Vladimir Zherebtsov: about male beauty, new heroes and working with his wife

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In the play, you play a hero whom women idolize for their beauty. What is masculine beauty to you?

It’s hard to say, I somehow understand women more (laughing). But if we put aside the visual part of the question, then the beauty of a man, of course, should lie in his actions. And in this sense, our performance acquires even more ironic overtones, since Okoemov certainly cannot be called a decent person.

I suppose the task was all the more interesting for you. Tell us how you were asked to play this role? Have you been familiar with this play before?

There’s a funny story here. After all, I graduated from the theater school. Shchepkin, which is considered almost the home of Ostrovsky. But in all the years I have never encountered the “Handsome Man”. We started preparing for the performance in the spring of last year, then there was a vacation break, and the hard work began in the fall.

In one of the interviews, the director of the play, Daniil Chashchin, said that Apollon Okoemov was born as a modern model by joint efforts – both you and Dmitry Vlaskin, who plays this role in a different cast, brought a lot of personal things to this image. Tell me more.

Danny gave us different tasks. For example, we had to figure out what kind of person our Okoemov is – what city he is from, what music he listens to, what films he watches, what kind of food he eats. He is someone who wants to be in trend, to be a star. He is one of those who takes pictures with popular people and then says that he personally knows them. Part blogger who extols himself at the expense of other people. A recognizable modern image – there are a lot of such people now, just scroll through the social media feed. Therefore, our handsome man turned out to be so understandable to the modern viewer, and his every “enterprising” act evokes vivid emotions in the hall.

In the 80s, a film was made based on the play, where Oleg Tabakov played Okoemov. Isn’t it scary to take on a role after such a legend?

The film has a really brilliant cast – Neyolova, Gurchenko starred there along with Tabakov … But I myself only watched it recently – for general development. I wanted to know how they saw “Handsome” at that time.

And how?

Light, vaudeville, non-committal. Of course, this is not enough for the modern viewer. Therefore, in our performance there are bright dramatic moments where the characters do not laugh and throw off their masks. Here it is important not just to play, but to be convincing so that the audience leaves with the right thoughts. And judging by the reaction of the audience, we are succeeding.

In the performance, one of the roles is played by your wife Anastasia Panina. How do you work in family tandem?

This is not our first collaboration – we have filmed and played a lot of places together. We are definitely comfortable with each other. And, of course, such moments are always pleasant. This means that you can go to a rehearsal together, spend an evening on stage together, then go home together …

Is your acting life ending at home? It is known that many creative families try not to talk about work …

To be honest, I don’t even know how they do itlaughing). We are constantly discussing something.

In such an atmosphere, does your daughter want to become an actress? Or absolutely not?

Sasha is now 12 years old – I don’t know if at that age they think about their future profession. But she is certainly a talented girl: she is engaged in ballet and music. She recently graduated from a guitar class at a music school and continues to go to choir singing.

Has she seen “Handsome Man” yet?

I saw it and said, “I liked it.”

Your portfolio is quite diverse: you played in plays by Shakespeare, Molière, Ostrovsky, Dovlatov’s stories. Many actors have a dream role. What character would you like to play?

I am lucky that I have such baggage, these are meaningful works for me. And these were not one-time things, these performances have been going on for many years. Therefore, probably, in my dreams I don’t have specific characters, but wider desires – to have more such roles.

Are there any roles that you then have to move away from?

I will say this: if you cannot separate yourself from the role, then you should not engage in this profession – all this can end badly. Therefore, no rituals: did the job honestly, enjoyed it and live your life again. That’s all the advice.