Who Is Dejan Lutkić?

Dejan Lutkić (born 19 February 1974 in Vrbas) is a Serbian actor and producer, also known by the nickname Deki. He began his professional career in 1993, and since then he has appeared in films, television series and theatre productions, worked in voice dubbing for animated films and credited himself as a producer on several projects.

He first came to wider public attention with the role of Ringe in the 2002 comedy “Ringeraja” (Ring a Ring o’ Roses). He then consolidated his popularity as the mobster Alamunja in the series “Bela lađa”, as Jovan Jagodić in “Sva ta ravnica” and “Jagodići”, and as Oton Muha in “Švindleri” (Swindlers). He has also appeared in “Beležnica profesora Miškovića” (Professor Mišković’s Notebook), “Zbornica” and the series “Krunska 11”.

He graduated in acting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, and he spent his childhood in Kula, just eight kilometres from his birthplace, Vrbas. This article follows the path of Dejan Lutkić from his upbringing in Vojvodina, through his first roles in the 1990s and his rise at the start of the 2000s, to his work as a producer and his mature roles in more recent series.

Early Life and Childhood

Growing Up in Kula

Dejan Lutkić was born on 19 February 1974 in Vrbas, then part of SFR Yugoslavia. He spent his childhood, however, in Kula, which lies about eight kilometres from his birthplace.

His earliest memories are tied to the village of Nadalj, from which the family later moved to Kula. He remembers a house with a large yard and a dog named Klajd (Clyde), with whom he was inseparable. He describes his childhood as carefree and happy, and he credits his parents for it.

In primary school he went through a “rock phase”: he wore tight jeans, “Londonke” shoes (a Yugoslav term for classic English-style shoes) and a rockabilly hairstyle. Later he had a cowboy period in his clothing as well, but, as he puts it, without the hat.

Family Background

Dejan Lutkić comes from a family of doctors. According to one of his interviews, his mother is a radiologist and his father a gynaecologist.

He has an older sister, Maja. In the house where he grew up there was always home cooking, an atmosphere that would later return in his love of the kitchen.

First Encounter with Film

He first came into contact with acting in 1984, when he was ten years old. The film “Život je lep” (Life Is Beautiful), directed by Bora Drašković, was being shot in the village of Krušćić, not far from Kula, and the young Dejan had the chance to see great names of the acting world: Pavle Vuisić, Gaga Nikolić, Rade Šerbedžija and Snežana Savić. As he has said, they seemed to him as if they had come from another planet.

In that film he was supposed to play the son of Snežana Savić. His parents told him that the crew considered him too tall and was looking for a smaller boy. Today he doubts that this was the whole truth and believes that his parents did not want him to become an actor, which he understands from his present perspective.

Education

In interviews, Dejan Lutkić has stressed that from an early age he had no professional option other than acting. Even as a child, when he did not yet know what the acting profession actually involves, he wanted to become an actor.

Music School

Before his acting studies, he completed lower music school, with a piano major. His biography also records engagements in musicals, among them “Brilijantin” (Grease) and “Oliver Tvist” (Oliver Twist).

Faculty of Dramatic Arts

After secondary school, his path led to Belgrade and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. He took the entrance exam for the first time in 1991. He reached the shortlist in the class of Professor Predrag Bajčetić, where Katarina Žutić, Nenad Jezdić, Ana Sofrenović and Rastko Lupulović were also shortlisted, but he was not admitted that year.

The following year, 1992, he was admitted to the class of Professor Milenko Maričić. His classmates included Ivan Jevtović, Boris Milivojević, Nikola Đuričko and Jovana Petrović. Moving to Belgrade for his studies also brought his first steps in cooking: he grew tired of sandwiches and pastries, so at first he phoned his mother for advice and then began experimenting on his own. He graduated in acting from this faculty.

Beginning of His Career

According to available information, Dejan Lutkić began his professional career in 1993. The first years of work were marked by small and mid-sized engagements in film and television, alongside voice dubbing.

First Roles in Film and Television

Publicly available filmographies record his early titles in the mid-1990s. In 1995 he appeared in the film “Ne veruj ženi koja puši gitanes bez filtera” (Don’t Trust a Woman Who Smokes Filterless Gitanes), and in 1997 in the television series “Gore-Dole”. The film “Crveno, žuto, zeleno… kreni” followed in 1998.

In 1999 he played Ufonja in the film “Nebeska udica” by Ljubiša Samardžić, and he also appeared in the film “Proputovanje”, in the segment “Srebrni metak”, as the chief Komsomol member (skojevac). In the following years he took part in “Sex Bomb” and “Porodično blago 2” (both 2001), and his biography also mentions “Fazoni i Fore 2”, “YU” and “Mansarda” (2003) and “Skela” (2004).

Voice Dubbing of Animated Films

Besides acting, Lutkić worked in voice dubbing of animated films. In 1996 he lent his voice to the character Maks in the animated film “Starla i jahači dragulja” (Starla and the Jewel Riders), and in 1997 to the characters Ludi Stant and Sajbron in “Nebeski surferi” (Sky Surfers).

Rise to Fame

The real turning point in Dejan Lutkić’s career came at the turn from the 1990s to the 2000s, when he began receiving more prominent roles in popular domestic productions.

Ringeraja and Lavirint

His biggest breakthrough up to that point came with the 2002 film “Ringeraja”, directed and written by Đorđe Milosavljević. The comedy follows two brothers: one is a criminal and the other a graduate student. When the criminal wants to impress his girlfriend’s father, he asks his brother to switch places, so the graduate student pretends to be a criminal and the criminal pretends to be a student.

Dejan Lutkić played Ringe, and the cast also included Ivan Jevtović, his university classmate. According to the Serbian Wikipedia, it was precisely this role that brought Dejan Lutkić his popularity.

In the same year, 2002, he also appeared in the film “Lavirint” (Labyrinth), in the role of the young Pop. The cast included Branislav Lečić, Dragan Nikolić, Katarina Radivojević and Maja Sabljić.

Bela lađa

A significant part of his popularity came from the television series “Bela lađa” (The White Ship), in which he played the mobster Alamunja. The series was directed by Mihailo Vukobratović and Ivan Stefanović, and sources record Lutkić’s involvement from 2007 to 2011.

Alamunja remains one of the roles for which audiences most often recognise him, together with Jovan Jagodić and Ringe.

Series Roles in the Mid-2000s

In the mid and late 2000s, Lutkić took on a string of roles in domestic television and film projects. In 2005 he played Bostian in “Il Cuore nel pozzo”, and in 2006 Gianfranco (Đanfranko) in “Mješoviti brak” (Mixed Marriage). In 2007 followed the roles of Gidža in “Promeni me”, Luka in “Tegla puna vazduha” and Toša Kicoš in the series “Ono naše što nekad bejaše”.

Then came the roles of Dejan Borić in “To toplo ljeto” (2008), Miroslav in the series “Ulica lipa” (2009) and the lawyer Spirić in the series “Jesen stiže, dunjo moja” (2009–2010). In the series “Junaci našeg doba” he played a character named Miguel Petrusijanu, and in 2011 he appeared as Đorđe in “Pevaj, brate!”.

Producing Career: Sva ta ravnica and Jagodići

Alongside acting, Dejan Lutkić also works in production. In an interview with Hello magazine, he explained that it was not a pre-planned decision but that he liked the story so much that he began thinking about how to launch the project. According to that magazine, he had started working as a producer two years earlier.

Sva ta ravnica

The television series “Sva ta ravnica” (All That Plain) was based on the book “Kao i sva ravnica” by Nenad Čanak. The story follows the fate of the Jagodić brothers on a rich estate in Banat, at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. According to the series’ description, the Jagodićs are a Serbian noble family loyal to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The series premiered on 25 January 2010, and its first season had twelve episodes.

Lutkić played Jovan Jagodić, while the brothers Branko and Lajko were played by Gordan Kičić and Ivan Bosiljčić. Their father, Milan Jagodić, was played by Dragan Nikolić. Besides acting, Lutkić was also a producer of this project.

Jagodići

The continuation of the story, the thriller “Jagodići”, was filmed over three and a half months, mostly in the castle (kaštel) that serves as the Jagodić family home in the series, but also in Sremski Karlovci, Petrovaradin, Novi Sad, Mošorin, Vršac and Belgrade. According to Lutkić’s own description, five women enter the brothers’ lives, and the plot brings new twists and murders.

The first season premiered in 2012, and Željko Čolaković and Dejan Lutkić are credited as producers. The second season aired in late 2014 and early 2015. The cast also included Milorad Mandić Manda as Inspector Oto Kunc, as well as Gordan Kičić and Ivan Bosiljčić. In later years Lutkić was also credited as an executive producer of the film “Santa Maria della Salute” (2016) and the series “Švindleri” (2019–2021).

Greatest Achievements

In the 2010s and at the start of the 2020s, Dejan Lutkić established himself in several series produced by RTS (Radio Television of Serbia), Telekom Srbija and other companies.

Švindleri

The series “Švindleri” premiered on 22 December 2019. The story is set in September 1930, when the State Class Lottery of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia announced a top prize of one million dinars. Two small-time swindlers, Ivan Razumović Ika and Boža Backović, return to their hometown of Palanka after learning that one of their fellow townspeople is the winner.

Lutkić plays Koviljko Ignjatović, also known as Oton Muha. The cast also includes Dragan Jovanović, Pavle Mensur, Filip Hajduković, Marko Baćović, Gorica Popović, Nevena Ristić and Branka Pujić. The idea for the series came from Đorđe Milosavljević, the screenplay was written by Adam Ranđelović, and the directors are Slobodanka Radun, Miroslav Lekić and Nemanja Ćeranić. The series ran for two seasons of twelve episodes each and was broadcast until 2021.

Beležnica profesora Miškovića

The series “Beležnica profesora Miškovića” is based on the novel of the same name by Ratko Dmitrović. The first season aired from May 2021, and the second in February and March 2023. It is directed by Miroslav Lekić, with a screenplay by, among others, Kosta Peševski, Radoslav Pavlović and Đorđe Milosavljević.

The plot follows the young journalist Boško Stevanović, played by Momčilo Otašević, who receives from Jelisaveta Mišković (Anica Dobra), the widow of the ethnologist Arsenije Mišković, a notebook recording scientifically inexplicable phenomena. In the first season Dejan Lutkić plays the character Miroslav. The series combines mystery, fantasy and a detective thriller rooted in the local setting, and Professor Mišković is played by Nebojša Kundačina.

Zbornica and Krunska 11

Dejan Lutkić plays Lazar in the series “Zbornica” (The Staff Room), set behind the scenes of a school, among its teachers. The screenplay is by Vladimir Đurđević and the director is Đorđe Stanimirović. Sources record his involvement in the series from 2022 to 2025.

He also appeared in the series “Krunska 11” (2024–2025), continuing to build a varied television body of work.

Theatre Work

Theatre is an important part of Dejan Lutkić’s career. According to the biography published by the Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, he has performed in the musicals “Brilijantin” and “Oliver Tvist”, as well as in the dramas “Romeo i Julija” (Romeo and Juliet), “Otelo” (Othello), “Mandragola”, “Tri musketara” (The Three Musketeers), “Sluškinje” (The Maids), “San letnje noći” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and “Bekstvo”. In one interview he also mentioned the musical “Jadnici” (Les Misérables), the work of Victor Hugo, and stressed that he gives the same level of commitment whether he is working on a series or a musical.

The plays “Pobratim”, “Mačak u čizmama” (Puss in Boots) and “Goli kralj” (The Naked King) are also mentioned in sources. According to the Serbian Wikipedia, he is a permanent member of the Boško Buha Theatre, a children’s theatre in Belgrade. That theatre came into being from an idea of Branislav Nušić, bears the name of the young national hero Boško Buha, and, because of the reconstruction of its building on Republic Square (Trg republike), has long performed at a temporary address in the “Vuk Karadžić” Cultural Centre.

In late 2021 Lutkić joined the new cast of the well-known play “Bokeški D mol” on the same stage. In early 2025 he was engaged in the premiere of the play “x+y=0”, based on a work by Borislav Pekić and directed by his colleague Katarina Žutić, which deals with relationships between men and women.

Personal Life

Marriage and Family

Dejan Lutkić is married to Ljubinka, an architect by profession. According to what he said in one interview, they met in 1997, dated for four years and married in 2001. In September 2026 they marked 25 years of marriage, and on that occasion the actor posted an emotional message to his wife on Instagram.

The couple have two daughters, Anastazija and Nađa. The elder, as he explained, was named after Anastasia Romanova, a Russian princess whose nobility captivated him. Nađa got her name simply because it is beautiful, and he and his wife chose it together. According to Hello magazine in 2025, the daughters do not want to pursue acting: the actor said they are studying architecture and medicine.

Lutkić rarely speaks about his private life and checks the topics of an interview in advance, stressing that he sees no need for the public to know intimate details. Even so, he has spoken about his wife, saying that he values her persistence and her need to always move forward, as well as her readiness to put the family before herself. Asked in an interview with Story about the key to a successful marriage, he answered that it is working on oneself and letting go of ego, vanity and pride.

Interests and Habits

He prefers to spend his free time with family and friends. He likes to cook and try new recipes, and he also unwinds in traditional Serbian taverns (kafane). He is a big fan of skiing and every winter goes to one of the European mountains, where he likes wide, steep slopes best.

He describes himself as a night owl and a winter person, and he drinks coffee, most often strong espresso, in large quantities. His friends are mostly people outside the acting profession.

Interesting Facts

• As a boy of about eight he won money on a scratch card and decided to spend all of it on more cards. When none of them won, he was disappointed in himself and has never bought a scratch card since.
• He first took the entrance exam at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in 1991 and was not admitted. The following year he enrolled in the class of Milenko Maričić.
• Someone once joked that he was a Russophile because of his daughters’ names, and he named his elder daughter after Anastasia Romanova.
• He began cooking in Belgrade, as a student, when he grew tired of sandwiches and pastries.
• During the filming of “Jagodići”, the lighting crew played pranks on Gordan Kičić: a sack of sand was put in the suitcase he had to take out of a car in one scene.
• He rarely gives interviews and informs himself in advance about the outlet and the topics of the conversation.
• In the 1990s he lent his voice to characters in the animated films “Starla i jahači dragulja” and “Nebeski surferi”.

Legacy and Influence

Over more than three decades of work, Dejan Lutkić has built a varied body of work: from voice dubbing and his first film roles, through the comedy “Ringeraja” and the series “Bela lađa”, to period and mystery series of more recent production. His collaboration with authors who return across several of his projects stands out: Đorđe Milosavljević, director of “Ringeraja”, is credited with the idea for “Švindleri” and took part in writing “Beležnica profesora Miškovića”, while Miroslav Lekić directed both “Švindleri” and “Beležnica”.

As a producer of “Sva ta ravnica” and “Jagodići”, he contributed to the development of domestic television storytelling about Vojvodina’s past. Gordan Kičić, Ivan Bosiljčić and Dragan Nikolić gathered around him in those series. His work at the Boško Buha Theatre and in musicals rounds out the picture of an artist active on several stages.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Dejan Lutkić?

Dejan Lutkić is a Serbian actor and producer, known for his roles in the film “Ringeraja” and the series “Bela lađa”, “Sva ta ravnica”, “Jagodići” and “Švindleri”.

When and where was Dejan Lutkić born?

Dejan Lutkić was born on 19 February 1974 in Vrbas, then part of SFR Yugoslavia.

Where did Dejan Lutkić grow up?

Although he was born in Vrbas, he spent his childhood in Kula, about eight kilometres from his birthplace. His earliest memories are tied to the village of Nadalj.

Where did Dejan Lutkić study acting?

He graduated in acting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. He first took the entrance exam in 1991 and was admitted in 1992 to the class of Professor Milenko Maričić.

What roles is Dejan Lutkić best known for?

He is best known for Ringe in the film “Ringeraja”, the mobster Alamunja in the series “Bela lađa”, Jovan Jagodić in “Sva ta ravnica” and “Jagodići”, and Oton Muha in “Švindleri”.

Is Dejan Lutkić also a producer?

Yes. He produced the series “Sva ta ravnica” and “Jagodići”, and he is also credited as an executive producer of the film “Santa Maria della Salute” and the series “Švindleri”.

Who is Dejan Lutkić’s wife?

Dejan Lutkić’s wife is Ljubinka, an architect by profession. They married in 2001, and in September 2026 they marked 25 years of marriage.

How many children does Dejan Lutkić have?

Dejan Lutkić has two daughters, Anastazija and Nađa. According to what he said in 2025, they are studying architecture and medicine.

Which theatre does Dejan Lutkić perform in?

According to the Serbian Wikipedia, he is a permanent member of the Boško Buha Theatre in Belgrade. He has also appeared in plays such as “Bokeški D mol” and “x+y=0”.

How old is Dejan Lutkić?

Dejan Lutkić was born on 19 February 1974, which means he was 52 years old in October 2026.

Conclusion

Dejan Lutkić is one of the recognisable Serbian actors of the generation that began working in the 1990s. From growing up in Kula and studying at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, through the role of Ringe in the film “Ringeraja” and Alamunja in “Bela lađa”, to his producing work on the series “Sva ta ravnica” and “Jagodići”, he has built a career that spans more than three decades.

In recent years he has taken roles in “Švindleri”, “Beležnica profesora Miškovića”, “Zbornica” and “Krunska 11”, while continuing to perform in the theatre. In private he is devoted to his family: he is married to Ljubinka, and with his daughters Anastazija and Nađa he shares a life away from media attention.