Why Bezrukov’s new lover refuses to comment on his personal life. Sergei Bezrukov’s father told how the actor’s relationship with illegitimate children develops

"The owner is alone in the theater. It's me"

Three years ago, Sergei Bezrukov took over the theater in Kuzminki under the disastrous name “Regional House of Arts,” where a theatergoer had never set foot before. Many then felt sorry for the popular actor, being sure that he would ruin himself and would not help the disastrous cause. But three seasons passed, and the Provincial Theater actively and firmly began to win its place on the theatrical map of Moscow: nine premieres per season, tours and even scientific conferences. About Vladimir Vysotsky, own discoveries, the fear of officials and the sleepless nights of a young father, we talked with Sergei Bezrukov immediately after the premiere of the play “Vysotsky. The birth of a legend."

The play “Vysotsky. The birth of a legend." Photo: Anna Koonen

“In Bukhara, Vysotsky really died - it was clinical death”

Sergey, why did you decide to stage a play about Vladimir Vysotsky in your Gubernsky? The premiere has just been a success. So were you dissatisfied with the film “Thank You for Being Alive”?

In no case. I was under the spell of the film, where there was a secret, and I was sure that the secret would not be revealed to the end - the image of the artist should not distract from the screen image of Vladimir Semenovich. With all the pros and cons, to my great regret, many did not see the most important thing in the film beyond the main theme of illness - the very “Prayer” that I now read in the play. The monologue was written by Nikita Vysotsky: “Let them all be well, who is alive and who is not... Maybe I didn’t die today in order to have time to say: “How I love you all.” Maybe in order for this performance to be born, the film took place.

The idea in the play is so obvious and understandable - the resurrection of the poet Vysotsky. After all, he doesn’t write anything for six months, before his trip to Uzbekistan, to Bukhara, devoured by illness, he is in such a human trap. He wants to break free, but he can’t and pushes himself: “Okay, five concerts in Uzbekistan.” That is, screw yourself up and go into a dive. In Bukhara he really died - it was clinical death. But a miracle - his heart was started.

The play “Vysotsky” touches upon two important topics, directly related to the image of the poet, are freedom and censorship. Censorship broke out among theater workers like a fever: “Guard, censorship!” So does she exist or not?

She didn’t touch me and God forbid that she touched me. I don’t feel any harassment, although I understand perfectly well that censorship as such does not exist, but there is an opinion. Moreover, the opinion was sometimes expressed by lower-ranking officials. Locally, people blow on the water according to the principle “no matter what happens.” This is the same thing from Chekhov’s story “The Man in a Case” - “no matter what happens” - and it works... Since Soviet times, innate fear has forced local officials to commit inappropriate actions.

And of course there is no Soviet censorship that we talk about in our play. Now times are free - and theaters that position themselves as theaters of freedom feel excellent, self-realize in creativity as they want and do not kick anyone out of work.

Or maybe the whole point is in the nature of our psychology - to always be dissatisfied with the authorities: it strangles, it doesn’t - it’s all the same.

The topic is so complex, I don’t presume to judge. Each artist must be considered individually, and there is even less need to analyze the artist’s character, because artistic people are too emotional and sometimes very touchy. Therefore, we must be careful with us. By the way, I remember there was an incident in my life: at one event - I won’t say where it took place - people came up to me and asked me not to read Vysotsky’s poem “My Black Man in a Gray Suit.”

- And what did you answer them?

I said, "No, I'll do what I want." - "Maybe we should not?" - they said uncertainly. “No, it’s necessary.” And there were no sanctions, nothing terrible happened, but it was funny and strange. First of all, there is the artist’s conscience, which allows or does not allow him to do something, his own moral barrier, which I will never step over. They say: “Old man, you will make money from this.” - “I will never do this.” - “This will bring you success, scandalous fame" - “I will never do this.”

- Can you clarify what exactly Sergei Bezrukov will never do?

Well, for now, I allow myself the topics that we touch on in our performances. Let’s say, “trench truth” in the play “The Jolly Soldier” based on Astafiev, and he speaks very unflatteringly about Zhukov and other military leaders, but, oddly enough, the performance turned out to be pacifist.

I probably wouldn’t have sunk into total blackness. I believe that in our time we need to show white too. They say: “Stop it, we are all black.” - “But still, if you look closely, you can’t help but see white...” These are just different approaches to that same education... Listen, the theater was created for this purpose, to talk about the life of the human spirit, about those very common truths that the greats spoke about masters, and we, young people, even at 43, look at them. Why do I go on stage? For what? You can work on denial, but today there is too much denial, negativity both on the Internet and in relationships between people. On the contrary, you need to lift, not push away. You can, of course, provoke the crawler to leave, to shout “shame” - and get a scandal. But it's not for me.

Performance "The Dream of Reason". Photo: Svetlana Selezneva

“I can be a despot, but not a tyrant”

- For three years now you have been the head of the theater, that is, the artistic director. Three main discoveries you made for yourself?

First, it’s hard to work in a large team. The second is to be a democrat and a dictator at the same time, because one is impossible. Tolerance is also not an option. Third, worry about people you didn’t know before, as if you were yourself. And they are artists, they need roles. In “Snuffbox” I looked at Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov in exactly the same way: “When will you let me play Khlestakov?” And Oleg Pavlovich: “Right now, right now, Seryoga, wait, we’re looking for a director.” So I waited and waited and as a result I played Chichikov in “ Dead souls" I used all my plastics there, but this is not Khlestakov.

I understand that Karina Andolenko wonderfully played Cheboksarova in the play “I Found a Scythe on a Stone” or Roxana in “Cyrano”, but she needs something new that she herself should be interested in and so that the performance would attract a full audience. My artists are wonderful - the same Karina, Anton Khabarov, Galina Bokashevskaya, they act in a lot, they are loved. They may not be considered stars of the first magnitude, but I would like to make sure that they become one, so that the audience goes to see them.

- Like Bezrukov, right?

Thank you for your trust. As before, and especially now, the viewer goes for the names or brands that the Fomenko or Zhenovach theaters have. And Gubernsky is three years old, but we already have many fans. And do you know why? They see that they are not being deceived here: what is written on the poster will be so. If it says “children's blockbuster” “Treasure Island”, then they will watch the blockbuster, knowing the value of this definition. In order to attract the viewer to the theater, you need to try, knowing that art is a big deception. But doing magic tricks is dangerous, you have to tell the truth.

- Can an artist come to your office? Talk, complain about life?

Maybe. But there is a moment of subordination - although I don’t like this military word - so as not to turn our relations into familiarity. Because the director is still the commander in chief. And when you go into battle, into an attack, everyone must listen to you. And if you are so democratic and familiar, then there will be half of those who will sit down to smoke: “Come on, come on. If you get there, then we’ll catch up.” Sometimes you need to bark so that everyone stands up and goes.

-Have you learned to bark?

I could do that. I can bark, I can be a despot, but not a tyrant. And at the same time, be absolutely gentle and kind, sincerely treat each of the artists and put yourself in their position.

Sometimes I put them in impossible conditions: they produce three performances at the same time - and I say: “You were all crying that there was no work? Now you will have it over the edge. But don’t cry afterwards.” They howl, but they work very hard.

- Are you disappointed in the actors, have you re-evaluated them?

No, because I know the nature of the profession - I am an artist myself. So look at the artist from the outside, like in a mirror: what do you remove first of all from yourself? A certain whim, dissatisfaction, self-examination, and this hinders the director in the artist: self-examination will not allow him to act, let’s get on with the job. I learned this from my father, who worked with me as a teacher. Then at Tabakov's.

- An act that you did not expect from yourself?

I did not expect that I would be able to unite two theaters. I wouldn’t wish what I experienced during the reorganization on my enemy. And this was the Moscow Regional House of Arts (MODI), and in it Chamber theater and regional drama by Ostrovsky. I ask: “Where is the theater? What to lead? And I unite the theaters, come up with a name - Gubernsky. But we need to unite in creativity, as Rimas Tuminas did in his time at Vakhtangov. Then I chose Ostrovsky, staged the play “I Found a Scythe on a Stone,” and artists from different theaters performed in it. I also came up with cameo roles, which the playwright does not have to occupy more artists. And I will never forget handing over the performance to “moms/fathers” when the artists arrived. I saw “kind, kind looks” in the hall, and they read: come on, do it. And then I saw their faces after the run - they looked into their eyes: “Can I go out a little? In a small role? We had to win. I proved it with deeds.

- Did the artists who were dissatisfied with you or whom you fired write about you?

There is a stumbling block here - open-ended contracts, and that's all - you cannot fire a person, even if he is unsuitable. But for some time now we have concluded effective contracts, according to which we have the right to pay an artist who is not busy or little involved in performances as much as he earned. By at least it's honest. This does not apply to popular artists, I value them.

- Listen, do you have such a healthy psyche?

I'm mobilizing. You know me: I'm a man theater loving endlessly, fan. If necessary, as a teacher, I will tell, show, and play.

- What is your relationship with Governor Vorobyov?

Wonderful. I am glad that there is and always has been support from Andrei Yuryevich. Now we have acquired the status of a center for the development of theatrical art.

Why weren’t you at the historic event - the opening of the new Tabakerka building on Sukharevskaya Square? This surprised a lot of people.

I warned a month in advance that I wouldn’t be able to attend the shooting. But he came up with a video greeting: it’s called “Samuil Yakovlevich is almost Marshak.” Housewarming." For me it was not just a congratulations-unsubscribe. Anya (Anna Matison - wife, screenwriter, director. - M.R.) filmed it right here in the rep hall, edited it, worked with computer graphics. It's on YouTube. We agreed with Tabakerka that the congratulations would be displayed on the screen, I forwarded them, and they confirmed to me that they had received them, but for some reason they didn’t show them. Then Marina Zudina showed it to Oleg Pavlovich, and he said: “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

With his wife Anna Matison. Photo: bogomaz.ru

“The owner is alone in the theater. It's me"

Due to the fact that you now have your own film production company, and you are interested in promoting it, will you refuse to act in other studios?

No, I agree. So I starred in young director Alexandra Molochnikova - “Myths about Moscow” - and there he played a curious and funny role. The best promotion for a company is to produce a good product so that people start talking about you. I have already watched the material for our third film - “Rogues”, it turns out to be a wonderful and high-quality film, Anya, as a director, finished it in November. There I play the father of the main character and his own uncle, two antipodes. And in the episodes - artists of the Provincial Theater.

- Do you place your artists in films?

I'm setting it up. The first such series was “Temporarily Unavailable” - there are 23 of my artists. Then there was the film “After You” - it’s all ours too.

- Steep family business: own company, wife - screenwriter, director. You are a producer.

I won’t talk about cool business - for now there are only investments.

-Are you investing yours?

Sometimes our own. There are applications for scripts and TV series, it is important that without my participation. But there are several written about me interesting scenarios, and I can say that if there were no Ani, there would be no “Milky Way” or “After You”. People were expecting “Yolok”, but everything there was very subtle, warm, sincere and truthful. The Japanese are now renting the film “After You,” and it is the only one they rented from the Tokyo Film Festival (it will also be released in Russia in mid-March).

- Your wife Anya Matison is a screenwriter, playwright, and director. Are you afraid that you might become the owner of the theater?

There is only one owner in this theater, it’s me. I think that's how it should be. There are assistants to the owner - director, lawyers, manager. the troupe, including the troupe itself. I have never developed nepotism in the theater... There is already enough slander. Everything should be according to the talent: if the play is talented, I will take it one hundred percent and not watch it, whether it is a relative or an unknown author.

You are an artistic director, you have a foundation, now your own film company, performances and creative evenings. I'm not asking how rich you are...

I don't have any business, oil wells. There are either sponsors who love and respect me, and there is my demand, which I fuel with my work. Sometimes I really want to earn money like in business, but I don’t understand much about it.

- But how much are you enough - that’s the question?

I'm trying to combine it somehow. I can do it. Life and art should not crowd out each other, everything should be in harmony. And since Anya and I creative people, then I think everything worked out here.

With daughter.

I will never leave my children - they are all mine

You, an artist closed to publicity, suddenly appeared on Instagram, and the whole country watched Sergei Bezrukov with his newborn daughter in his arms. What happened that you went online?

-Are you driving yourself?

But the Internet today is such a clearing for mutual grievances and aggression. People are accustomed to a kind of impunity, which gives rise to a desire to offend: I pour it out, but nothing will happen to me. They write words, but words are worthless. There is a lot of negativity, but there is also a lot of good - this is what to live with: you want to live in negativity, live there, but it is destructive.

Well, yes, I carefully posted photos on Instagram... I just shared my joy that I am a dad like everyone else. And also with sleepless nights, motion sickness, lack of sleep.

- Do you have a nanny?

No, we decided to do it ourselves. True, there are grandparents - they help. Increased attention to children, especially public people, spoils their characters. As a rule, famous people try to hide their children and send them somewhere to study, so as not to attract undue attention to them. Now we were in Germany on tour, we went into a restaurant: the waiters and visitors didn’t know who I was, but I saw how much sincere participation I saw, how they admired Masha, asked what to bring. We only behave this way with children. famous person, and another child nearby will be immediately passed by. This is what Anya and I are afraid of.

Therefore, less attention to my children, because they will compare, lisp, and the world is not so simple - there is a lot of hypocrisy. When a child is brought up in adoration - look, I just walk in, and everyone already loves me, I can do anything - this gives rise to depravity of character. No, you will achieve everything in life yourself, your parents will help, but achieve everything yourself. My father helped me when he saw acting talent in me, but my father was not at the level of fame to place me in the Moscow Art Theater School.

- But your other children... Do you communicate with them?

Yes, I have children. I communicate, help and will help them.

You don't disown other children. And these words inspire respect. Garry Kasparov publicly renounced his daughter - I will never forget his interview - and lost a huge electorate of fans.

I will refrain from commenting. I will never leave my children - they are all mine. But talking and spreading about personal things means harming children. Not for me - for them. We need to protect it, so I try to be closed to the press on a personal level: someone is making money from this. They say about me: he quarrels with everyone. It's not true, I'm just defending the right to my privacy.

When Masha was born, I took maternity leave, specially left filming and was with Anya for a month and a half. Were sleepless nights: Then I said that I was returning from maternity leave, and they immediately wrote: “Bezrukov abandoned his wife and small child.” So how? It is impossible to sue for a title, but courts are a separate issue for us.

There are happy families, where they are friends with third wives, with fifth husbands, raising children together... Ideal harmony of the world.

I also strive for harmony, and in principle everything works out great for me.

Theater, like other arts, must be practiced with good mood. “Theater is a fun thing,” said Oleg Pavlovich. And I think that during his life he had read a lot about himself, but he was so strong that he ignored a lot of things, that’s all. I think you just have to be able to let things pass by. But sensible criticism is another matter. After all, people involved in theater are mostly sincere, so help them, don’t humiliate them.

Irina Bezrukova: “I found the strength to forgive. And let go...”

Actress Irina Bezrukova told HELLO! about the loss of his son, separation from Sergei Bezrukov and a new round of life - with clean slate. We have already written about how this conversation became possible. The time has come to introduce the interview itself.

Irina Bezrukova in a photo shoot for HELLO!

This year became a year of losses for her - life offered Irina tests that not everyone can withstand. She endured. And she returned to work in the theater, acted in films, and released her own television program. The actress speaks for the first time about the changes and events of recent times, with the hope that her words can help people who are faced with losses. interview HELLO!

Last summer, Irina Bezrukova’s television program “Conversation on Stage” started on the Moscow region channel 360. The news was unexpected in every sense: the role of the interviewer in which the actress decided to perform, the choice of a little-known Moscow region television channel for this debut, the swiftness with which Irina began new job and made the first passes. But what is very important, the television program became a kind of statement about her return to the forefront of life after a tragic event - the loss of her son.

The answer to the question “What will happen to Irina now?”, which has been haunting me for several months now yellow press and was discussed there, as usual, blindly. And one more significant nuance - the hero of Irina’s first program was Sergei Bezrukov. Their friendly, professional, partner-like conversation looked like a real challenge to the tense informational context in which both have existed in recent months and which concerns the crisis in their personal relationships.

With your interview HELLO! Irina breaks the long silence. Her appearance to the public is by no means a confession or comments; Irina says this right away: “I’m not one of those people who comments on rumors.” This is a thoughtful and responsible step by a person who, due to his profession and position, is involuntarily in the spotlight. And it's also very a brave deed a woman who hopes that “some of my answers might be of some help to people who are dealing with loss.” In conversation she is sincere, friendly, and reserved. She is still very beautiful with some special, warm and light beauty. There is not a shadow of resentment or irritation in her words and intonations, and this is the ability to control her emotions exclusively - given the exceptionally dramatic circumstances that life offered Irina.

Irina, how did your TV program “Conversation on Stage” come about? You are not a journalist, and you have no experience as an interviewer.

Yes, that was enough for me bold decision, but not at all random. For two years now I have been participating in the construction of the Provincial Theater, which was organized by Sergei Bezrukov, I literally live there, like our other actors, all the people involved in this work. During this time, it was possible to do almost unthinkable things - both in terms of the number of performances, their quality, and the creation of a troupe and all the theater services. It was not an easy task, virtually around the clock. And it is very pleasant that the audience likes the results so much that the Provincial Theater quickly and confidently took its place on the theater map of Moscow. And since the founder of our theater is the Ministry of Culture of the Moscow Region, its governor, the Moscow region TV channel 360 most often spoke about our activities. The channel is young, energetic, passionate, very professional, they make excellent documentaries, they think about new programs and formats - for he's off to a very good start. I am a recognizable person, and the channel needs famous faces.

And you were offered to become the host of the program? Or was it your idea?

It was a mutual process. At first I was offered to do ten-minute interviews with artists in recording mode. The channel wanted to see in the program people of the level of Konstantin Khabensky, Yegor Konchalovsky, Maxim Dunaevsky, Chulpan Khamatova. I liked the idea, but what is ten minutes of air time? Invite famous and super-busy people to do such short blitzes? Therefore, I responded by offering an hour-long broadcast, and my offer was accepted.

With what feeling did you set off on this voyage?

With positive! Well, of course, it was a little scary: whether it would work or not, how it would be judged. An interview is an interview, everything has already been invented - two people are sitting opposite each other, like you and me now. But how to make an interesting conversation? Not everyday, not empty chatter about this and that, without yellowness, which, it’s no secret, is what gives the channels ratings. The most difficult thing for me in preparing the first programs was to find a new approach to this or that person, to ask questions that had not yet been asked to him. What can you ask Denis Matsuev, who gives interviews all over the world?

Something about his passion for football, for example.

They asked too. (Smiles.) But trouble has begun. I refused the services of an editor and said: “If the program is called author’s, I’ll do it myself.”

Do you really come up with your own questions?

Yes exactly. I am an active Internet user; in addition to general sources, I have three more resources: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Are you looking for news and biographies of heroes?

Roy. I also do direct interviews. I just listen to direct speech, for hours. I came to an interview with Dima Dyuzhev and told him: “Dima, I actually spent two days with you. I’m preparing myself a salad, doing something else, and I have a laptop next to me and in the background is: Dyuzhev, Dyuzhev...”

Matsuev told you right on air that he hasn’t had something like this for a long time interesting conversation. And this was after his anniversary, then he gave out interviews in large quantities.

Yes, and I was very amused by his phrase in the middle of the conversation: “Well, I told you that there is something human in you!” Incredible sense of humor. We both just hung on this phrase and laughed... It’s good that we are recording, otherwise we would have ended up on the live broadcast. But seriously, it’s probably good that I’m not a journalist, I don’t have clichés, extensions, or repetitions of myself. I'm trying to make the conversation feel like a friendly conversation, but one that not only the two of us will be interested in.

The first programs showed that you can do it.

I really hope so. The show begins to take on a life of its own, and I like it. Chulpan Khamatova has already confirmed her participation, it is a great honor for me. I know how busy she is, how rarely she gives interviews. The same can be said about my other heroes.

The hero of your first program was Sergei Bezrukov. IN Lately there were a lot of rumors around your family, but you both did not comment on anything, as before when it came to your privacy. At the end of the interview there was this moment: you handed Sergei an envelope with a blank sheet of paper. It was clear that he was surprised...

It was a symbolic gesture. A blank slate arose because I know: at the current period of his life, this is exactly what Sergei really needs. I gave him the opportunity to start life from scratch. Yes, we separated as spouses, but we continue to work together. In 15 years life together We have become truly close people and comrades-in-arms, and our separation cannot cancel this. We are still united by a common cause - the Moscow Provincial Theater, the Foundation for the Support and Development of Sociocultural Projects, which we created together. I am grateful to Sergei for supporting my television project, for the fact that he found the time to come to my first program and voiced a promotional video for it - this was his offer. But I would like to put an end to this and, taking this opportunity, ask the media not to bother me with questions on this topic, not to think or invent anything.

Irina, it so happened that this year has become very difficult for you personally. In the spring, you lost your son, your Andrei, and the mere fact that you did not isolate yourself from the world, did not withdraw into yourself, evokes incredible respect and admiration. If only these words are appropriate here...

We can talk about this. Of course, I thought about our interview, but I couldn’t help but think about it. And it seems to me that some of my answers will at least somehow help people who are suddenly faced with losses.

There are so many different rumors surrounding Andrei's death...

Let's be clear. I am not one of those people who comment on rumors, and I will not do so. But as for Andryusha, I can say a few things, and they will not be comments. He had an accident. This was a completely sudden tragedy and should not have happened. He was alone in the apartment, hit his temple, and death occurred instantly. I was on tour in Irkutsk, Andryusha didn’t contact me for about a day, and I asked my friend to come to my house. She is a doctor. It was decided to open the apartment because no one had spare keys. A local police officer, two people from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, emergency doctors and another friend of mine, the director of our theater, came in with her. The conclusions are clear - this is an accident.

Not everyone has the strength to survive such a loss.

You know, I’m not sure that I survived this and that I will survive it again. I had moments - now I can already talk about it - when I would not mind if my life ended on its own. But it doesn't end.

Irina Bezrukova with her son Andrei Livanov, archive

Where do you find sources - I can’t say “comfort”, because that’s an imprecise word... But the strength to look and talk the way you look and talk, not to feel offended by the whole world, not to torment yourself with the question “Why did this happen?” with me?"

I don't take them from anywhere. I have already said that I had moments of such despair - and I think that they are familiar to all people whose children have died - that at some point you don’t want to live. This doesn’t mean that you’re thinking of stepping off the balcony, but, in principle, if I just fell asleep and didn’t wake up, that would be fine with me. Despair and heartache. If physical pain, even unbearable, can be extinguished - there are drugs, then mental pain simply does not go away. It hurts just as much as it hurts.

But it seems to me that there is something that you can already identify and give it a name that allows you to just live, get up in the morning, do your thing...

Eat. What I used to see in science fiction films or read in some amazing books and novels, after Andryusha left, things actually began to happen to me. Or maybe I just wanted to believe in it, that it was happening?.. But I received information. Friends told dreams that before last word coincided with the words that Andrei told me. He once said: “I would like there to be more joy and love on Earth.” Friends came to me with these words and with others - also about joy... One day a friend took me to a cafe - in public I felt a little better. We are sitting at the table, and I keep asking Andryusha: “How can I continue without you? What should I do?” - I look up and see in front of me a black slate board - you know the ones on which menus are written in chalk in cafes? And there in English: “Enjoy every minute of your life!” One time I accidentally pressed a key on my laptop, I have hundreds of different music recordings there, and suddenly the song Woman Don’t Cry started playing. Another time I turned on the song “Mom” at random. I felt the presence of my son...

Are you a believer?

Yes, a believer, although not religious. And, you know, now I think that if they see us from there, from above, it must be unbearably painful for them to watch us suffer. And they try to console us, but we can’t cope. Because the tears never end.

This only happens when people were really very close.

Shortly before what happened, Andryusha and I went to Vietnam for ten days; he always wanted to go there. I had other plans - they invited me to a festival in Belgrade, but Andrei himself suggested: “Mom, I have a few days for vacation, would you like to go with me?” And I'm so happy that I went! Probably, this was the closest communication in my life, the closest humanly... Andrei was not just a son for me, but spiritually and mentally a very dear person to me. The most unconditional love in my life. Love for a man can be enormous, all-consuming, but it is never unconditional.

Andrey was going to become an actor, like you and his father, but he didn’t become one.

He was unlike the acting children. He was a philosopher, a wise boy, gifted in various ways, but he never wanted to concentrate attention on himself. That’s why he didn’t choose this profession, although everything was going well for him: he was already invited to play Romeo in professional theater. He left the second year of theater, became interested in Japanese studies, he had dreams of working for UNICEF, his motivation since childhood was to help everyone - peoples, countries, individuals. Of his small salary, he always gave ten percent to charity or to me with the words: “Mom, donate it to someone.” He worked with us in Provincial Theater, an administrator, helped everyone, did not divide the work into his own and others, literally lived in the theater. When Andryusha passed away, when despair, fear, and guilt went off scale - what would have happened if I hadn’t gone on tour? Maybe the trouble wouldn't have happened? - the theater gave me an incredible gift. They handed over a flash drive on which our actors recorded their stories about Andrey. They simply bathed me in love. I learned so many new things about my son! How he found something special for everyone kind word. How supportive you were at a difficult moment. One actor said that when his mother arrived from the provinces, Andryusha came up to her and said: “Is everyone in your family as beautiful and talented as your son?” And mom cried with happiness. When I listened to this, I cried too - it warmed my soul.

Did your friends support you during this difficult time?

Yes, they just passed me from hand to hand. At some point I stopped eating. I just forgot for a day or two. But when someone was next to me, talking, I sat down and ate. My sister was always with me at the dacha. My friend would knock on the bathroom if I didn't come out for a long time. My close friend and his family, who were in France, literally dragged me to their place, and so carefully, cautiously, as if by chance, brought me back to life. Friends. Those who are patient, who are with you, and not in moments of your strength and success, but in moments of despair - are nearby and listen. They are silent. They just hug you. They distract you and take you for a walk.

Irina, how much power does the past have over you? Or does it one day sink into the soil, from which the future then grows - whatever it may be?

This can only be discussed from the point of view of today. Since it so happened that this spring brought incredible events and changes in my life, I will now try to express this somehow figuratively, because words are sometimes very poor. There was a feeling that not only did I have no ground under my feet, there was nothing around me at all. This happens to people who dive for the first time
scuba diving 

You go deep and stop understanding where is up, down, right, left, and panic sets in. Around you, in all directions, there is one deep abyss, and there is no support. People probably experienced this in revolutions, wars, earthquakes, when life just happened, and in one minute it ended. And it is no longer clear where the past, present and future are.

They are there, you just need to see them. One day I sat down at Andryusha’s computer, asked him for permission, told him: “I’m sorry, but now I really want to talk to you, as if you were alive, to find out what you were thinking about, what interested you.” And so I began to read. His correspondence with a friend who fell in love, and Andrei told him how to take a girl to the theater, what bouquet to buy, how to look after her. He was just helping a guy who didn't know how to behave and was also poor. And Andrei writes to him that he will arrange for our theater buffet to make cakes at local prices, set a table on the balcony, and a friend can invite his girlfriend for a romantic evening. I read and heard Andryusha, his intonation in every word... I felt his kindness. And I realized that all this simply cannot dissolve, disappear, that this is what remains forever. The letters encouraged me, they even discovered a new Andryusha - I did not imagine that my son had literary talent, but he did.

Irina, it is obvious that you have empathy, the ability not only to understand another person, but to feel him as if he were yourself. This is an excellent quality for an actress, and for a mother, but for a woman is this good?

Sometimes this is a problem - that you understand everyone too well. “Well, you’ll understand me? You know why I do this?” I really understand why not the best, not the most noble and not the most beautiful deeds are done. But in relationships with those close to you, this sometimes brings incredible pain. Therefore, maybe it’s easier not to understand and throw objects on the floor?

But you don't?

I have never broken a single plate in my life.

Today, when you have your own program and roles in the theater, don’t you think that in your marriage to Sergei Bezrukov you always faded a little into the background?

My opinion today - perhaps in six months I will think differently - is that in marriage a woman is always half a step behind a man, over his shoulder. If a woman gets ahead, the man develops internal aggression, and it gradually increases. This is probably fair. In general, this is a man’s business: to conquer the world, go to war, protect, make discoveries and actions. And a woman is simply a space in which a man lives. It is love that feeds him, moves him, supports him. I had a period when I complained that I could have been in a different acting category, that I had neglected my career. But at that moment I thought that I was working for a good cause, for a very good one. talented person who brings joy to people. And I help him with this.

Have you ever thought that you made some mistake in the past and would like to correct it? Or are you one of those people who believe that there is no such thing in history? subjunctive mood, is it not only impossible to rewrite anything, but also unnecessary?

Since my son left, I have re-evaluated many, many things. After 15 years, I found the strength to ask for forgiveness from Andryusha’s father, Igor Livanov. I cried, we hugged. When I said goodbye to Andryusha, I found the strength to hold on and console those who were crying. Igor’s wife, so short, is a little sparrow, full of grief and tears - I saw her for the first time in my life. She clung to me and cried on my chest. I found the strength to forgive many things... And let go.

Irina Bezrukova in the play "Endless April" on the stage of the Provincial Theater

With Andrei Ilyin in "Endless April", staged by Anna Gorushkina based on the play by Yaroslava Pulinovich. Main character recalls his life - the length of the entire twentieth century. In his memories, his mother comes to him, and in this prism of the past she is present as light, absolute happiness and the only truth in his life

At the Gubernsky Theater you, together with Andrei Ilyin, play wonderfully in the play “Endless April”. He is an old man remembering his life, and in these memories, literally in seconds, he turns on stage into a child, into a young man, into an adult man.

Andrey is a unique artist.

Without a doubt. You are the hero’s mother, who comes to him in memories. But the role of the mother is very poignant, almost confessional. Will you continue to play it? I thought that it was quite possible that you would refuse.

No, I won't refuse. I only once asked another actress who works in the second cast to play for me, Lena Kirkova - one of the best in our theater. And not because I couldn’t play, but it was soon after what happened with Andryusha, and I understood that there might be tabloid journalists in the hall. They will film how I act as a mother: I play - I don’t play, I cry - I don’t cry. I didn’t want, I couldn’t allow the focus from the play to shift to how actress Irina Bezrukova plays a mother after the death of her son. But I played once. On my birthday, I decided to perform in this performance. Journalists from the yellow publication finally caught up with him. They just bought tickets. And they took it off hidden camera several scenes. And then they chased me in a car to take pictures. There was a chase, a real one: they cut me off, drove through a red light, and ran out with a camera right in front of my car. They took a photo of me, it was successful. I stopped - my nerves couldn’t stand it, my hands were shaking, I was just afraid that I would crash.

A monstrous story. I’m ashamed of my colleagues, although they can hardly be called journalists.

My lawyers are already dealing with this issue, but is this just a legal matter?.. I am a person who barely pulled myself together, put myself in a car and went to play such an important performance for myself... I have the right to personal integrity. Yes, there will be a lawsuit. Maybe not one, because I’m not at all sure that they will stop.

Will you continue to play at the Provincial Theater? You didn't even think about leaving there, did you?

Did not think. I really hope that I don’t have to. We have a wonderful theater wonderful people, and I love them, and they love me. This is my family already.

And the public will see you again in the new season amazing Andrey Ilyin in "Endless April". Do you know what this performance reminds me of? When you approach the sea, you hear the splashing of the waves and think about something of your own, but then only the waves and the sea remain - you just go in and swim without looking back.

You see... I haven’t played in the theater for 15 years, I came to this small performance, and you say such things. Am I not a happy person?..

A film in which the surnames of director Anna Matison and actor Sergei Bezrukov will appear side by side in the credits for the first time, Sergei and Anna told 7 Days magazine about their first meeting, about their trip to Baikal to film the film “Milky Way,” about the appearance of a young actress with the surname Bezrukova in Russian cinema, and also shared plans for the future.

- Sergey, you played in Anna Matison’s film “The Milky Way” main role. How did you meet?

Bezrukov: In February of this year, my long-time friend, producer Alexey Kublitsky, with whom we worked together on the film “Vysotsky. Thank you for being alive,” he suggested reading Anna Matison’s script. I liked it, very sincere, unlike the standard ones New Year films. There was something from the auteur cinema that I always wanted to act in. But for some reason I had never been offered this before. Maybe they're afraid of me. They probably think Sergey Bezrukov, then he only stars in blockbusters. “Okay,” I said to Alexei. “Let’s meet with the director, get to know each other, and discuss.”

- Were you surprised when you found out that the scriptwriter and director was a young woman?

Bezrukov: My very first director in 1993 in the film “Nocturne for Drum and Motorcycle” was Karine Foliyants. I have no prejudices in this regard at all; I don’t think that films should be made exclusively by men.

- Does the age of the director matter?

Bezrukov: None! I starred with Alyosha Sidorov in “Brigade”. This was his first film work. It would seem that, complicated story, a gangster saga can only be completed by an experienced person who has already gone through fire and water. But Lesha is from Severodvinsk; by that time, despite his very young age, he had probably experienced a lot in life. And he made an amazing big movie. And Anya, in comparison with him then, is already an experienced director, she has several documentaries and the film “Satisfaction” with Evgeniy Grishkovets. This picture made a very strong impression on me at the time.

- Anna, did it help that Bezrukov liked your first film?

Mathison: I didn’t know whether Sergei had seen “Satisfaction” or not. Therefore, there was some uncertainty. Whatever they say, at the first meeting there is almost always some bias towards the female director. Therefore, I always prefer that they first look at my work, and then get acquainted with it in person. I remember well - on the day when Sergei made an appointment for us at the Moscow Provincial Theater, the same producer Alexei Kublitsky and I were first at other negotiations. And between these meetings, I asked Alexey to take me home to change clothes. He asked: “Why? You look good". And I just wanted to avoid attracting attention as much as possible.