Interview with Khabensky about the series. Interview with Konstantin Khabensky. Tell me, St. Petersburg remains your hometown

1972 January 11 born in Leningrad. 1996 Begins work at the Moscow Satyricon Theater. 2000 All-Russian fame comes with his role in the series “Deadly Force”. 2004 The role of Anton Gorodetsky in the national blockbuster “Night Watch”. 2012 Becoming People's Artist Russia.

It seems to me that I am free, but in reality I am not. I can offer my freedom of views only on stage

One of the most sensational domestic films of the year is being released - “The Geographer Drank the Globe Away” by Alexander Veledinsky. The tragicomedy about a drinking teacher from the provinces, based on the novel of the same name by Alexei Ivanov, brought the creators several major prizes at Kinotavr - the Grand Prix of the main jury and the Grand Prix of the distributors' jury, as well as awards for music and best actor for Konstantin Khabensky. By all accounts, in this film he played the hero of our time as accurately as possible. Whether this is true or not, the Friday columnist discussed it in a conversation with Khabensky himself.

It seems that this role had to be matured somehow. Not in the process of reading the script and preparing for filming, but in advance.

You can’t say - especially in cinema - that you spend years preparing for some work. But I, although it sounds immodest, had a premonition of the role. I didn’t know what exactly I was going to play, but I was preparing. I understood that in five years someone would knock on the door. This is what happened with Geographer. Sasha Veledinsky and I met and began to fantasize - not only on the theme of Ivanov’s novel, but also on the themes of the films on which we were brought up: “Flying in a Dream and in Reality”, “Vacation in September”. And we decided to try to braid it all together.

How was the hero greeted by young viewers who had not seen old films?

The hero turned out to be so in demand! I still imagine our film as bright, not devoid of perspective.

But your geographer, Viktor Sluzhkin, lost his job and lives with a wife who does not love him.

From the point of view of the hero himself, he did not fail. This is his philosophy: this is how he protects himself from society, from everyday life. His defense is his idealism and his alcohol. With this he will move on. In this, he and I are probably a little close. As an actor, I have no right to be a cynic and let go of my childhood; I have no right not to be Sluzhkin in at least some way. But he tries to make people think, and then he realizes that both his friends and his students do not understand what he is saying - and, of course, he withdraws into himself. We have no other options in Russia. This is probably why many of my friends think that The Geographer is a dead-end film.

Here, perhaps, we can talk about the epidemic of infantilism that has captured the whole world. A person “does not let go of childhood” - and as a result, even as a teacher, he cannot reach his own students.

Sluzhkin got through. Maybe only one person heard him, but he heard him. Even if it takes a few years, other guys will understand his lessons. I also work with children quite a lot, in my acting studios in eight cities: the more specific and honest you communicate with them, the faster they understand everything and switch to the same language with you.

Is it a coincidence that you have two films in a row - “Freaks” and “The Geographer Drank the Globe Away” - in which you somehow interact with children?

Coincidence. Just like the fact that many guys from the Creative Development Studio in Perm and Yekaterinburg starred in “Geographer”. Something converges at the top, and it matches. The guys, of course, were prepared, but when they went through filming, I asked if they wanted to become actors - they unanimously answered: “No.” This made me very happy.

- Why?

Because already at this age they managed to take off their rose-colored glasses and see the working side of acting. This helps them communicate with each other and think for themselves. Plus, they understand that acting is a dubious and momentary profession. So they went in other directions. For example, they became biologists.

- What about geographers?

I don't know anyone like that.

What is it like to be an actor in Russia today?

I'm interested. I can’t answer for everyone. True, sometimes nothing interesting comes for a long time, a whole year for example. Maybe I’m complaining in vain, and others have a worse situation. But I’m still interested: in addition to theater and cinema, I have children’s studios where I can throw my energy. This year the second All-Russian festival took place in Ufa, and we are preparing for the third.

That is, the situation in theater and cinema is such that famous actor must look for creative satisfaction somewhere on the side. Stalemate situation, no?

I wouldn't say so. Recently I watched the film “There Was No Better Brother” by Murad Ibragimbekov - a brilliant picture, but doomed to failure at the box office. The situation in our cinema, unfortunately, has been brought to such a level that the audience who goes to the cinema will not wait until the middle and will not understand what the problem is.

People go to good Western films more willingly than to Russian films.

Many people also left Cloud Atlas because they didn’t catch up. Although they brought the money to the cash register. But if the situation in the cinema is really not very good, then people go to the theater.

Even you have few truly significant roles in films. Will there be something to show the children with your participation?

No. But that's okay. In the films where I starred, there are some episodes, scenes that are not bad. I think this is enough. I don’t have films with which I will go to God.

It seems to me that you can contact Geographer.

I'm in no hurry. I want to do some more work.

Is there anything you dream about? Directing, for example?

Directing is a seductive thing for any actor. I understand what kind of profession this is, and I want to try myself in theater directing. I’ll do it with the kids, we’ll figure it out on our own. But I don’t have a dream role. I live by different standards: roles come unexpectedly. How did “Geographer” come?

Konstantin Khabensky initially joined the project as the leading actor - the Soviet officer Alexander Pechersky, who was captured and then sent to a concentration camp - and led the uprising there. But the producers realized that no one could make this film better than him - and they were able to convince Konstantin himself of this. Therefore, the artist had to combine actually two of the most important positions.
The film is based on real events: uprising of prisoners in the fascist death camp "Sobibor" (it happened in the fall of 1943). This, the only successful prisoner uprising in the history of World War II, became possible thanks to the organizational talent and courage of its leader, Alexander Pechersky. It was he who was able to rally hundreds of prisoners doomed to death from different countries Europe and lead them with you - to freedom!

At the premiere of the film "Sobibor" at the Moscow cinema

On the eve of the premiere, we managed to ask Konstantin Khabensky, who generally does not give interviews, about the film and how he managed to combine the work of an actor and director. And, of course, about his attitude towards the Great Patriotic War, one of the brightest episodes of which was the uprising raised by Alexander Pechersky in the Sobibor death camp. And about Victory Day - what does he himself think about this holiday?

“The harder, the more interesting”

Konstantin, what was it like for you to be in two guises: to be an actor who plays main role– and the director who films it? Have you managed to cope by solving these two problems at the same time?

Probably my colleagues can best answer this question. They watched from the side as I worked. I’ll say this: probably for some time now there has come a period in life when the harder it is, the more interesting it is.

How was the filming technically organized?

It’s very simple: there was a man about my height, dressed in the same uniform, he had a walkie-talkie, and he commanded when I was in the frame. We rehearsed everything thoroughly before this. I didn’t say: “Start!”, “Motor!” — as happens on film sets, I just said: “Stop!” - when I thought I needed to finish the shot

Was there a moment when you wanted to quit everything?

Somewhere between the 22nd and 31st version of the editing version of the film, I realized that I wanted to bring it to its logical conclusion at any cost - to make it the way I want to see it

In the role of Alexander Pechersky in the film “Sobibor”

Did you enjoy being a director?

The story of getting into work as a director is the most difficult thing. I really didn't intend to be one - I felt quite comfortable as an actor. But the stars aligned. (Smiles.) Apparently, the knowledge that I acquired by communicating with those directors who can rightfully be called directors, with brilliant cameramen, talented artists— gave me the opportunity to make my own movie. That involuntary process of learning from them, apparently, became for me some kind of basic, some kind of fulcrum. And I decided to enter this water myself and try my hand. But this does not mean that tomorrow I will start filming my new film. No. But I put the maximum of feelings, thoughts, and understanding that I have today into Sobibor. And today I can’t do better than this.

Delicate topic

Weren't you afraid to take on such a complex topic as a director? After all, Pechersky is not fictional hero, This real person, a person who has gone down in history. This also sets a certain framework for creativity, some restrictions. Well, and secondly, this is a story about a concentration camp, where the line between life and death is extremely thin...

Any topic that concerns people is not just complex, it is very delicate. But it seems to me that it is precisely on the verge of life and death, with the possibility of no longer living in five seconds - as was the case in Sobibor - that a person reveals himself to the maximum as an individual. This story provides an opportunity to try, perhaps paradoxically in places, to show people exactly as they are at their core, to show their hearts. A movie on such a topic should, at a minimum, not leave a person indifferent. This is very important. And here we need utmost sincerity and nakedness of feelings and experiences. You can’t tell films like this in a mentoring tone. You can’t give lectures about people’s suffering—you have to try as hard as possible to involve the audience in empathy. So that the audience can feel at least for a second: what it’s like for them there, for these heroes...

Still from the film “Sobibor”

How do you, as a director, determine who this film is aimed at?

For people who know how to feel. They are not afraid to empathize. And I’ll tell you, there are quite a lot of such spectators in our country. Well, I also start from myself: if this story excites me, it means that it can excite other people too

Historical truth

How reliably are some historical details shown in the film?

The scenery of the concentration camp, the very place where most of the filming took place - all this was reproduced according to the drawings that were preserved. But we must keep in mind that due to the victorious uprising, the camp was subsequently completely destroyed by order of the German command, and there is practically no archival data about it. But we were given the memories of the participants in the uprising and subsequent escape. We had good consultants from the Alexander Pechersky Foundation - people who thoroughly knew this story, they explained some difficult moments.

With the actors who played in the film "Sobibor"

Of course, I can’t say that during this filming I became an expert on the history of Sobibor, but I think that I immersed myself in the topic quite thoroughly. But there is another side to this: it is important not to overdo it in the pursuit of verisimilitude.

About some things we know exactly how it was, about some things we know approximately how it could have been. And then our imagination, our creativity, without which there cannot be feature film. Yes, we tried to be extremely careful with the historical truth - but this, of course, does not mean that all the lines in the film had a strictly documentary basis. Pechersky, his comrades and opponents were not exactly the same as they are shown in the film - but they could have been so, based on the logic of their characters and the logic of historical circumstances. This is even more important than external plausibility.

Hollywood star

The director of the concentration camp was played by Christopher Lambert. He is also shown as that villain - aren’t you afraid that most of the actor’s fans will not accept him in this role?

Actors tend to play different roles and break stereotypes. Inviting Christopher into our story was the producer’s idea. This is due not only to the fact that he is a wonderful actor, but also to the European box office. We needed a figure to help us promote this film. And I didn’t regret for a second that he entered our history.

Didn't you know him before the film?

No, I met Christopher on the set

With Christopher Lambert in the film Sobibor

Did he immediately agree to filming?

I understand that yes. Why wouldn't he agree? Only a fool would refuse such work. We came up with something, fantasized about the fate of the person he plays. But no matter how we justify it in artistically, no matter how we come up with him difficult fate- our viewer will never justify his hero. Never!

How was it like working with him on the same set?

It's a very interesting feeling: when you play with an actor whose films several generations have grown up with, who played his most famous roles while you were still in high school...

Happy Victory - all over the world

Do you have any forecasts: how will the screening of Sobibor go?

Let's not make predictions. This is the very last thing: to sit and think about the fact that we have made such and such a film, and it will take such and such a place in the ratings. Let's launch it first, let's listen and read what and how they will say and write about it. And then the future will show: will they remember him - or will they forget how bad dream or as something that failed. I don’t know what his fate will be. But it seems to me that this film will be remembered - at least for the fact that this, in my opinion, is the first film in our box office in which five percent of each ticket sold will go to a charity fund to help children fight brain cancer. He has already taken this place: he will save lives!

In which countries will Sobibor be shown?

We are now going on a premiere tour of Europe. I really hope that there will be equally caring reactions in all countries. Many European countries have already bought the rights to rent it. In addition, I know that Japan and Australia will be showing it... Negotiations are now underway to show this story overseas...

The film is released on the eve of Victory Day. What does this holiday mean to you?

Victory Day is a bright, but very difficult holiday. We celebrate it not to eat a sandwich and drink a glass of vodka, but to remember what a terrible price we had to pay for it. What a difficult war our people endured, how much grief and suffering it brought. And what kind of strength it was necessary to have - and, first of all, the strength of spirit - to defeat such a strong and cruel enemy and free Europe, which he had conquered, from him. We all need to understand what price we had to pay for this Victory. Feel all this somewhere there, in the heart - and pass on these feelings and knowledge to our children and grandchildren, carefully store them in the people's memory. This is a celebration of our pain - and at the same time our joy and pride. As our people’s most beloved song says: “This is joy with tears in our eyes - Victory Day!”

Director Konstantin Khabensky

Photos by Vadim Tarakanov and from the archives of the film crew

Konstantin Khabensky: “Victory Day is a difficult holiday” Published: August 1, 2019 Author: Yana Nevskaya

If one day Konstantin Khabensky makes an appointment with you, do you know what will be the biggest mistake? Be at least a couple of minutes late for it. Yes, he understands everything about traffic jams. But he himself is not late. And, probably, the worst dream of Khabensky’s partners in theater and cinema is the one in which, while playing a scene with him, they suddenly forget their lines. Konstantin Khabensky is a professional, and only the desire to avoid pathos, which is categorically alien to him, prevents him from writing this word with capital letters. Therefore, he is demanding - of himself and others. Therefore, at the request of the photographer, I am ready to instantly convey any emotion. And therefore, he answers questions with restraint, carefully choosing his words, and simply avoids some. But if he does talk, it’s about what’s really important to him.

For Cosmonautics Day, the film “Time of the First” is being released about the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, in which you have one of the main roles. At first glance, this is not the most dramatic story: nothing supernatural, by today’s standards, happened. What attracted you to the script?

Yes, but it was not your hero, not Pavel Belyaev, who came out, but Alexei Leonov.

Was this what interested you in the role?

It was interesting for me to search, fantasize, collect the image of Belyaev, the commander of the ship, who corrected, regulated and ensured the safety of this spacewalk - probably so. Understand the characters, their compatibility or incompatibility, the history that developed between these two astronauts. How they went about accomplishing this is impossible. How their relationship changed, in what ways they opened up to each other during the flight, and before, and after.

You can’t live in the past, but you need to revive and preserve all the best that happened to you and that is acceptable in today’s conditions.

First of all, this is still a story of characters and their development. Flight history is not spaceship, but the human spirit. My hero is a person who says: “as the Motherland orders.” A military man, a man of order, a man of duty. And it is very interesting to understand what is behind all this. Behind the training, behind the chopped phrases, behind the uniform and bearing, which is immediately visible, even if the person is in civilian clothes. What joys, grievances, what experiences are there - that’s what I wanted to get to the bottom of.

In many ways, this devotion to duty is also a feature of the era.

That's right, that too. And maybe I was driven partly by nostalgia for those people - unmercenary people who worked primarily for the good of the country, for its sake. And now there are such people, thank God. But it seems to me that most of society looks in a completely different direction.

What do you mean? If we talk about nostalgia, it is now acquiring frightening proportions.

We are talking about different things. I am talking about nostalgia for relationships in which the main thing is duty and trust. By responsibility for what you do. This is a normal thing. You come to work on time, you come prepared - if you're talking about my work. You try to be responsible in what you do. And sometimes you encourage others to do the same. You can't live in the past. But you need to revive and preserve all the best that happened to you and that, as you think, is acceptable in today’s conditions.

It follows from your words that the level of trust and responsibility that we see today does not suit you. Was everything better in this sense before?

I can't speak for the whole society. But probably, yes, you are right. Probably so, because I am a maximalist and from time to time I tell myself: “Hush, hush, don’t do it like that”... First of all, it all depends on upbringing. Probably, this responsibility - even exaggerated - comes from my father.

Were you raised strictly?

I won’t say that it’s really that strict, no. I just had a person by whom I could measure my actions. And which at some point in my life allowed me to make mistakes and correct them on my own. This is achieved not by lectures and moralizing, only by personal example. I think so.

Are your charitable activities also a consequence of maximalism and a sense of responsibility?

Our foundation also tries to unobtrusively remind and show by personal example how simple it is, how good it is, first of all, for ourselves - from the point of view of internal values ​​and human dignity - to help another person. Our profession - with all due respect to it - is like this... If something suddenly doesn’t work out for us, then no one will physically suffer from it, by and large. But if it works, it will give someone confidence, someone will think, for someone it may become a discovery, or it will simply lift their spirits.

I would like to change society’s attitude towards an oncological diagnosis as a death sentence. This is not true, life does not end there

But the fund is still history real help. And not just a one-time thing - when they helped a child with an operation, for example. This and its subsequent management, physiotherapy, introduction and adaptation to society, psychological and social rehabilitation. And working with parents who have experienced shock, who also need to live a full life, without shaking every minute because everything could happen again. I would like to change society’s attitude towards an oncological diagnosis as a death sentence. This is not true, life does not end there. Our program is called: “Know and not be afraid.”

Could you devote yourself entirely to the foundation and charity, giving up acting?

Don't know. Now the fund is in good shape, we have 14 employees, a large team. And I, I think, have not yet developed everything in the profession to calmly abandon it.

What else do you expect from her?

The same as always. Don't repeat yourself. Working with directors who make you wonder.

And when in last time was it such a surprise?

For a long time, unfortunately.

Are you more involved in films now?

Yes, in films and on television. This doesn't mean that I'm not interested in theater, I just don't want to jump around film set on the theatrical stage. I try to act consistently to finish one thing and then take on another seriously and responsibly. A play and a film are completely different matter. They only agree on one thing: it is advisable for actors to know the text, or at least understand what it is about. And talk to each other. Everything else is different.

Theater is a momentary affair, communication, energy. This is how you keep the rhythm, this is two or three steps ahead of the viewer

Theater is a momentary affair, communication, energy. This is how you keep the rhythm, this is two or three steps ahead of the viewer. The ability to get the upper hand over your emotions - because actors who start crying sobbing and continue crying until the last spectators leave somewhere in the middle of the performance look ridiculous. I say this conditionally, of course. And much, much more. Theater is a very living thing.

Can you tell us more about your television projects?

Now I'm filming great history to the centenary of the October Revolution. This is an eight-episode film.

Curving like a boomerang, the casting fate of Konstantin Khabensky forwarded him through all possible roles - a tyrant and a klutz, a warrior and a terrorist, a loser and a charismatic - from the role of a senior lieutenant in “Deadly Force” to the role of investigator Rodion, which will cost many. Multiply the maniac from the series “Dexter” by Russian reflection and Shukshin’s landscapes - and you get our “Method”, not meaningless, but merciless. True love knows no boundaries - we went to visit the main actor of the country in Nizhny Novgorod, where in the very heart of the patrimony of Balabanov’s “Zhmurok” the filming of Alexander Tsekalo’s production project is taking place.

From a street musician to the role of a maniac investigator in the TV series “Method”, Khabensky always goes his own way, doing and saying only what he considers necessary and important. He told us about the roles that influenced his life and how he changes the lives of others: about his charitable foundation, children's creative development studios and the musical “Generation Mowgli”, staged in collaboration with the MTS company.

First, before entering theater institute, you studied at the Leningrad College of Aviation Instrumentation. Did you want airliners to take to the skies with your name on board?

This was an absolutely normal desire for any free-thinking person to quickly leave school and the care of his parents for a free life. But by the third year of technical school, I finally realized that only in theory I am a god, but in practice I don’t understand anything at all about technology and I need to stop with this. I mastered many professions, in the eternal search for a source of income, I was a janitor, a floor polisher, a street musician, and a stage installer at the Saturday theater studio, which, by the way, is still alive to this day. It was in “Saturday” that I first found myself on stage as a so-called pea, that is, an extra, then I got some words in the play, and pretty soon I felt an interest in acting. As soon as I liked it, I thought that there was probably a university that taught all this, and I decided to go to it.

That is, when submitting documents to LGITMiK, you did not consciously strive to enter the workshop of Veniamin Filshtinsky?

No, it was a happy accident. In the summer of 1990, I was going to enter two Moscow universities at the same time, I think GITIS and VGIK, but I simply didn’t have enough money for a ticket, and I stayed in St. Petersburg. So he ended up with Veniamin Mikhailovich.

In the early 1990s, not only the Soviet Union, but also all theater system. Have you ever felt like you chose the wrong profession?

All this trouble fell on the shoulders of the course that was released in front of us. They could not find a job, many left the profession. But we were so busy with our studies - acting students are at the university from nine in the morning until midnight, seven days a week - that we did not have time to think about how our future lives would turn out. As a result, out of twenty-six applicants, thirteen people reached the diploma, and five of my fellow students are working in their specialty today. The numbers speak for themselves.

However, you, Mikhail Porechenkov, Mikhail Trukhin, and Ksenia Rappoport, who studied at the same time as you, are successful in the profession. What did the master teach you?

First of all, dedication. And also the ability to give everything you are capable of at the very moment when you are called, for example, to audition for a movie.

During your last year at LGITMiK, you served in the Perekrestok theater.

It was located in the attic of the long-demolished Palace of Culture named after the First Five-Year Plan, in the place of which there is now a new stage of the Mariinsky Theater. It was an experimental studio theater in which our entire course performed. We lasted a year and a half in 1995–1996 - quite a long time in the conditions of lack of money at that time. They made the decorations themselves, they themselves looked for the coveted hundred dollars from sponsors to print posters, which they then posted around the city themselves. Yuri Butusov's play "Waiting for Godot", staged there, was a great victory.

During these same years, did you try yourself as a TV presenter?

I hosted the “Parovoz TV” music chart on Regional Television, one of the most popular programs at that time. It seemed to be a job for money, but nevertheless I tried to look for some new forms of self-expression. Then there was also the information program “By the Way,” so I even managed to work as a news anchor, although not for long. I came up with some funny leads to essentially humorous plots. One grandmother, apparently our regular viewer, ambushed me after the broadcast and attacked me indignantly: “What are you doing, we believe you!” It was then that I realized that it was not in vain that I studied acting. Working on television was necessary practice for further work in cinema, in order to confidently interact with the camera and look confidently into the lens.

You didn’t immediately move to Moscow, working in parallel in two cities for several years.

Yes, there was a period in 1996–1997 when I played simultaneously in both Satyricon and the Lensovet Theater. In the Moscow theater, with Konstantin Arkadyevich Raikin, he appeared on stage in “Cyrano de Bergerac” and in “The Threepenny Opera”, and in St. Petersburg - in the performances of Yuri Nikolaevich Butusov “Waiting for Godot” and “Woyzeck”. But soon he returned completely to St. Petersburg for several years, stopping playing in Moscow, only because he missed the big work that Butusov was offering at the Lensovet Theater at that time. It was the role of Caligula in the play of the same name, and I didn’t even have any doubts about what to do.

You played in Caligula for ten years, flying to this performance after moving to Moscow, and two years ago you returned to this play by Camus. Why?

Didn't release the material. But since at my age to play in this performance, designed for young performer, it was simply indecent, I chose new uniform- a literary and musical evening, during which he read excerpts from the play accompanied by symphony orchestra under the direction of Yuri Bashmet.

How old do you feel?

In different ways, in this sense, I am very chattering: sometimes I forget myself and behave like a fourteen-year-old teenager, and other times some very old grandfather rushes out of me.

Can Yuri Butusov be called the theater director closest to you?

Yuri Nikolaevich and I periodically meet again and again, I am always ready to cooperate with him. It is now even difficult to call his productions performances; they are rather theatrical mysteries with a capital “P”. I'll have the nerve to call myself his actor. I don’t really understand intellectual theater, preferring emotional theater to it. One that will not let you fall asleep and will reach the viewer in the thirty-second row. If a person laughs and cries in the theater, the goal has been achieved. Then there is only clowning, this is generally aerobatics.

Can't work in cinema or don't want to work with directors on a regular basis?

You should not abuse the attention of directors by moving from one of their projects to another. Even if you succeed in something, it’s better to take a break, step aside, see what the director does next, and get involved in the next projects. Maybe it’s the same in the theater.

Were you personally invited to the Moscow Art Theater by Oleg Tabakov in 2002?

Yes, we were introduced, and pretty soon he offered me participation in one performance, which I considered uninteresting for myself. And literally two weeks later an offer was received to play Zilov in “ Duck hunting” based on Vampilov’s play, and, of course, it was impossible to refuse it.

Are you satisfied with your current employment at the Moscow Art Theater?

I've been through everything. You can play thirty-four performances a month and not get tired at all, or you can go on stage four times a month and even after that you can barely crawl. I don’t want to come to the theater as a job, treat it as a source of earning money. You need to go on stage, splash out and leave, but it doesn’t make sense to do it any other way. That’s why my voice still disappears from time to time and my eyes burst. I can’t do it otherwise. And in this situation, it doesn’t matter how many performances I’m involved in. As for my workload at the Moscow Art Theater, the story is very simple: at some point I asked Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov to release me from all productions except “The Threepenny Opera” for a while, for one season, in order to take a little break from the theater. He understood me, and we agreed that I would return in a year with a new idea. And so it happened, we came to him together with the stage designer Nikolai Simonov and offered to stage “Double Bass” by Patrick Suskind, already having ready-made solution performance and scenery. It was brazen and daring, but I didn’t see how to take the next step in the profession differently. It was necessary to break one’s back: before it was impossible, later it will be difficult. Our “Double Bass” is a production not so much about a musician, but about a person in general creative profession minding his own business. And I see around enough of those who live by inertia and are not looking for anything new. As a result, “Double Bass,” which premiered this spring, turned out to be very correct both in terms of the genre and, excuse me, the accumulated internal experience, human and acting.

Did you find the director yourself?

It was fate. Kolya Simonov and I were looking for someone who would develop and bring our idea to its logical conclusion. The young director Gleb Cherepanov was doing a play at that moment on the Small Stage of the Moscow Art Theater, we talked with him and realized that we were suitable for each other.

The genre range of your film roles is extremely wide - from Kolchak in the biopic “Admiral” to a teacher from the town of Palchiki in the comedy “Freaks”. Is there any logic behind this?

Of course, there is a certain internal logic here: first of all, I am interested in doing something that I have not done before. It could be a new genre or character for me. But all this is thinking on the shore, and then, when we get into the boat, everything can turn out any way we like; unfortunately, it is impossible to foresee the result. Of course, I want to destroy my stereotypical positive image created by means mass media. On the other hand, given the viewer’s habit of associating an actor and his characters, I cannot afford to play exclusively negative characters.

Do the roles played leave a mark on the actor’s life?

At first I thought that they did not manifest themselves in any way. They manifest themselves, and how! In some cases, I can say this with joy, what you acquire on stage and in cinema becomes part of your character, and in some cases, your destiny.

Role in " Day watch"Aren't you confused?

This is not to say that I am baptized for every dome, but sometimes I refuse very extreme proposals. This may depend on your mood, fatigue or well-being at that particular moment. In fact, many factors influence when you are called for some job, and you sharply and categorically say no.

The series “Method,” which is currently filming, touches on the topic of violence. You play the role of a maniac investigator.

The product we are shooting now in Nizhny Novgorod for Channel One, it’s a very tough story. But unlike most of our crime series, this is not just a thriller or detective story. The message here is very clear, which we agreed on from the very beginning with director Yuri Bykov and the producers. We are trying to explain to the viewer: everything that you, dear friend, see around you, happens thanks to you, because you simply averted your eyes at the sight of injustice.

Is it important for you not to hide your gaze?

Yes, I think this is important, for example, answering your questions now. And I have no reason to look away.

The film “Black Sea” directed by Kevin MacDonald will be released in December. Is this another step towards Hollywood?

This was another opportunity to work and communicate for my own pleasure with those with whom I was interested in doing this. This includes Kevin himself, whose film “The Last King of Scotland” many remember, and the leading actors Jude Law and Scoot McNairy. An interesting international company gathered for the project with the participation of Seryozha Puskepalis, Sergei Veksler, Grisha Dobrygin, and I thought: why not? This is not career growth, not a desire to go to Hollywood, but just another adventure. It is with this understanding that I approach similar stories, be it “Wanted”, “Tinker Tailor Spy!” or “World War Z,” from which my entire rather large role was completely cut out. I like to fantasize with colleagues who have become very famous, but have retained the desire to develop.

Do you feel like a Muscovite after twelve years of living in the capital?

It's difficult for me to answer this question. I travel all over the country, and for the last six months, for example, I spend most of my time in Nizhny Novgorod. I can only say that I still live in the same routine that is familiar to me.

Which one exactly?

In energy conservation mode, which is very typical for St. Petersburg residents. I try not to run around with my tongue hanging out. And although I plan a lot for myself, even if I only complete half of what I planned, I think that’s already good.

More than seventy people take part in the musical “Mowgli’s Generation” - children and adults, famous and beginners. How did you manage to bring everyone together?

We hold an annual festival called “Plumage,” which attracts troops from all the cities where our studios operate. At one of these festivals the idea was born to make modern version a play based on Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”, about a human cub in the concrete jungle. Musician Alexey Kortnev joined the project as a composer, and artist Nikolai Simonov proposed absolutely brilliant scenery. We didn't want it to be a performance using three cubes and one spotlight; the result had to be serious. As a result, a bright musical was born called “Generation Mowgli”, which simultaneously employs seventy-two studio students aged from nine to fourteen years and five adult actors. In my opinion, the performance was not at all embarrassing, it has every chance of being sold out. So far it exists only in Kazan, but in December we are planning a premiere in Ufa. In general, according to my plans, in each of the eight cities in which our creative development studios operate, the musical “Mowgli’s Generation” should be staged with its own cast.

What is your role in this project?

We have a director, Ainur Safiullin, a graduate of Sergei Zhenovach’s workshop. He will continue to work with this project in other cities. I acted here as the author of the idea, artistic director. Everyone whom I was able to attract to this project as technical specialists either agreed to work for a very symbolic remuneration or refused it altogether, and many adult actors transferred their fees to our Foundation. Alexey Kortnev, Timur Rodriguez, Gosha Kutsenko coped well with their roles, despite the fact that they are all crazy busy. I rehearsed with them via video, sent them recordings of the process, and when they arrived on site, everyone was ready - input into the already thought-up drawing was very fast. Of course, their names attract spectators and media attention to the performance. Now Timur Bekmambetov’s team is editing a television version of the musical “Generation Mowgli,” which will be shown on the STS channel, the media partner of our project.

Is the performance intended to help the beneficiaries of your Foundation?

For two years I thought about how to involve my studio students in charity, but I did not want to directly pit the guys against their peers, who found themselves in very difficult situation, literally on the verge of life and death, is something not every adult can emotionally withstand. And I’m very glad that we put it all together so simply: funds from each performance are sent directly to help peers of young actors who are at the moment fighting cancer. Thus, not speculatively and directly at school, our children understand that they need to be merciful and act. They see that they can help not only with pocket money, which many of them often simply don’t have, but with their energy, their soul. They realize that if they work with a cold nose, without any emotional investment, they will cease to be interesting to the public and, therefore, will not be able to help save someone’s specific life. In general, you need to understand that “Generation Mowgli” is not just a musical, but a huge charity project that we are implementing together with the MTS company. She supports us almost from the first day when the idea of ​​creating a play was born, because with our modest financial resources we simply could not cope with such an expensive undertaking. Although the original goal was to create a show for children, we were able to go much further. First, we put the children's musical performance, in which they are involved on one stage famous actors, musicians and children from the regions. Secondly, we launched big story on the Internet: this is the official website of the project, dobroedelo.mts.ru, and the group “Generation Mowgli” in social networks, where any child or teenager can take part in creative competitions and thereby help the Foundation’s wards. The point is that creative works, as well as for all activity on social networks, points are awarded, which are then converted into real money and sent to charity. The Internet has become a kind of virtual laboratory where children can try themselves in various competitions aimed at developing their imagination and unleashing their creative potential.

Have you ever encountered refusals from businessmen when approaching them on Foundation matters?

Only because they already have their own similar charitable projects. And so everyone meets halfway.

Is it not so easy to reach an agreement with officials?

Yes, this is more difficult. Quite recently, I specially came to St. Petersburg on my day off to communicate with local city authorities: I proposed to create a citywide studio here, hold our “Plumage” festival next year, prepare our own version of “Mowgli’s Generation” and asked for help with the premises. Haven't heard an answer yet.

Photo: Slava Filippov
Collages: Igor Skaletsky
Text: Vitaly Kotov