– The series tells about the survival of the oligarch in the conditions of poverty in your performance. Tell us about your character and how you prepared for the role.
– How did you prepare? I read the latest news about all the sanctions against our oligarchs abroad to be in the context of the situation we need to be in for a while. My character is a typical Russian billionaire living in London. Coming from Saratov, it started climbing in the 90’s and eventually reached England. However, everything he accumulated and earned was subject to sanctions. And in these conditions, it goes through a revaluation of values, which, by the way, is to its advantage.
– Is the poor oligarch purely a comedy drama, or does it have a very social message? Why is he interested in you?
“Of course there is, that’s the whole point!” But all this is shot with humor – our story has a deep subtext. My character, who finds himself in such situations, understands that everyone around him is with him for the sake of money. And the only true friend is the servant.
– You already knew many people on the site thanks to past projects. Maybe you had fun while working?
– Yes! I already have many projects with Sarik Andreasyan, it is a pleasure to work with him. We also had many projects with Max Lagashkin, we are friends outside the shooting, we communicate as much as possible even though everyone has a busy schedule. Working was fun! Despite the hard work, there was always time for jokes and humor.
– You said Andreasyan asked you not to shave for the Poor Oligarch. Which role do you think you had to pass the most serious exams while preparing for it?
– I starred in another project of Sarik – the series “Life on Call”. There my character wore a hat so I didn’t have to cut my hair. Then he went on vacation and Sarik asked me not to shave for his role in “The Poor Oligarch”… The idea was different: the character wouldn’t shave, and then he wouldn’t. But when the hairs grew and then the beard, the makeup artists tried to gray it out – and it turned out great. It’s such a vivid image! I haven’t experienced anything like this yet. We decided to split up and I think it turned out great.
Also, while shooting with Petya Buslov, I had to lose weight and shed more than six kilograms. On the contrary, I took three months of training for the project Restart, which will be released soon. It’s a sports drama where I play a rugby coach, so I had to look into my role.
You need to prepare for each role in your own way. The hardest thing for me was probably playing a perverted oligarch in Sarik’s Life on Call project. This vile image was the hardest for me – psychologically and morally.
– In one of the interviews, you said that when you enter GITIS, it is recommended not to report on previous shootings in the cinema. Why do you think theater universities oppose the training of acting actors? Isn’t that an advantage?
– Yes that is right. And I don’t understand this trend. Theater teachers at specialized universities do not allow actors to act in films, even if only on individual occasions. Perhaps the study was not interrupted. But I don’t think this is entirely true. They really told me not to tell, and I didn’t. And my wonderful art director, Alexei Vladimirovich Borodin, learned that when I was in school, I acted in films only in the second or third year.
– You often act in films with Dmitry Nagiyev. Do you communicate with him outside of the frame?
– We communicate very well with Dima, we have friendly relations. Another issue is that it is extremely rare to see each other together outside the site, as everyone has a very busy job, families and children. But it happens sometimes, which is nice.
– Are you proud of your image, probably the most popular among the mass audience – Lekhi from Fizruk? And also a role in “Yeralash”?
– Not just roles, but roles. I had relatively many stories in Yeralash during my school years – nine, some of the best. Of course I’m proud! My work in the cinema started with Yeralash, although they approved of me and did not find me for him, the first shoot was there. “Fizruk” is a very valuable and interesting series in my opinion. And my role as Alexei Alekseevich Psycho turned out to be successful in my opinion.
– Do you communicate with people you know from Yeralash?
– We have always been very close friends with Boris Yuryevich Grachevsky, may his memory be blessed. And when I studied at the institute, and in the 90s there was a decline in cinema – and I did not do the profession for a while, and when I returned again. As for Yeralash, I’m not going to tell anyone to contact us directly. We communicate not only with Natasha “Glucose” Ionova, we also communicate with Yurka Shashurin, with whom we played in the story “Brazilian System”. By the way, I just got a call yesterday and was offered to play in Yeralash’s new plan. Grandmother! This will be my 12th story so you will still see me in Yeralash.
– You quit your acting career in the 90s, but then you came back. How was your return to the screens? How did the directors take it – did you need to prove your professionalism again?
– Yes, after graduating from the institute, I worked in the theater for a while in the 90s, and then I was really out of the profession for a couple of years. There has been a slight decline in cinema and life has taken me a little further from theater and cinema. In 1999, as an actor with higher education, I went to Mosfilm and submitted documents, registered with the Screen acting agency. And a month and a half later, I got a call from the DMB project directed by Roma Kachanov, whom we have known since my school years, where I was actively shooting movies. We lived in the same neighborhood as him. He was surprised: “You came out of the cinema?” He announced the end of casting, two episodes left, he said – choose any. That’s why I played steward on a ship in DMB.
And after that, actually, yes, it wasn’t easy. After all, when you are in a rush, everyone remembers, sees, knows you. And they forget when you’re out of the frame, off the stage, out of the profession for a while. Therefore, for a long time there were small episodic roles. At that time, the “Kings of the Episode” program was airing on NTV and I was one of them. They also asked if it was a shame, because from childhood there were the main roles, and now it is like that. I replied that there is a time for everything. I had to sit without a job for months, take small roles and get small wages, all of this happened.
– One of the lowest rated movies in his career is Gas Tank. Klubara Basty. Why did you decide to participate in it?
— By the way, I don’t fit the ratings, I didn’t know. Why did you decide to join? I liked the script written out of the box – in prose. Written by screenwriter Oleg Gruz, I liked it very much. Of course, a very difficult topic, but still – I gladly participated. And the ensemble of actors gathered there was great, my partners were Misha Goreva and Zhenya Stychkin. There we met Vasya Vakulenko. I don’t even know why this movie got such high ratings. Maybe our viewers didn’t quite understand it.
– Your eldest daughter played you in one of the movies. Was it hard to ignore family relationships and work with him as a colleague on set?
– Unfortunately, this movie has not been released yet, but the producers assure that the movie will be released this year. This is the comedy “Bachelor Party”, in which Anya made her debut. Actually, it was not my attempt, noticed and invited by the producer, I tried not to get involved in the shooting process. It’s a small role, but he did it. In my opinion, he succeeded.
– According to the media, your wife is also a trained actress, but does not act in movies. Do you want to play with it?
– My wife is not an actress, she has nothing to do with theater or cinema. If only as a spectator. He graduated from the Institute of Commerce, worked at TEFI for a while before we met. Then I got into the real estate business. Therefore, Alesya has nothing to do with cinema.
– Recently, everyone is talking about the future of Russian cinema: some complain about the departure of Hollywood studios, while others, on the contrary, rejoice. What do you think will happen to domestic cinema as a result of this?
– You know, you have to do your best – and do it well, from the heart and with love. Then everything will be great for us. I believe that Russian cinema will live, exist and develop. And I will be directly involved in that.
– You often act in comedy projects. Is it fair to say that this is your favorite genre? Or are you not looking at the genre at all but being guided by the script when deciding to join?
– If a movie is made and the audience likes it, it’s up to the producers and directors to start offering such roles right away. The crime comedy “Bablo” was filmed, after which I was approved for the role of Pervert in Fizruk. After that, they started offering the same kind of rogue roles. I love the comedy genre, but I consider myself more of a dramatic actor. And now, on September 8, my big dramatic work “Starting Over”, in which I play a rugby coach, is finally coming out. I think I will be offered more dramatic roles after this project.
If you were offered any role, who would it be?
“I want to act in a really strong historical film. It is closer to the Russians, to the heroes, in this direction. I would love to play in a project like Braveheart, Gladiator.