by ? Three years ago, Goran Visnjic could hardly speak English. Today, the ER star is making it big in television and movies. Being in the right place at the right time has been the story of Goran Visnjic's short but eventful life - and the Croation-born start of hit TV drama ER is extremely grateful for it. Eight years ago at the age of 21, Goran landed the lead role in a Croatian theatre production of Hamlet because the actor originally cast as the Shakespearean character became ill on opening night. Three years later, Goran's performance in another production of the play caught the eye of director Michael Winterbottom, who cast him in the critically acclaimed drama Welcome To Sarajevo. When he travelled to the Cannes Film Festival in France to promote it, he came to the attention of a talent scout who helped him land a role in 1997 action hit The Peacemaker. Ironically, it starred George Clooney (whom Goran would later replace in ER) and Nicole Kidman (whom he would later kiss and then beat up in 1998 romantic drama Practical Magic). Finally, during a trip to Los Angeles to promote Welcome To Sarajevo, he met with ER producers and landed the prized role of Dr Luka Kovac. All this, despite being barely able to speak English! The reluctant sex symbol doesn't take any of his good luck for granted, including the rave reviews he has received for his role as a villain-with-a-heart in the drama The Deep End, which is released in Australia on November 22. Instead, Goran remains devoted to his priority - mastering the English language. "Three years ago, I could not carry on a conversation with anybody," he admits. "All I could do was memorise my lines. As soon as I started with ER, I began working with a dialect coach every single day. I also did that every day on the set of The Deep End, so it will improve and open the door to bigger roles in the US." Goran aims to reach a stage where people don't notice his Croatian accent. "I hope in a couple of years my English can become really, really good," he says. "People ask me, 'Are you concerned you will lose your accent?' I always say it's easy to go back but it's harder to go forward. I speak with a heavy Croatian accent, but I can't speak perfect English yet. It's hard work, but that's my goal." In The Deep End, Tilda Swinton (The Beach, Vanilla Sky) plays Margaret Hall, a woman who learns that her 17-year old son Beau (Jonathan Tucker) is having an affair with the owner of a gay bar. When she finds the bar owner's body outside her house, she hides the corpse to keep her son from being charged with murder. However, it's not the cops she has to worry about. Mob thug Alek Spera (Goran) shows up to blackmail her, and he won't take no for an answer. "It's a great part because he's a bad guy at the start," Goran explains. "Then he redeems himself in an unusual way." His accent for the role was perfect, as it is for the voice of a sabre-toothed tiger he provides in the animated Ice Age, due for release in mid-2002. In it, the tiger meets a mammoth named Manfred (voiced by Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano) and a giant sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo). "That was a funny thing to work on," Goran says. "I finally had the opportunity to do animal noises, which I was an expert at when I was in primary school. Only in America would I get paid for it!" Goran's life changed dramatically when he joined ER almost three years ago. He ahd to relocate from Zagreb in Croatia to LA with his wife Ivana. She is a sculptor and the daughter of Croatian director Antun Vrdoljak, who is also a former vice-president of his country, the general manager of Croatian television and a serving member of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). "Ivana is perfect for me," Goran says. "She knows everything about the acting business but never wanted to be in it!" In ER, Goran's character entered the show as a potential romantic interest for nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies). However, she rejected Luka after the birth of her twins and returned to the waiting arms of George Clooney's departed character Dr Doug Ross. Goran isn't concerned about where his character has been or could go. "Sometimes people say to me, 'You are a little bit too much happy...stop with that!'" he smiles. "I'm really in such a good position - what could I complain about? I'm in one of the best TV shows in the world, and they give me time off to make films when I want to. If they fire me tomorrow from ER - which I don't think can happen, but OK, let's say it does - I can go back to Croatia and work in theatre and films and have a lot to do and still be happy." Goran's success is also a great source of pride to his father, a bus driver, and his mother, a salesperson. "When I told my mother at 16 that I wanted to be an actor, she was, like, 'Yeah, go ahead,'" he explains. "I never realised she was unhappy until years later when she said, 'OK, now I'm proud.' I asked her to explain and she went on about how unhappy she'd been. I responded 'My God, why didn't you tell me before?' and she said 'Because you decided it and it was your choice.'" She and Goran's father have even been to LA to see their son's new home. "They've been on the set of ER, too," he says. "The show is also a big deal in my country, so I know they are finally happy about my career choice."