– While preparing to shoot, did you want to peek at something from the 2002 series? Or did you deliberately create characters without looking at that movie adaptation?
Vladislav Tiron: There was such a temptation that I succumbed (smiling). But I only watched half of the first episode and then moved on to a movie about a movie. It would be unnecessary to take something from the 2002 series and look at it, because our series was shot 20 years later – this is a different time, we are different and we perceive Boris Akunin’s book differently. I just wanted to concentrate on the script and keep my opinion of what you’ve seen before, to steer clear of any comparisons.
The only thing is that at some point I started rereading Azazel and Nurbek (director of the series Nurbek Egen – socialbites.ca) said that I had to distance myself from even a literary source.
Mila Ersova: Before the premiere, my master Konstantin Arkadyevich Raikin taught us not to compare the work of other actors with our own. For example, while rehearsing the graduation performances at the institute, he asked us not to go to other theaters and watch how other artists play the same plays. Otherwise there is a risk of copying and all these comparisons can lead you in the wrong direction. Still, everyone has a different reading, analysis, process. And the same here: Vlad and I read Azazel for a long time, and Nurbek told us that it is better not to reread the book on the eve of the shooting – there is a script, and we only work with it.
– Vladislav, the heroine is different from all other Fandorins that we see on the screen, and even significantly different from the literary prototype. Which author’s findings about the screenwriters in the image of Fandorin did you like the most?
Tyrone: It seems to me that the writers of the series shed more light on Fandorin’s past, his relationship with his father. I think this is what has had the biggest impact on our Fandorin.
– Yes, almost nothing is said about Erast’s father in the books of Boris Akunin – we only know that he was a gambler. And with it, there are very interesting flashbacks in the series. How did this drama from childhood affect the image of Fandorin, who was already an adult?
Tyrone: It seems to me that this is the fear of intimacy with other people. He fears that loving someone else with whom he can become emotionally close will have the same tragic consequences as his father. He has this constant subconscious fear in him. In our story, Fandorin only has Grushin, who in a sense took him under his wing at first. Only then appeared Lisa, whom he wanted to be with in his life, but was chained by fear.
– Mila, how did the writers explain to you the presence of your hero’s fiancee in the series, which he had before he met Fandorin? What did this story add to your character portrait?
Ershov: In the book, Lisa was always next to her grandmother. But since the time was different in our drama, it would be strange for him to go everywhere with his grandmother, this is not very compatible with modernity (smiling). Therefore, the groom took the place of the grandmother. This added more obstacles to Fandorin: After all, there’s a big difference between having a relationship with a girl’s grandmother and trying to get sympathy from her when she already has a fiancé. It’s also interesting that Lisa has been dating her fiancé since 9th grade – and that also includes the fact that her life is going on as hard as if everything was pre-planned for her. For him, this is another reason to think and start acting actively.
“Yes, it seems Lisa is a rich but bored girl,” she is fascinated by Fandorin at first because she has the promise of adventure. How do you yourself interpret Lisa’s interest in Erast and what attracted her so strongly in return?
Ershov: Yes, I think his interest in life is awakening. At the first meeting, he feels an inner fire inside. It’s truly one of a kind adventure that brings variety to a life planned for him.
Tyrone: Liza is completely different from Fandorin, and I think that’s exactly where opposites attract (smiling).
– One of the strongest scenes in the series is when Fandorin shoots with Artem Bystrov’s character Zurov. How did you prepare for this shoot emotionally and physically?
Tyrone: I think this is one of the main scenes for Fandorin in the entire series that has greatly influenced him. For the first time, he faces death one-on-one. We pondered for a very long time why this happened, because there does not seem to be any preconditions in the script for such a scene to occur between Fandorin and Zurov. I find the following explanation for this: Fandorin is so unhappy with his life at that moment that he decides to act in such an irrational, impulsive manner. Well, this is also the scene where I’m happy with myself, the way I’m playing – one of the few scenes (to laugh).
Ershov: This scene is also my favourite. It seems to me that Fandorin is finally showing his inner self in him.
– Mila, what are the scenes from the series that you consider the most difficult for yourself?
Ershov: For me, this is the scene where Lisa’s fiancee, Gleb, proposes to her in a restaurant. i hated itto laugh). I really liked it on paper, but it was never given on the set (smiling). It seemed to me that it lacked a deeper solution, that it needed to find a speck in it.
— There are Easter eggs for fans of the show. For example, books with chapter titles from a novel can be seen in the frame. What other references to the original source in the series are worth looking into?
Ershov: To be honest I don’t know. I think only authors can answer this question.
– Which of Boris Akunin’s novels about Fandorin did you like the most and which adaptation would you like to see on the screen?
Tyrone: “Leviathan”. I really like these hermetic detective stories.
Ershov: Yes, for me it is also “Leviathan” and also “Diamond Chariot”.
– Which of the already on-screen Fandorins do you like the most? And what stage of Fandorin’s life is most interesting to you?
Tyrone: In Menshikov’s version, I am most interested in Fandorin. And the way he played the game and the way Fandorin’s life had already transformed in that moment. When I read the Council of State, I was in perfect harmony with how I imagined this hero and how he appeared on the screen. It turned out to be secret, robotic, but a deep inner fire was preserved inside it, a remnant of Fandorin we met on Azazel.
Ershov: I also love Oleg Menshikov in this role. There was a “Government Counselor” on DVD and I watched it like crazy.
– Boris Akunin admitted in his social networks that he approved the script for the series several years ago, but has not yet seen the project – he is waiting for all episodes to come out. How would you like him to evaluate the series and how would you like the characters he played to take place in your performance?
Tyrone: It would have been enough for me to know that you believed in us. He believed in what he saw on screen and the way we played his characters. Let the world around them change, but the characters of the heroes, their foundations were preserved – and they remained believable. That would be the most enjoyable for me.
Ershov: I totally agree with Vlad.