– “I want, I can’t!” You have a small but memorable comedy role. Tell us about your almost always drunk hero who steals every scene he appears in.
The hero’s name is Kolya. This is an average family man in central Russia. The head of the family, Marina, played by Daria Feklenko, has two daughters and a wife. These are very colorful characters and I’m sure they can be recognized by many viewers. They are one of those who have reached the long-awaited rest on the southern coast, and woe to those who try to interfere with them. In general, under the influence of strong drinks, Kolya slightly deviated from the right path and moved towards the main character of the series Sasha, played by Dasha Melnikova. What will this lead to “I want, I can’t!” You will learn by watching the series. Six half-hour episodes seems like a very suitable format to me.
– What attracted you to the script of the project and how did you work with director Yana Gladkikh?
– The script connected me above all with its humor, lightness and depth of penetration into the truth of life. The fact that it was composed by Zhenya Khripkova together with Alexei Morozov. Zhenya is one of the creative producers of the series. I have already acted with Alexei according to their scenario – for example, the masterpiece series “Call DiCaprio!” and in the feature-length feature film “Beauty on the Beat”, again filmed by Yana Gladkikh.
Yana and I have known each other for fifteen years. Since 2007, I have been working in the Moscow Art Theater troupe named after Chekhov, and in the same year Yana entered the Moscow Art Theater School for the course of Roman Kozak and Dmitry Brusnikin. While still a student, she played major roles on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater and later joined the Moscow Art Theater troupe. We played together in performances and it’s like going to a hotspot or intelligence together.
So going to the audition “I want, I can’t!” I understood that a certain level and quality can be expected from Zhenya and Yana. Please note that despite all my love for Zhenya, our many years of acquaintance and repeated cooperation, I still have to take tests. Ugly! (laughing).
– “I want, I can’t!” It was born from the short film Sexaholics. What did you know about the project before the series was released and did you want to try to play not only the role of tormented family man Kolya, but also someone else?
– I knew about the short film “Sexaholics”, and from it I got an idea of u200bu200bfuture series, about the intonation of this material – light and witty, but at the same time deep.
I think I can try quite successfully for other roles besides Kolya. The acting range allows, but no such consideration has arisen. I know that casting is a kind of solitaire played by the director, the screenwriters and the producers. I admire Yana as an actress, director and person, so I totally trust her.
– A similar small but vibrant image you had in a great movie last year “To express”. You seem to have no bias as to how much screen time you get. What are these heroes bribing you with?
– I beg to differ. My character in the movie “Express” by Ruslan Bratov is still quite different from Kolya, the role there is more semantic. These characters carry different energies and their functions related to the main character are different.
As for the scope of the role, it lies in it. As they say, there are no small roles, there are small artists. You choose from the roles available to you and try to achieve maximum volume and layering in each one.
— Another major project of the past year — the TV series “Alice Can’t Wait”. best 2022. This is a provocative story in many ways about a young girl named Alice who loses her sight and family ties, decides to sell her virginity to a mysterious businessman, and mediates between your hero.
— Natalia Meshchaninova is one of the best in modern Russian industry. Everything he does as a screenwriter and director is highly visible, talented, outstanding work. She is a capital letter writer. Managers are often impatient and try to rush to achieve the desired result. Natalya fully understands what she wants to achieve and naturally knows how to meticulously create the conditions for this process on the site in order to achieve results. Their texts are very lively – if you start rearranging the words in them, something will break. Almost like Chekhov. It seems to me that meeting such a director is a gift for an artist.
– As a father of two children, is it difficult for you to agree to participate in such conspiracies, or, on the contrary, does parental interest in understanding such a hero serve as an additional incentive?
– I have a 14-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son, so I understand the intrigue of the question. Children are always children and you worry, worry about them, think that you should take an active role in their upbringing. The important thing is not to forget the precaution. If they need to talk to you and discuss any issue, you should be open with them and they shouldn’t be afraid of you judging them or being aggressive about their problems.
As for participation in projects, the more complex, sharp and controversial it is, the harder it is to extract something valuable from it, but the more interesting it is.
– Recently, the comedy series “I Loved My Husband” was released, in which you play the role of a hero who is cold towards his wife, but not indifferent to certain intimate practices. Are you more interested in acting in comedy or drama projects?
– I’m getting offers for both comedy and drama projects. For me as a player there is no fundamental difference. All genres are good, there are only skilled jobs and there are untalented ones. The main thing is the script, and then you try to do the maximum that depends on you: to understand what the director wants and help him realize the planned story.
– You yourself are from Tallinn and you said that in 2020 you do not have time to show your hometown to children. During this time, did you manage to rectify the situation and show the children where you created?
– Yes, it hurts me that my children have not yet seen this magnificent city of Tallinn. In 2020 there was an opportunity to combine a tourist trip with a business trip and I was almost there but the pandemic started. And now I can not travel – sometimes I do not have time, sometimes circumstances do not allow it. I hope one day everything will be okay.
– Judging from your experience in Tallinn and Russian theaters, is there any tangible difference between the work of the actors and the actors in them?
– There is no fundamental difference. The theater is unique in that it can happen even in Russia, or even in Estonia, in a cave, or even on the moon. The carpet is laid and two actors take to the stage – this is the theater for you. There is only one Russian drama theater in Tallinn, and in Estonia as a whole, and it has no healthy competition, it is boiling in its own juice. Of course, directors from many Russian cities come there, but the Russian-speaking stage is limited to one theatre. However, there are many very strong Estonian theaters out there.
– You once said that Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov, known for his interest in actors, helped you get an apartment in Moscow. What situations of mutual aid do you particularly remember among your colleagues?
– Yes, you are right, Oleg Pavlovich was famous for taking care of his guardianships. At that time he not only helped me with an apartment: more than 50 employees of Tabakerka and the Moscow Theater had the opportunity to buy an apartment in Moscow at a state price, let’s say. We are grateful to him.
I also remember such a case. In my first year, two bags of potatoes were brought to our hostel. We students were happy. The sponsor of this event was Alexander Lvovich Semchev, with whom we now play together on the same stage in Moscow Art Theater performances.
– In one of your interviews, you admitted that you support women working in the field of cinema. You mentioned directors and cameramen, especially mentioning Ksenia Sereda. Now there is a sensational series “One of Us”, based on the computer game “The Last Of Us”, in which Ksenia shot 3 episodes. Did you watch the first episodes?
– I’m in favor of breaking down the stereotypes and stereotypes that directing is a man’s job. There are many examples that prove that gender boundaries do not matter in art. As for The Last Of Us, I’ve heard of it but haven’t seen anything yet. If possible, of course, I will definitely look into it, especially since Ksenia had a hand in this.