Anna Ardova – about accepting negative experiences, workaholism and the series “Save the only son”

In other interviews, for some reason, you are always asked about your personal life, family and children. Do these questions annoy you?

I don’t like it when every time they ask questions about my personal life and five admissions to the institute. Now I regret that I told reporters about myself with an open heart – often the words are twisted.

Speaking of negative experiences, how do you deal with career rejection?

Very bad, like all people. We are all afraid of rejection, so I love daredevils who are not afraid to offer themselves. And it’s better not to connect to the samples so that it doesn’t hurt later. My late husband Alexander Shavrin said: “Never dream about roles,” but I didn’t understand why not. Then I realized – you can not find yourself in the cherished list. And it’s hard not to dream, the profession is ambitious.

What was the most embarrassing rejection?

The most severe loss was recently. Leonid Efimovich Kheifets staged The Cherry Orchard at the Mayakovsky Theater. I went happy, because playing any of Chekhov’s heroines is a dream for a Russian actress. I got the main role – Ranevskaya!

And Anna Karenina?

For some reason, she is not about her, but she madly dreamed of the role of Nastasya Filippovna from Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot. Unfortunately, Ranevskaya never played, because Leonid Efimovich fell ill and then died. It felt like my wings had been broken and my heart had been torn out.

How did you recover from such stress?

Yoga helps, swimming also clears the brain. Then the filming began, I was distracted, but I still did not forget about The Cherry Orchard. If we talk about ordinary life, then meetings with family and friends save me from stress. She gathered guests directly, set the table – physically clung to loved ones and loved ones. I also watched a lot of movies and read books.

What does the series “One for All” mean to you now? Are you proud of it?

Always proud of this work, I have nothing to be ashamed of. When my show is called a collection of sketches, I want to answer: “Well, try it!”. Humor is hard work, you need to feel the time very clearly, an extra second will kill any joke. With my night guard character, we did a million takes each, if I fell asleep and woke up at the wrong moment, it didn’t work. To play a comedy, you need to master the tragedy, otherwise the image will be flat. Also, “One for All” brought me people’s love. And now people come to see me at the Mayakovsky Theater to look at that very actress.

Who is your favorite character there?

I love everyone from the main cast. When in recent seasons the writers began to invent new characters, I directly quoted Marlon Brando to them: “I don’t have many faces.” My favorite characters are Grandmother Serafima Arkadyevna, Jewish mother Roza Moiseevna and silicone blonde Angie. For Seraphim, I was inspired by the old woman Ekaterina Ivanovna, from whom, as a student, I rented a room in the house during the summer holidays, Baba Yaga by Georgy Millyar and my master Andrei Goncharov. I joked at the institute that I would be a stage old woman – I became.

Do you know who started with the role of Baba Yaga, and then became a great actress?

Inna Churikova, absolutely brilliant, I adore her in Gleb Panfilov’s “Beginning”.

Do you personally enjoy playing comedic or dramatic roles?

I was tired of comedy, I finished One for All myself, although the ratings were excellent. I even came up with a system that I shoot for 15 days and rest for 15 days. All the same, I felt like a schoolboy who was being sent to school. It was hard in the first year especially: I was overloaded when they realized that I could quickly learn a mountain of text. It all ended in a nervous breakdown, I almost left, but they persuaded me, offered better conditions. So, at first I worked 12 hours in make-up, and began to work 10. In general, these acting masks are glued for 3-4 hours and you can wear them for another 4 – this is exactly the same as the American system of an 8-hour day. They glued this mask to me, the skin was badly spoiled, the dermatologist scolded me.

Please tell us how you got on the project “Save the only son”?

Nikolai Khomeriki is my favorite director, we have known each other for a hundred years, I starred in his debut Ten Seven Seven (2006). He called me to each of his projects, and they never approved me. At some stage, I thought: “Yes, it all went. Enough! That I, like a fool, come, do everything as it should, and then – figs to you. They called me to Save the Only Son, came to audition, and again everything was fine. Two weeks later I asked the agent about the approval, but again they refused me. Two months later, they call, asking for repeated samples. Khomeriki personally insisted on me. The decision was announced for a long time, and I was preparing a premiere in the theater – then I had to refuse for the sake of the series. I was very worried because of Alexei Serebryakov, whom I respect very much.

What interested you in the project?

My heroine Lika is a very strong and courageous woman, she goes to save her child herself and is not afraid of difficulties. This character is very fun to play.

You also wanted your son Anton Shafrin to play the role of the son of your heroine, right?

It would be cool to play together. I have very talented children. I really trust their remarks and always consult with them on work.

Lika goes to another country for a child – and what is the craziest thing you have done for your children?

I somehow got involved in a terrible enterprise, there was no money, and there was another crisis in the yard, so I went. While she was part of the team in the place of some actress, she almost went crazy. They paid 20 or 25 thousand, it was a lot of money. I don’t remember the first performance, but I brought the money home proud. The second time I realized that you can’t play like that, everything is very bad. On her bow, she said to the audience: “Forgive me.” I returned home and announced that I was finishing with this entreprise.

Do you think that connections are the most important thing in the acting profession, or can you achieve heights with hard work?

You need everything together: talent, hard work and His Majesty the case. I once went to audition for the show “Women’s League” (2006-2011) to Olga Land, who later filmed “One for All”. They took me, it was my case! And it also happens that not very gifted people become stars thanks to their hard work. While the very talented from laziness become nobody!