Not many people get to travel the world while working alongside the love of their lives, but Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus do — from atop some of the tallest buildings on Earth. As renowned rooftoppers, the couple have become known for a particularly vertiginous hobby: sneaking into skyscrapers and scaling them without climbing tools or safety gear. They perform even more daring feats once they reach the peaks of their ascents; Beerkus might twirl Nikolau and even lift her up as part of their rooftop choreography. 

The pair’s working and romantic relationship is at the heart of Skywalkers: A Love Story, a documentary from co-directors Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina that follows them from country to country as they navigate their dangerous profession while building mutual trust — and sometimes arguing while hanging off the side of a skyscraper. As the documentary shows, balancing love and rooftopping can be a  delicate act. Here, Nikolau and Beerkus talk to Tudum about how they make it work.

When you first met, how did it feel to realize that you were encountering someone who had the same interests?

Nikolau: When I first met him, he was much more advanced. He was kind of a big deal in the rooftopper world, and I wasn’t. I was just a beginner. I kind of thought he would never look at me, but I kind of liked him already, so I tried to follow him. Whatever roofs he would go climb, I would try to either be there or repeat those. Then he started liking my pictures on Instagram, but not the rooftopping pictures necessarily — pictures of me in skirts and being girly. And then Ivan invited me on a sponsored trip to China to climb the highest construction site in the world at the time. During that trip, things started moving in a new direction.

Beerkus: I feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world. When I met Angela, I was hurt by my previous love. Angela has this energy she’s able to give, and she brought this energy back into me, because I was really heartbroken and sort of feeling low. She revived me. I still feel like, to this day, that we’re living a dream, and it’s very unusual to be able to do this together. Sometimes I feel like a character in a book, and now I believe in magic, absolutely.

When you’re working together, you have to be worried about your own safety, but you’re also worried about the safety of the person that you love. What’s that like?

Beerkus: You can’t see it, but I have a lot of gray hair already. Ever since we started climbing together, it’s [been] super stressful for me to know that I have to look out for her. But we try to manage the fear, and we try not to cause each other to panic. Sometimes, of course, as you see in the film, it doesn’t work out. We’re going to unleash fear on each other.

Nikolau: It’s really a double emotion. In the film, that moment where we were fighting, that is really a stressful situation, because you’re afraid for yourself, but you’re also afraid for your partner. We’re constantly having to manage [those feelings], but you also can’t not worry about each other.

Do you have a limit to the level of danger you take on?

Nikolau: We try not to do churches too much. Normally we try to avoid any potential conflict with religious institutions.

Beerkus: We also try not to do any political acts on any of these buildings. We try to avoid politics and just focus on the message of love.

Nikolau: I listen to my body, so sometimes there are situations for me where I shouldn’t go any further. But in reality, even if I say I don’t want to do something, when we’re together, we’re going to talk each other into [accomplishing] the goal that we came after.

Do you imagine yourself ever stopping?

Nikolau: Yes, when I’m 75 years old.

Beerkus: We still don’t know, because we really like it.

Nikolau: You could probably tell from watching the film that we are people who live in the present moment, so there’s not a lot of planning happening. If one day we wake up and say, "OK, not anymore,” then that would be the day, but we’re not really giving ourselves a cutoff that’s tied to anything particular.

What other things do you like to do together besides rooftopping?

Beerkus: Everything, to be honest. 

Nikolau: Housecleaning.

Beerkus: It’s really rare, but we do it together. We have a dog and cat, and we love them like our children.

Nikolau: We have an online store for pet products. I make art, and he helps me sell it.

Beerkus: I also play music right now. I’m learning how to play, and I want to write music. I think that’s what love is, when you want to spend your whole day together doing everything you do as a couple.

Watch Skywalkers: A Love Story on Netflix now.