After graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, Maca experienced trouble breaking into the business. Initially only involved with acting through supporting parts on film and in theater, he could be seen in the occasional play on small Sarajevo stages such as Kamerni teatar 55. Later he got small parts in various international film productions depicting the Bosnian War where he played stock character portrayals of local "bad guys" - usually cartoonish Serbian soldiers and paramilitaries. Two most notable such gigs were his appearances in Hollywood productions "Welcome to Sarajevo" and "Behind Enemy Lines".