Interview with Chulpan Khamatova. “I just do what I like”: interview with Chulpan Khamatova and Ekaterina Chistyakova for ForbesWoman
– The world we live in is not always fair, and often cruel. And its material benefits are often used not by those who think about their neighbors. How do you explain this contradiction to your girls?
“I’m trying to convey to them that yes, the world is cruel, yes, unfair, but often it is also fair, and very gentle, kind, bright. So that the internal baggage in the form of all the emotional, aesthetic and ethical components that they are gaining today, I hope, will then help them cope with life’s difficulties in the future.
A person who gives nothing to another is poor in spirit. This means that life will break him over his knee much faster than someone who has a rich inner world. He simply will not be able to cope with real troubles.
Of course, children spend more time at school than with me, and there may be other influences, other attitudes from the same peers, for example. But quantity does not always equal quality. So I try to talk to them and talk and talk. Explain, support in some ways, categorically not support in others, and tell why.
– Do you see the result?
– The real answer can be given in 12 years. In the present, we can talk about some milestone results. And, to my joy, they exist. I see sprouts from the grain that I threw, for example, a year and a half ago. Moreover, what was said then was categorically not accepted, laughed at and rejected. I was sure that not only on a verbal level. And after a while it turns out that the grain fell where it was needed and began to germinate.
For example, I suddenly hear one of my daughters telling someone that she is not at all interested in a certain girl. “Because she doesn’t read books at all,” says my daughter, who just recently tried to prove to me that there is no need to read books; in general, it will lead to nothing and no good.
In general, when I want to criticize children, make them better, stronger, healthier, I remember myself at their age and calm down.
– How would you rate your current self, looking back on your childhood??
– The main criterion for assessing the viability of an adult in my childhood was this: can an adult kiss a dog on the nose? So in this sense, the child-me would approve of being an adult.
I still kiss the dog on the nose. I kiss and know that they have germs. And I even scold children for this: “What are you doing, they have germs there!” But to no avail. They see that I do this and kiss me along with me.
By the way, about dogs. I understood why I love them so much. They never hide their eyes, even when they have nothing to say. They withdraw only when interest is exhausted and they need to go on about their business. People cannot stand such an attentive gaze from each other.
– What of your childhood dreams came true?
- I have a dog. And also, my main dream came true. I work in a profession that I have always thought about, but there was never any certainty. And at first, for a very short time, I wanted to become a cameraman, then a director, and then an actress. Nobody told me: go, you will succeed. I just knew that I needed it. And the fact that this came true is happiness.
Something didn't come true. I thought that I would never yell at children. Unfortunately, sometimes I scream, although I suffer for a long time afterwards. Although, I think, if we had not had this internal pain in childhood, this feeling of injustice of the adult world in adolescence, if adults (for example, at school) had not shouted at us, sometimes reaching the point of humiliation, we would not be like this now sensitive to this, they would not be afraid to hurt their own children.
– How do you feel about your children’s school grades?
– I’m not at all interested in the grades that children get at school. I urge all parents to ignore them. Remembering my ten years of school, I see that, first of all, literature and also mathematics were useful. That is, there is so much unnecessary stuff that takes up time and energy.
If you want your children to somehow become adults and strong, at some point you need to let them go, no matter what the cost.
Pseudo-responsibility is keeping them close, thinking that they are fed and I take care of them. But in fact, the real parental responsibility is that somewhere they grow up on their own. But we have not yet reached this period, so we will see how it will happen when they are about 18 years old.
– How are you coping with the gradual letting go now?
- Badly. I'm not passing this exam. It can be hard for me to admit that children have their own point of view on some things that are important to me.
But I forbade myself to be offended by children, even if they are categorically wrong. Although sometimes you want to punish with silence and stop talking. If I’m offended, I still understand that if I don’t take the first step, I won’t set an example of normal relationships, of how to communicate with others. I try not to broadcast my offense, but sit down next to you and explain what offended me and why.
– Does it work?
- Not good. I hope that after all, my conversations and behavior are deposited in them and then everything will appear. If now I let them know that I am offended, it will probably have an effect, but it will still be blackmail on my part, which they will then use themselves. I just can’t stand touchy people myself.
Not all of my settings “work.” Previously, I forbade myself to start screaming and I managed to restrain myself. And now I see that this is already a tsunami that is born inside me, and it is more powerful than all my ethical standards, and at some point I hear myself from the outside and understand: I’ve been screaming, I’ve been screaming for a long time... But I always apologize for raising my voice.
About phantoms and people
– What is the most important discovery you have made in your life?
– Probably, the fact that life is this second. It seems to me that this is the main knowledge and happiness that we receive during our stay on earth.
– What life achievements do you consider significant for yourself?
“It’s very difficult to really offend me, and even more so for me to get angry and wish the person pain in return.” I am very glad that I acquired this skill.
– How can you not be offended if so much negativity is directed at you from different directions, including on social networks?
– Gradually you begin to understand that there is no negativity, these are all phantoms, random situations, multiplied by the passion of people to kick someone. Then you meet some of these people and they talk to you in the nicest way. And some can’t even raise their eyes because they feel embarrassed. Then time passes, and you completely forget your ex and can even say that you have a wonderful relationship. The person needs you and the person needs you, you communicate normally.
– But where does this “phantomism” come from, why a living person is perceived as something non-specific. And you can deal with this “non-specific” in the media, in blogs, in a way that you cannot deal with a real person in real life?
– Because demand creates supply. People enjoy reading false but compelling information. This means it’s easier to sell, easier to get more likes. Such information will be hotly discussed, argued, and shouted.
– Why do people “buy” into all this, discuss, argue?
– It’s very sweet to give assessments. This is a very human, ineradicable desire (I speak, first of all, to myself) to sit down and say with knowledge: this one is good, and this one is bad. One discussed a phantom article, the second, and it multiplies and is replicated.
This can seriously injure a weak, unprepared person, even kill. But these nuances are of no interest to anyone. After all, we say that “a person who comes under fire” is not perceived by a living person.
– Can you get upset and cry when faced with rudeness and rudeness?
– As a child, I was a terrible crybaby, I cried constantly, especially in preschool and school age, these were aspirated cries, when the strength to cry had already run out, but the feeling of injustice remained and you had not proven anything to anyone, so you continue to sob: “s, y, y..."
I just didn’t understand how it was not to cry if it hurt so much inside.
Now, of course, I’m not crying. At least at the moment when I encounter rudeness. I try not to get angry...
Recently, my middle daughter and I watched “The Revenant.” Three girls were sitting behind and talking very loudly. So much so that they disturbed the entire hall. I turned around and said: “Please be so kind, you are disturbing me, keep your voice down.” It’s not that they didn’t pay attention to my words. It seems they didn't even seem to hear. I turned around a second time and repeated the request. The man sitting next to him could not stand it and obscenely promised the young ladies that if they did not stop the conversation, they would be thrown out. They instantly fell silent.
I spent half the film wondering: why such a reaction? It is unlikely that they were afraid: the young man was quite frail. Most likely, they simply did not understand what I wanted from them. And when it was explained to them in a familiar language, they heard.
Sometimes I can lose my temper and respond appropriately. For me it's a loss of control. But this rarely happens: I don’t want to go down like that.
It seems to me that we live in a country where rudeness is the norm. You come across it everywhere: at passport control, in a store, and I’m not even talking about any government agencies.
If officials are rude, I ask them to be polite. This often works: they look at me as if I’m crazy, they begin to feel sorry for me: “What can I do with her illness?”
Rudeness is a part of life, everyday life, because, probably, no one explained to people how to do it correctly. They are simply not aware, they do not know the alternative.
Once in London, I accidentally pushed a man on the subway, he turned to me and said: “Sorry, I hurt you.”
– Is there no rudeness in other countries?
- Rudeness - like indifference to a person - is everywhere. It’s just that in other countries, indifference to a person is veiled by external politeness. There, too, there are difficult situations and indifference is very annoying when a person does not lift a finger to help with something (which constitutes his, for example, professional duties). But at the same time he will be indifferently polite.
Outside of parties
-What are you tired of?
– It’s difficult to withstand the number of compromises that you, living in society, among other people and not wanting to cause trouble for them, must make. Starting from work.
The Russian repertory theater is structured like a large factory that must provide for itself and earn money. At that moment, when you are already devastated and don’t know what new to find in a play that has been running for more than one year, you still have to go out and play. After all, tickets are sold for this performance. You tell yourself that it would be fair to leave him.
But you can’t leave, because if you leave, the show will collapse, the system will shake, you’ll let others down. And you continue to psych yourself up, with all your strength, you lived, straining everything possible.
This is no longer very relevant to genuine creativity, which I love and which I need. This condition gives rise to monstrous psychological internal stress. If you work in the theater that you love, then you have to take this into account too.
Compromises are present everywhere, even in the work of the Gift of Life Foundation. Starting from taking photographs on the covers of magazines, which takes time and effort and if not for the foundation, I would never have agreed to this, to communicating with people with whom you would never go to communicate in your life.
– How can a person live who, like you, does not belong to any party, to any camp, and who, accordingly, is accused from all sides for this?
– Enjoy life and not pay attention. This is the first time it hurts. The second time is a little less, the third - even more. By the 105th time you’ll just get used to it and won’t even notice.
Well, of course, this requires work on yourself. The experience of going out of your way not to prove something to others is acquired.
As a child, the feeling of injustice drove me to a state of rage. I needed to prove that I was right. To others.
I needed others to recognize that I was right: friends, classmates, and even teachers. I did not allow the idea that others might have a different point of view. Now, compared to childhood, this has atrophied and I understand that the sense of justice that I have does not have to resonate with what others have.
– Where does this desire for partisanship come from? Just now a person was considered “one of our own”, good, and expressed his opinion, which differed from what was expected. And that’s it, he was recorded as an enemy.
- Let's go back to the beginning of our conversation. It’s a very sweet feeling - to feel like a mentor and a judge... When condemnations began from the “progressive part of society” against Yuri Borisovich Norshtein from the series “he was my idol and now...”, I simply could not understand how sane, smart people who for some reason they are sure that a person may owe something to them. And a person who has already left his mark on world culture is deprived of the right to his own point of view.
But, when in my life there was a similar situation for the first time, when only the lazy one didn’t walk by and kick, just in case, without understanding anything about it, it was Yuri Borisovich who said: “And this is very good. Now you will understand, Chulpan, who is next to you. Real loved ones, friends, they will remain, and the rest will be eliminated.”
They gave us the Internet, but did not explain how to behave. No one told us: “Guys, there may be such, such, such, such dangers, so be vigilant and careful, watch out.” No, we were given complete freedom in the virtual space, where everyone can yap and nothing. No moral self-restraints.
– Are you trying to object to something, to prove to those who say that the fund is wrong, that everything needs to be changed, that you are helping incorrectly?
– No. My evidence is just the case. My evidence on stage is only performances.
– But don’t you want to tell us how things stand when they say that the system as a whole needs to be changed, but the fund is preventing this?
– There is a special section on the foundation’s website where there are answers to questions that people have. We not only raise money for the treatment and rehabilitation of children, we change legislation and the system. But I can’t explain this to everyone.
I can’t keep telling you that, for example, one of the big victories is the abolition of secondary taxation, when parents had to pay a tax to the state for charitable assistance received a second time.
For example, this situation: at the beginning of treatment, the fund paid for a small amount of medicine for a child, and a few months later the same child needed a bone marrow transplant, and the fund helped pay for the search and activation of a donor for transplantation, and this is already 18,000 euros. And previously, from these 18 thousand euros, for which the child received charitable assistance, his parents were obliged to pay taxes from their own pockets. We fought for four years, and finally it was cancelled.
Or, for example, thanks to our long and hard work with officials, a procedure for the import of unregistered medicines was created and legislated. And now, having received permission from the Ministry of Health, we can import medicines for our children completely officially, and not in suitcases.
– And if a law on NPOs and “foreign agents” is adopted, how will this affect the activities of the fund?
“We can be proud of the 10 years when the fund existed and calmly part ways.” Because every foundation, no matter who it helps, is engaged, according to the wording that is proposed to be included in the law, in political activity, because foundations influence government bodies, public opinion, and collect shares in order to convey their position.
The new draft law prohibits everything: meetings, conferences, public appeals to government bodies through the media, for example. How to collect money? That is, if I publicly say that somewhere there is a problem with treatment, with medicines, under this law, if it is adopted, I can be labeled as a foreign agent.
When the authors of the bill were sent to clarify what political activity was, instead of clarifying, they wrote down everything that the foundation does when it tries to influence the decisions of officials to help sick children. Including communication with the media, collecting signatures for open letters. This is the very political activity that you should not engage in.
Yes, also receiving foreign money.
If some Tajik migrant worker wanted to transfer ten rubles, this is already foreign aid.
Do you want to destroy the entire charity sector? Don’t waste time, don’t invent laws, just say it simply and close it.
About cinema
– We have very few genuine producers, people who create projects. People just want to make money, and sometimes steal something from it. But still, there are mass quality films, for example, those made by Valery Todorovsky or Sergei Ursulyak.
I was happy when I watched the movie "The Revenant".
An absolutely arthouse movie, and if instead of DiCaprio there had been some Pupkin, then with the same quality of the film, it is unlikely that audiences would have gone to see it. And here the halls were overcrowded; tickets could only be purchased in advance. But, most importantly, people finished watching it, which means they still need a quality movie.
– What are your favorite roles?
– I don’t like this question. Because all roles are expensive, including those that, I hope, will come.
I have a big problem: I don’t like to play ready-made, established performances. I’m interested in creating something new, I delve into this new thing, come up with it, and then, when everything has already worked out, I’m ready to give this role to someone and go rehearse something new.
Therefore, I really like the American and European system, when a play is produced, performed, performed every day - and then, at the highest peak of creativity, it is filmed, everyone disperses and remembers this work, and makes a new performance. And we have a repertoire system so that the viewer can get there and buy tickets in three years, and in five years.
– How did you decide to reach a “wide audience” with the prose “Mother and Music”?
– It felt a little like suicide to go on a big stage with such material. I think some people came not to listen to Tsvetaeva, but because they know me from TV.
– It doesn’t matter why they came. As a result, the reaction from the audience was definitely enthusiastic. I heard a lady, who obviously had not previously discovered Tsvetaeva’s prose, after the performance, tearful, say to someone on the phone: “Finally, this is just cool!”
– Viewers want complex communication, they need it. I, as a viewer, am always very pleased when people speak to me in a language more complex than I can digest. That they offer me not fast food, but a serious story, make me think and raise the level of trust in me.
It is difficult to stage serious performances in large theaters. It turns out that mostly unpretentious enterprises come to the regions. Probably people are tired of just having fun, they want something else.
– People often don’t know how to express gratitude and take help for granted. Where does it come from?
– Again, all roads lead to undereducation and underculture. Those who do not know how to give thanks have clearly never been in the condition of those who extend a helping hand to another.
You cannot make any claims against a person who does not reflect, does not doubt, does not ask himself questions (and he does not do this because, roughly speaking, he has never heard Mozart and has not read the necessary books). He grew up that way, he was raised that way. He doesn't believe that anyone can do something good just like that. He can't allow this to happen. He definitely needs to justify it: here is the fund, they have so much money there, they take it for themselves, well, since there is still something left for others, then that means they should do it. The other simply does not enter into their picture of the universe.
For several years, Chulpan Khamatova not only manages to work and take care of her family, but also helps children suffering from cancer and oncohematological diseases. “Most of our patients are recovering. And we at our foundation are trying to make sure that their life in the hospital does not resemble a ghetto in any way. So that a joyful, cheerful childhood continues in the hospital: that’s why we have holidays, clowns, competitions and games,” said the actress .
ON THIS TOPIC
Khamatova admitted that for her, sick children are role models. “They are real fighters, fearless warriors. I can only admire their willpower, wisdom, patience. I see how they fight the disease and how they overcome it, and I’m glad to be there. And to be at least a little involved in helping doctors who treat them,” the Izvestia newspaper quotes the actress.
Unfortunately, not all children can be saved. “The children who became my friends, but who, unfortunately, left us, live in my heart. I carefully treasure the memories of our friendship and know that we will meet someday,” Chulpan is sure.
Despite the courage and courage that the actress possesses, she does not hide the fact that she is also familiar with fear. “I’m afraid of losing people, it’s very scary to lose someone close,” Khamatova admitted.
In turn, the popular actress shared her dreams. She shared her wishes: “For all my loved ones and family to be healthy. And I myself have always had enough wisdom to remember that you need to live every second and be happy that you live.”
Oksana Bondarchuk
Columnist for Tricolor TV Magazine
Chulpan Khamatova: “The closest people left me...”
The famous actress spoke about how she manages to raise three daughters and head the Gift of Life foundation for more than 12 years, about her first roles, the betrayal of friends and poems that inspire.
People's favorite, one of the most sought-after actresses in the country, Chulpan Khamatova known for very rarely giving interviews. However, fans of the actress St. Petersburg I was lucky - the other day a creative evening by Chulpan Khamatova took place in the Northern capital, which was a kind of “heart-to-heart conversation”. According to the actress, twenty years ago, at her creative evenings, she preferred to perform in different roles.
“With furious fury, for an hour and a half, I changed my make-up and changed clothes to perform either as a grandmother, or as a teenager, or as a lyrical heroine... I tried to prove to everyone and to myself that the artist Chulpan can do anything! “Once I even glued my huge ears with Moment glue because I forgot the professional glue,” admitted Chulpan Khamatova. “Now, in this stream of information narrow-mindedness, oversaturation, it is unclear who is who, where is the real and where is the false... I want the most transparent, simple conversation, very honest and frank...”
Chulpan Khamatova spoke about the most important “three pillars” of her life – daughters, creativity and the Gift of Life foundation.
ABOUT THE DAILY ROUTINE
I recently discovered that my notebook looks something like this: “122. Urgently learn and parse the text "Odes" by Mandelstam. 123. Call Ministry of Health and talk about the problem of paying for bone marrow transplantation in the regions. 124. Design a wig for the make-up artist for the performance. 125. Urgently cut the children’s nails.”
ABOUT CHILDHOOD
I lived my entire childhood in a strange feeling of internal complexes, because my parents gave me a name that was unusual for a girl. They came up with it for a very long time, I lived without a name for about a month. And, when it was time to fill out the documents, dad, desperate to find a name, announced a competition among his friends for a box of vodka. The competition was won by his friend named Phat, who remembered the no less strange name Chulpan. Thanks to him, my mom lost my dad for almost a week, who was trying out the prize fund with his friends. Throughout my childhood, I answered the question: “What’s your name, girl?” answered: “Olya”, “Natasha”, “Lena”. At home I cried and demanded a normal human name. To which the parents said: “Let's wait. You will grow up and understand how good it is to have such a strange name.” When I already moved to Moscow and started studying, they took me to the children's theater, and the day before the premiere, the main director called me and said that with that name I would never become an artist and that I needed to come up with a pseudonym. For example, Olga Darling or Nadezhda Nezhnaya... I seriously started thinking. At the same time, I starred in my debut film and “Chulpan Khamatova” remained in the credits. One day, while running down the corridor "Mosfilm" to dub this film, I overheard a conversation between two casting directors who said: “Listen, this is a young actress, Vadika starred... What... Cheburashka? And I realized that it’s good that the name is gradually being introduced, not entirely accurate, but it is being implemented! I realized that I have brilliant parents. They gave me the best name in the world with which to become an actress.
Chulpan Khamatova as Katya in the film “Time of a Dancer”
ABOUT CHILDREN
I have three daughters - apparently, the fact that I played in the theater for almost 16 years "Contemporary" play "Three sisters", did not pass without a trace and affected my life. They gave me the opportunity to plunge into my childhood. One day my daughter says to me: “Mommy, I really want to be a mechanic!” - “What an interesting profession, and why?” - “Well, to always, always wear furs!”
ABOUT WHAT INSPIRES
When my legs give way and I have no strength, I use a poem as a jack to raise my will. Anastasia Orlova “Going out into the forest”.
ABOUT THE FIRST FILM ROLE
In 1996, a cassette with our exam, where we, students (GITIS. – Note edit. ) , they were showing a circus, a beautiful woman saw Evgenia and gave it to the director Vadim Abrashitov. I was called for an audition. I was 18 years old, I had to play a 28-year-old heroine, a passionate girl, burned by war and personal stories (the role of Katya from the film “Time of the Dancer.” – Ed.) . The whole hostel dressed me up: they gave me heels that I had never worn before, put on a tight skirt, put on makeup, did my hair - and I went to my first auditions. It was very slippery. I fell a million times, broke my heels, tore my skirt, and in this form I came and said that I was ready to play a passionate woman. The director looked and said: “Prepare the actress.” The auditions have passed. Then they invited me to them again, and I decided that this time I would definitely prove that I could look 18 to 28 and be a real femme fatale. For this I bought a self-tanner. Now I can’t say how it was connected, but then it seemed to me that tanned skin was an essential attribute of a chic woman. In those years, no one knew what self-tanning was. As a result, in the morning half of my face was white, the other was dark brown, and my nose was like a dog’s. I came again and said that I was ready to play a femme fatale. To which the director again replied: “Get the actress ready.” In general, my complexion was evened out, and I passed the test.
Chulpan Khamatova and her daughters Arina, Asya and Iya. Photo: Tele.ru
ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF SHOOTING
On the day my scene was scheduled, they didn’t have time to film me. I couldn’t sleep because I was very nervous, but I was anticipating the start of my film career. And this day, or rather night, since the shift was night, came. I had to go through the rails and stand at a certain point. We’re filming, I’m walking, everything seems to be working out, and suddenly the operator takes his face away from the camera. I hear him telling me: “Retract your eyes.” I'm pulling in. And I understand that, apparently, I missed some very important knowledge on retracting the eyes. He looks at me, and I hear him say again: “Can you hear me? Retract your eyes." I pull in even harder to the back of my head... And I almost cry, because I understand that I will never have any film career, because I just don’t have the most important knowledge that a film actress should have, about retracting her eyes! And out of the corner of my ear I hear the cameraman say to the director: “She’s kind of crazy, her eyes are in the shadows... So that she comes into the light.” In the shadow! Eyes in the shadows!
ABOUT STARTING A CHARITY ACTIVITY
One day I accidentally met an amazing doctor Galina Anatolyevna Novichkova, who told me that she is a doctor who saves children from cancer, that (at that time) all over the world children had a chance of recovery of about 80 percent, and in my country - less than 50. About the fact that they, doctors, not only treat children, but also look for money for medicines, equipment... She said that there are all possibilities to treat children, but one thing is missing - money. I felt sick at the thought that a child’s real life in the 21st century is equal to pieces of paper. I asked how I could help. And she said that now they specifically need a special blood irradiator for the hospital. It cost 200 thousand dollars. Of course, I didn’t have that kind of money. But my friend and actress and I Dina Korzun We came up with the idea of holding a concert with our friends, actors and musicians, where we would invite wealthy people who donated money at this concert so that doctors could buy a blood irradiator. We started preparing for this concert. All the musicians and actors told us: “Yes, we are with you!” Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky, Alexander Kalyagin, Oleg Tabakov, Evgeny Mironov, Konstantin Khabensky, Yuri Shevchuk, Diana Arbenina and many, many others. It turned out that everyone was ready to do something, they just needed some first steps. We held a concert, raised money, and after the evening suddenly one of the concert participants said: “Listen, let’s do this every year!”
Chulpan Khamatova at a charity evening for the Gift of Life foundation in London. Photo: moscow-baku.ru
ABOUT BETRAYAL
The most unexpected thing for me was that those people whom I considered my friends, colleagues, friends around the cinema, at some point began to get tired of the conversations that I was having - from talking about the recovered children, about the fact that we managed to find money to such and such a device... They gradually left, and at some point I realized that they were not around. Some acted radically and told me: “Listen, I’ve had enough. Enough. You can’t guarantee that all the children will recover, it’s all impossible to bear, stop it, leave with all these problems of yours!” And when the closest people left, I took an invisible needle, threaded an invisible thread into it and sewed myself up with a beautiful poem Bella Akhmadulina which was written on the betrayal of her friends towards Boris Pasternak, – “It’s been a year on my street...”
At her creative evening, Chulpan Khamatova read her favorite “oxygen-containing” poems, without which she cannot live: Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva, Bella Akhmadulina and other poets. A special place was occupied by Boris Pasternak’s poem “ Hamlet", the reading of which the artist dedicated to the director Kirill Serebrennikov, currently under investigation. “This is an honest, generous, great man, my friend,” Khamatova said, causing thunderous applause in the audience. The actress also showed excerpts from performances and film roles. At the end of the evening, Chulpan Khamatova called for helping sick children regardless of the amount - any help is important, because there is no more amazing feeling than giving life to another person.
Photo: instagram.com/chulpanofficial
“Skip the line,” a curly-haired girl in a denim suit with a frivolous handbag over her shoulder, in which it is difficult to recognize the famous actress, allows a woman with a small child to the reception desk. “My girls and I try to fly at night, because you can’t even imagine what they do: they run around like crazy, fight, lick the floor. Horror!" - Chulpan laughs... The project called “The Hunt for Chulpan Khamatova” has entered its final phase - after many months of negotiations, we are flying to London for a photo shoot.
ELLE Captivating Lara, the endless Russian winter, huge fur hats... All this has turned from a symbol into a stamp called “Russia”. Wasn't it scary filming Doctor Zhivago?
CHULPAN KHAMATOVA I immediately decided that I needed to do everything differently. By the way, I don't like the film with Omar Sharif because it doesn't convey the atmosphere of that time. Everything is too superficial (the film “Doctor Zhivago” was filmed in the USA in 1965 and received five Oscars. - ELLE note). I immediately decided to get rid of the clichéd image. Before filming, I re-read the novel, then again and again... I’ll now express a seditious thought. There is nothing particularly attractive about the image of Lara for the actress. Yes, this is literature of the highest class, but human details had to be carefully extracted from it in order to create a character on the screen. I think if they had made a movie, and not a serial film, nothing would have worked out at all. This is a novel that cannot be read in one evening, cannot be contained in one series. "Air" is needed. I would like to immediately warn all viewers who expect to see Lara from Doctor Zhivago as they imagine her, that they may be disappointed. I think the film will have a lot of opponents.
Helping children is always “yes” and free. Organizing the marathon was painful, I was terrified. But we made it through
ELLE You don't want to depend on a man?
C.H. God forbid you depend on someone and lose your right to vote. We must love each other, but for this it is not at all necessary to fall into bondage and, for example, ask permission to buy an expensive dress. I like it better when I make decisions to buy something, and a man takes out his wallet and buys it. Do you notice the difference? Fortunately, there is such a man next to me.
ELLE I really want to ask you more about him, but I’m almost sure that you will say...
C.H. I don't like this topic.
ELLE This is exactly the answer I was waiting for. When your personal life is exposed, do you feel “undressed”, “naked pioneer”?
C.H. My profession is not pop culture. I try to do serious things on stage, in films and try to live up to my idea of this work. And I am convinced that if people are more interested in knowing what I eat for breakfast, and not how I played this or that role, then I am a bad actress. I personally am not interested in everyday details from the lives of great actors. I want to know what they think, what they feel...
ELLE This is the most intimate information.
C.H. Of course, but that makes it even more interesting. As for publicly discussing the details of my life, I went through that. I didn't like it - it was unbearably painful. I was inexperienced, open and naive, and the world around me was ruthless and unceremonious. Now, when they pry into my personal life, I strictly explain to people that they shouldn’t do this. Sometimes it's too tough. But these are the rules of the game.
ELLE Maybe you should develop your producing skills?
C.H. Oh no! Helping children is always “yes” and free. The rest costs a lot of money. Space! Seriously, organizing this project was painful for me. I felt panicky horror! But we managed. We raised much more money than we planned. And most importantly, we managed to convey to people the idea that childhood cancer is curable. In the civilized world, 80 to 90% of children recover without consequences, but this requires long, expensive treatment. In Russia, exactly half of children with cancer die.
ELLE Has motherhood changed you?
C.H. No, I don't think so. There is simply less free time. Previously, my mother was the most important thing in the world to me. Now - mother and children. I can’t say that theater was ever in my first place.
ELLE What movie offers are you currently considering?
C.H. I probably won’t be filming in Russia anytime soon. I'll take a break so that the audience gets bored. Otherwise, I’m afraid they’ll soon start to feel sick of me. There are several very interesting proposals from European producers, but I won’t specify anything ahead of time. Today I am a heroine of the purest water, and I am already uncomfortable and uninteresting in this role. I am a character actress. True, I’m the only one who knows about this so far. Cinema is a world incomprehensible to me, in which almost nothing depends on you.
ELLE What is in store for the world of theater that is more understandable to you?
C.H. Project with Kirill Serebrennikov. This will be a performance performance on an unusual stage.
ELLE “The Naked Pioneer” by Serebrennikova is the most scandalous performance of the last season. They say that the spectators in the hall even got into a fight out of outrage.
C.H. To be honest, I didn’t expect such a strong reaction. I don’t see anything in this performance that would discredit the appearance of the Soviet soldier. Vice versa! We put him almost on the level of an ancient Greek hero. Although when the novel was being printed, they say that the printing house workers demanded that the machines be stopped.
ELLE There are many phrases in the novel that I cannot quote. However, you don’t say them in the play either.
C.H. I could not. And I asked Kirill to give me the opportunity to clean up the text. But the essence of this edit has not changed. We have amazing people, but people in our country were not and are not loved. Masha Mukhina, my heroine, is the girl everyone has. I can say the same about myself. You are not?
In movies, I am the purest heroine, but in this role I am already uncomfortable and uninteresting. I'm a character actress
ELLE Which actress is your role model?
C.H. Faina Ranevskaya. When I'm having a hard time, I re-read her diaries.
ELLE Ranevskaya was an extremely lonely person.
C.H. I think we will all come to this sooner or later... While you are busy with everyday life, family, work, you pretend that you are not alone. But facing loneliness is inevitable. Yes, now I’m thirty years old, I’m spoiled by roles, media attention, it’s difficult and scary for me to imagine myself old and useless to anyone. But who knows what will happen? I believe that fortitude is a powerful engine that will help you survive. I have had periods in my life when I sincerely did not believe that I would smile again. But the troubles went away, and a “new day” came.
ELLE The wave of the struggle for eternal youth has reached Russian women. What do you think about it?
C.H. When a woman is in love and wants to prove that she still looks gorgeous, I’m all for it. Plastic surgery, doctors - all means are good if she wants to be loved.
ELLE Do you have your own secret weaknesses?
C.H. Evening dresses. I love them very much, but I rarely wear them. In general, the European style is closer to me - free and democratic. I shoot a lot abroad, and there it is considered bad manners to come to a shoot “put together” in color.
ELLE You asked ironically: “Your magazine for women “from Rublyovka”?” Women like these don't command your respect?
C.H. They don't call. The clichés that fashion magazines propagate are complete bullshit. To be just a “chick” for the pleasure of some guy seems humiliating to me. Of course, everyone chooses their own path. But I can’t even imagine this for myself! By the way, my friends tried to somehow introduce me to the dream of all girls - an oligarch. He really wanted this, because among wealthy men there is an opinion that a wife who is an actress or a ballerina is cool. I came and said from the door: “Do you want me to use you? Then let's communicate." “Okay,” the oligarch nodded obediently, but for some reason did not appear again.
I don't know, how to say in Tatar “my name is Chulpan.”
I always have problems with interviews. By and large, neither I nor you need this. Maybe even readers don’t need it. But it’s the way it is: everyone pretends that they can’t do without it. That's why I absolutely don't like giving interviews. But today we will pretend.
I don't take myself seriously like an actress. I love my profession and value it very much, but I have no illusions about the highest destiny of an actor.
My large Tatar family and my parents were in great pain, when I decided to become an artist. For them it was an unknown, scary world. The artist is a dash prostitute, period. I don't even know when they reconciled. I'll have to ask.
My children don't watch my films. They are not interested. They don’t want to perceive their mother like that.
I hate playing plays. I love rehearsing, because this is the most interesting thing in the profession: digging, inventing, learning. Happiness and pleasure.
Performance at Barvikha Luxury Village - this is a very serious test. This is anti-enjoyment and overcoming - but it’s not clear why. Artists from the Sovremennik Theater came there with a performance and then told me that the ladies in the audience were sitting with their dogs. And we played there the Theater of Nations play “Stories of Shukshin”. I don’t remember a more terrible performance, because, apparently, when they buy tickets for such prices, they expect us to do everything at once: walk on a tightrope, sing, skate and show magic tricks.
Fortunately, I'm not a scandalous person.
Am I capable of hating? People are divided into those whom you can justify and those whose actions you will never justify, because these people are different in everything. They have a different idea of good and evil, they have a different lens in their eye, a different ear. I can't hate them, just like I can't hate a wolf, a turtle or a snake.
My attitude towards death has changed a lot in recent years. I can easily accept my own death - it's not difficult. It's hard to lose someone.
What I do I don’t do this to be praised by those who are helped by “Gift of Life” (a charitable foundation for helping children with oncohematological diseases, co-founded by Khamatova. - Esquire). I do this because I can’t help but do it and because I would feel bad if I didn’t give a damn about someone calling for help. But I don't want to suffer. Therefore, what I do, I do to some extent for myself.
I'm dreaming, so that I have enough wisdom to remember every moment that I am alive and that there is life around me. I think this is happiness.
I accepted Orthodoxy when I was 14. I had a serious spinal injury; There was a threat that I wouldn’t be able to walk. My friend took me by the hand and led me to church. She believed in miraculous healing. But the miracle did not happen, and I had to stay in the hospital for a long, long time. My introduction into Orthodoxy does not extend beyond this. But I am very happy about people who are truly immersed and can find answers to the questions that torment them.
I have bad habits. For example, cigarettes. And I also need music. I dress to music, wake up to music, and generally do everything to music. I'm lonely without music. When I forget my headphones at home, I start to panic.
The last time I cried when I listened to Bach performed by Emil Gilels. Then I showed this video to one pianist, and she immediately began to cry. Now my tears have some justification.
What can I say about myself? I am a happy man. Or I strive to be happy.
It's easy for me to ask for forgiveness if I know it's my fault.