“Trying to play what is not in you is complete idiocy”: Dmitry Chebotarev on images, theater and the series “Container”

- In the first episode of the series "Container" your hero Vital seems almost the only positive character.

Will the image develop in the same spirit?

- Any actor has to justify his character, but I think that he is still the most positive, sincere person in the territory of this script.

Therefore, I think that it will develop and improve.

Follow this path.

- Is this image close to you?

How interesting was it to play?

- Very interesting.

I played many ambiguous characters - with a "double bottom", aggressive, unpleasant.

And then they offered to play the role of an absolutely ordinary, good person.

It was very interesting.

Because in reality it is not easy.

It is much easier to play a complex character: you can cheat everything, come up with character traits, show some pain points - maybe through appearance or through something else.

And here - a man from the next apartment.

Good, kind, honest, loyal, loving.

- How did you get into this project?

- I was sent a script and offered to come.

And at first they sent only a sample of my character.

Before I came to see the director, I didn't know the whole story.

According to the plot, the main character Sasha earns a new life through surrogate motherhood.

She moves to the customers, the official and his wife, who see in her only a "container" for the child.

But what at first seemed like caring for the unborn child soon turns into trials for each of the tenants.

In fact, the most important thing for an actor is what happens to his character, where he starts from and where he comes to.

This was enough to get interested not in the whole world of the series, but in the life of the character.

With his peculiarities of perception of the world, the situation with the method of earning the main character Sasha - what she earns, how he supports her.

They came and chatted.

The next day they called me and said: "Let's work."

I say: "Come on, with pleasure."

Everything is according to the classics.

- What was the situation in the team?

Who was it especially interesting to work with?

- Everything was wonderful.

We have a wonderful team, a wonderful director, cameraman.

The whole group is very good.

We have known Artyom Bystrov for a long time, with Masha Lobanova and Philip Yankovsky we starred in the third project.

We

met

Oksana (Akinshina -

RT

), made friends from the first shift and we still communicate well.

On the set of "Container" I probably first met on the territory of the script and played big scenes with Julia Aug.

She is now involved in the performance of our theater, and we also agreed on this.

They discussed both theater and cinema.

So everything was fine.

Everything went in love and in a friendly atmosphere.

I hope that my assumptions - that if everything is created in love, it is felt through the screen - will be justified by the audience's attention.

No matter how complex the topic is raised, no matter how complex, ambiguous characters the actors play, if all this is created with warmth, then it can be seen through the screen.

I hope the audience will feel that we were very pleased to work.

- For you, is there a difference between feature films and TV series?

Maybe some form interests you more?

In terms of form, no.

The serial market is now reaching a very high level and often even overlaps full-length projects in quality.

Another issue is development.

In serial production, the daily output is more, by the minute.

Therefore, it seems to me that it is more difficult to organize (internally and from a technological point of view) - to plan in order to have time to shoot everything on a certain day.

So that there is no overwork.

And so, it seems to me, in our time, the qualitative and thematic boundaries between a full-length film and a serial product are already being erased.

- Did you manage to organize the production well while working on the "Container"?

- Yes.

In my opinion, I even had something else in parallel.

And there was never any overlap that would confuse our plans.

- You say you had several parallel projects.

How are you doing in the theater?

How many performances are you currently playing, what are you rehearsing?

- I very rarely have several projects in parallel.

I try not to do this in order to immerse myself in one project as much as possible.

It just happens that the second one starts when one has not finished yet.

I try to avoid taking three or four projects in parallel, running from site to site and already forgetting where I came.

I have been working at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre for ten years.

From the new one I am currently rehearsing Life is a Dream with Spanish director Natalie Mendes.

This is Calderon.

My main role is Sigismundo.

Premiere in October.

From the last that came out - "Cricket" by Martha Horwitz, I play Cricket in this performance.

"Faryatyev's Fantasies" - I play Faryatyev.

In "Tartuffe" I play Tartuffe.

There is a lot of work in the theater.

And, thank God, it is still possible to set up schedules and work in the cinema not to the detriment of the theater, and to work in the theater not to the detriment of cinema.

Because I can’t, I don’t want to, and (thanks to the universe!) I must not give up yet.

- Are you comfortable with such a load?

- I'm very comfortable.

I try to properly allocate resources.

Sometimes, of course, there is fatigue - like any person at any job.

But I do what I love, and it brings me pleasure.

You can, of course, get tired of having fun.

But the realization that I'm doing what I love crosses everything out.

• Dmitry Chebotarev in the play "Cricket"

• © Olympia Orlova

- Is it more interesting for you to work with highly social material that reflects pressing problems, or to dive into fantastic worlds?

- It's interesting for me to work, pardon the tautology, with interesting stories.

Because it all starts with this.

If there is no good, interesting, solid story, then you cannot save it in anything - neither good actors, nor a good director, nor a good cameraman.

A good story can be ruined.

And the bad one cannot be improved ...

The main thing is to find a living person.

And it doesn't matter what circumstances he is in.

If he is an intergalactic tourist, then he must still be understandable, interesting and close to the viewer, and must find a response - anyone.

He can be loved, hated, supported or condemned, but the main thing is that he should be a living person.

Therefore, I am primarily interested in history.

It doesn't matter if it is acutely social or not.

Of course, it seems that through a highly social project it is easier to speak out, to convey something to the viewer.

But I think this is ambiguous.

- Where do you think you are in your career?

Are you in a hurry to grow professionally?

- I always say that I am only at the beginning.

I'm not in a hurry, I'm going my own way - everyone has their own.

Haste is only needed when catching fleas.

I think, take some steps, look in different directions, choose projects.

I try not to repeat myself from project to project, to look for interesting stories in which I would like to exist.

So far, these are steps forward.

Hopefully I don’t need to step back to take a run.

- Do you have specific plans for further development?

- There are plans - probably like any artist in Russia - to film in Europe.

Maybe somewhere else to learn.

Continue to do your job honestly.

- By the way, about education.

You studied to be a director, put on several of your own performances ...

- Yes, I studied to be a director for only a year and a half.

Then he left to study acting.

But the baggage that my teachers managed to convey to me, and what I myself later studied with my inquisitive mind - all this helped me to stage several performances at the institute as a teacher, and now there are several plans for productions.

Until I say that I am eager to make films, to be realized in this field.

There are thoughts about performances in the theater.

Fortunately, they come to meet me and give me a green light.

It's still not a retraining as a director, but a desire to tell what you want, from the point of view of an actor, because I myself will play there.

When the picture is formed and the material is found, why not try to implement it with a team of like-minded people?

- Tell us more about your plans.

Who is your team of like-minded people, what kind of theater is this?

- I plan to make a play here, at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre.

I will not tell you yet what.

But there will be a lot of music, a lot of acting.

- When working on this performance, is it important for you that there is no other director standing over you?

- I just nurtured it all, wrote the play myself.

So I know how I want it to look.

Like Danila Kozlovsky, for example.

When we worked with him on "Trainer", he nurtured this story, from the very beginning he participated in the creation of the script.

He thought that he ought to find a director, looked for a long time, and then realized that he himself knew how he wanted it to look.

And so he did it himself, made his debut as a director.

The situation is the same here.

If a director appears, then none of us will be able to work fully.

It will be two heads.

I'd rather gather a team of like-minded people, my friends - actors with excellent creative potential, with excellent intellectual and emotional baggage.

And together we will create something that will warm us.

It is on this project that I believe that the director may even hinder us.

- Is the script completely yours?

- Yes.

It is compiled from a variety of documentary information.

The action takes place here and now, as if the characters live their life, their story.

But if you rip out any fragment from the script of this performance and search the Internet, you will find out that this situation or words are taken from the life of a very famous, great person.

- As for the acting part - can you name an image in which you didn't have much to play, and an image that least of all resembles you in reality?

- This is a situation that concerns the acting kitchen.

Too many viewers often do not distinguish between character and actor.

For example, in the series Good Intentions, I have a terrible - vile, cowardly, evil - character.

Absolutely repulsive when viewed from the outside.

And when you are on the territory of the script, getting ready for work, you are looking for what this character wants.

And you understand that this character just wants to survive.

And you put your need for survival into this image.

And then the scenario comes into force.

When an actor comes to audition, he is approved precisely because he is convincing.

Here and now, he is absolutely sincere and real.

Trying to play something that is not in you is complete idiocy.

But the main thing is not to get confused.

The vile qualities of the character in "Good Intentions" (this is, however, a very negative character) are not traits of the actor.

But the desire to survive is an actor's trait.

• Dmitry Chebotarev with his wife Elizaveta Klimova

• © Evgeny Wolfson

- And it never happened that you were given a script for familiarization, do you look and understand that there is nothing special to play?

- It used to be, yes.

But I refuse such projects.

And there were times when you read and think: "This is me, this is about me, this is what I have to play."

- Is there such a completed project?

- None of these projects were approved.

Never.

Everyone has their own perception.

Everyone puts something of their own in the story.

Maybe in those moments I misperceived myself from the outside.

I don’t know why this is so.

I would not say that I had a complete coincidence with the hero.

Because the territory of the script is still full of twists and turns, and at some point you can still say: "No, I wouldn't do that."

And the character enters.

- Your wife Elizabeth is also an actress.

Were there any projects where you wanted to play together by all means?

Have you tried to persuade the directors to do this?

- We played together in two projects: in "Karamor" by Dani Kozlovsky and in the anthology "Real stories".

And now they were supposed to act together, but did not act.

Sometimes, of course, you want to say something.

But we have a rule that we do not do this.

Everyone has his own path.

And Lisa herself chooses which tests to go to and with whom to work.

Same as me.

Therefore, we do not influence each other in this way.

- Has popularity ever scared you?

- No.

Now, with the release of Major Thunder, there is a lot of attention to me.

When 13 thousand people come to your autograph session, and then Rosgvardia and Rospotrebnadzor disperse them, of course, it is very surprising and shocking that so many people are interested in meeting you.

- Before filming Major Thunder: The Plague Doctor, you had to read the comics.

The film "We" based on Zamyatin's novel is to be released soon.

Do you have time to read anything outside of work?

- Oh sure.

I try to constantly read something, replenish my luggage.

I read a lot at home.

This is mainly modern fiction. For some time I reread the foreign one, now, probably, more Russian. The last two books I read are "The Wound" by Oksana Vasyakina and "That is why the bird in captivity sings" by Maya Angela. Absolutely different authors from different times, different cultures. Before that, I had read Farewell Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. I buy books that someone tells me about, or that the eye clings to. I try to read constantly, regularly. I can list for a very long time what I have read recently. It is necessary to start a separate conversation about this. I just really enjoy reading.