Interview with actor Pierre Burel about life and success, humanitarian missions and dreams in Russia French actor Pierre Burel talked about how he got into Russian cinema

— How did you come to the project?

I like the script, very good. I had to rehearse an intimate scene at the audition and didn’t know a few key facts. For example, the operator of the “Desperate Bride” Yegor Vetokhin is married to Anna Zaitseva. Therefore, it was funny and awkward for me to kiss a stranger, realizing that his wife was in the room.

– Can you imagine yourself in the place of the heroine Anna Zaitseva? What would you do if you found out that you were the third in someone’s relationship?

– If I were 25 years old and I was in France, then I wouldn’t care enough, I’m an open person. Now I am in a completely different situation – I have two children and a beloved wife. Therefore, it is difficult for me to say how to behave in the case of the heroine Zaitseva. Most likely out of a love triangle, I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone.

– Do you feel the difference between acting schools in Russia and France? How did you find your acting?

I found him in pain. In France, the most important thing is to have a beautiful face and a floppy tongue, that’s enough for a job. The first two years in Russia you can not speak, you are trained – like a soldier. Here talent means hard work and dedication, while there it means being someone’s son. Now I think I’m not jealous of them. It is difficult to live and work with the realization that all your achievements are someone else’s legacy.

Have you considered returning to France?

“My story is long and complex. First I studied at the Rouen Conservatory in France, then I got a diploma at the Saratov Higher Theater School and returned to my hometown after winning a scholarship from the Bordeaux Aquiten Higher Theater School. At the same time, I went to Algeria, where I worked as a volunteer assistant for an ophthalmologist and learned to fly. The latter was important to me for two reasons: I wanted my son to see me as something other than an actor and also to have a “real” profession. Acting in France is not a profession, most likely even a bank loan will not be approved.

I remember how much I suffered after returning to France: I was gathered in a small 15 square meter apartment in Montmartre and thought about how to raise money to visit my son in Madagascar. I was waiting for my best hour, I acted in any movie, because of my grammar they often got the Russian role, but I was not offered the French role. That’s why I moved to Russia, where my career began. I bought a car, an apartment, a summer house, I fly to Madagascar twice a year – I could not afford it in France. I’m not proud of all my projects, but there are some that I’m definitely not ashamed of. I also really like my students at the Moscow Art Theater. Freedom is all I wish for the Russian theater and film industry. From the criticism – I do not like the system of paid places in educational institutions, it destroys creativity. Talent cannot be measured by money.

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— Tell us more about Algeria, why did you go there and how did you end up in Russia?

– At 19 – before the first theater school – I went to Algeria, a city near the Sahara desert Tamanrasset. The return ticket was 8 months later, I only had 10 francs in my pocket, so I changed my name to Muhad Kasemi and started to integrate with the local community. After returning to France, he received an offer to go to Russia – to Saratov, to Anton Kuznetsov, a student of Lev Dodin. There were some struggles but in the end everything worked out.

— Are you planning to leave Russia?

– No, I have agents everywhere: in France, England and Spain, but my base is here. If everyone leaves, who will stay? I have two passports, it’s easier for me. Somehow I left Russia, I wanted to relax and give myself to society.

I don’t like when actors devote themselves only to themselves and their pain. I flew to Senegal for a year on a humanitarian mission, where I handed out glasses to the visually impaired. I remember very well how I toured villages with a professional ophthalmologist and helped the elderly choose the right lenses. A grandmother burst into tears as soon as she put on her glasses, took the Qur’an in her hands and started reading the Qur’an for the first time in 10 years. I’m a little embarrassed for pretending to be a “white” savior, but it’s better to do something than sit back.

— Do you have dreams?

– With age, ambitions decreased, it is enough for me to play Cyrano de Bergerac on the theater stage. They had plans to open our own school in the same decade, but let’s see what happens. Saying that my son will see me in a good European movie on Netflix and say to his friends, “Look, this is my dad!” I imagine you would say.