“Svetlakov surprised me.” Andrey Merzlikin – humor and profession about the film “Belyakovs on Vacation” Actor Merzlikin: he got “tremendous pleasure” from working with Maria Gorban 09/02/2024, 08:00

— What were your impressions when you read the script of the film “Belyakovs on Vacation”? Did you like the humor?

— After reading the script, I realized that it corresponds to today and our mentality, the characters in it are recognizable. The dialogues are very funny and very well written. But I had no doubt about it, because I know who Sergei Svetlakov is, and there was no pig. In general, the humor of the film continues the tradition of Sergei humor, which we all know well.

— Have you watched the TV program “Our Russia”? Who was your favorite hero?

— Yes, of course, I watched the multi-season series “Our Russia” and there were my favorite characters. But in general I liked the series itself and all the characters were cute to me in their own way. They formed such a family of heroes, played by our beloved Mikhail Galustyan and Sergei Svetlakov. Most of all I remember a couple of young people named Slavik and Dimon, who went to pharmacies. This is already a classic.

— Now that you and Sergei are working on the same site, can you tell us how it happened? Were your expectations met?

— The surprise lies in the sphere of expectations that we set for ourselves and the reality that we encounter. It is surprising that the nature of humor is studied by a person who turned out to be a deep thinker in life. He takes his work very seriously. Good comedians are not just mockingbirds, not just people who can make people laugh and tell jokes. There is a whole philosophy behind their work, a whole layer of worldview foundations, their own reflections. For example, Sergei Yuryevich is a family man, a friend, a filmmaker, a serious person who works and produces humor. I was surprised at how serious everything is with us. Behind every joke, every word, there is a lot of thought and testing. It was interesting to me. I am a dramatic actor, and I never thought about it, because I live organically. And here intelligence comes into play, the head opens. Working with Sergei Svetlakov in the film brought me new emotions and special pleasure.

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Actors Sergei Svetlakov, Svetlana Listova and Alexander Novikov on the set of the film “The Belyakovs on Vacation”

TNT press service

— They say that when shooting a comedy, writers on set pay attention to the word order because if it is changed, the joke may not work…

– Yes, I came across this. As a dramatic actor, I am used to bending phrases to my liking, thinking about how to speak organically. And here they stop you and say that otherwise the nature of humor, which is sometimes incomprehensible to us, will not work. Some people have no sense of humor at all, or they present it from a different angle. But people who take humor seriously see a harmonious structure. Just like in music, if the notes are in the right order, the melody will sound good. And therefore the actor must learn to play according to this musical notation, and not redo it. But thank God, we did not speak monologues on the set, we did not have stand-up shows, we spoke lines. But of course, I was faced with the fact that they asked me not to change anything, because the humor is in the way the line is written.

— Could you tell us a little about the character you played in “The Belyakovs”?

— There are several main characters in the film, played by Sergei Svetlakov and Svetlana Listova – these are simple guys who meet with their classmates. And suddenly in a holiday home a conflict of two social classes arises, this conflict shapes the nature of humor, the comedy of situations when different representatives of our society meet.

My character is an enemy. He can be called a successful modern man, but in my opinion he is a slave to money, a slave to a profession that allows him to earn big money. And we see that when life is devoted only to making money, then family, relationships with a spouse, relationships with children fall on the altar of this success. We talk about this in the film. This is a very recognizable life story, understandable and close to me. I agree that you need to stop, look at your life from the outside, and not devote it entirely to the success of your business, because the most important thing is family, the value of human relationships. Life should be of high quality and value. And the importance of a person for himself lies precisely in the sphere of human relationships.

— Maria Gorban became your partner — can you tell us what it was like working with her? What was your time like behind the scenes?

— Maria wonderfully played the wife of my character. It seems that even with such a beautiful wife you can still do only business, but it looks quite ridiculous and stupid, so it will be funny. I was surprised to meet Maria Gorban as an actor and a person. In addition to being a good actress and a great blogger, she is also a wonderful person; you have no idea what it is! And this is the most important thing. A good, kind, understanding, handsome person who knows how to cheer up everyone on the set and say funny words. Masha also subtly feels the people around her. In general, I had a lot of fun, even on weekends when we were filming. We traveled together and explored the Krasnodar Territory. We managed to combine business and pleasure.

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Actors Maria Gorban and Andrei Merzilikin on the set of the film “Belyakovs on Vacation”

TNT press service

— Was there time for humor behind the scenes among colleagues on the set?

“We had time for jokes on the set, because the team was funny and all situations were jokes.” There was not a single scene that did not cause wild laughter. Everyone ran to play it on the monitor to see how it looked from the outside. And all our free time was spent getting to know each other and communicating with each other. We had no place to sit in a corner and “meditate”. We all talked together, told stories from life, from our profession, opened up to each other. In short, it was like being in a nice summer camp.

— There is a saying: “Cinema is the art of waiting.” How do you fill this routine while setting up the lights, doing your make-up, waiting for other actors on set? Are you preparing for a role or doing other things?

– Anything can happen. Sometimes you need to be distracted, sometimes on the contrary, you need to devote yourself completely to the upcoming scene. Of course, there are scenes that require concentration and understanding of how to act, so that you do not delay the process in the first place, so that it is done quickly, efficiently and well. And there are scenes that you feel are based on your acting experience.

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Actress Svetlana Listova on the set of the film “The Belyakovs on Vacation”

TNT press service

— You said that you ran to playback to see how the scenes looked from the outside. How do you find the experience of watching yourself on screen? Not all actors, even those with a lot of experience, find it easy and prefer not to watch movies with them.

– I can easily see. Firstly, when a film comes out, as a rule, a year and a half has passed, and you do not remember how you worked. There is a momentary distance that allows you not to treat the viewing as something that happened at that moment. And you watch it as if for the first time, like an ordinary viewer. Of course, it is not possible to look at all the works – there are a lot of them, and there is very little time. Sometimes you will rewind, look at something, on the contrary, look at something more carefully. This is not my first year in the profession, so I already do not experience such dilemmas and questions, I treat myself adequately.