“Not everything in this world is controlled by money”: Alexander Gorbatov - about his attitude to the profession and the series “Artist”

- The TV series “The Artist”, previously presented on the network, is being released on TV.

When you were offered the role of Sazonov, a police captain, did you immediately agree or were there any doubts?

- We met with Timur Alpatov (director. - 

), talked, shook hands and that's it.

And it's not even about Sazonov, but about the script.

Plus the partners are amazing.

It is very joyful: there is some kind of exchange, symbiosis, you are learning something.

- Your hero, together with the character of Andrei Smolyakov, is looking for murderers.

This is your first joint project.

Did you meet on it? 

— Yes, I met Andrey Igorevich on this project.

Before that, we had never filmed together.

- Tell us more about how you worked together.

- Wonderful.

When a person is more than 50 years old in the cinema - well, how to work with him.

Of course, it's a lump.

You can learn a lot, you take a lot of things from his clip, accumulate, appropriate.

So yes, it's a wonderful exchange.

In addition, working with Andrey Igorevich is very easy and comfortable.

• Shot from the series "Artist"

• © TV channel "Russia 1"

- There is a feeling that in the series the Totenkopf gang and the Artist act in the name of their justice.

In your opinion, is the line between good and evil blurred here?

- Well, what is the line between good and evil.

There are some military officers and others.

There is reconnaissance, there are sabotage groups.

Everyone goes to fulfill their task, or strive to fulfill it at any cost, even at the cost of their own lives.

And now we are talking about officers who were not fools.

They were trained, they were worked on, they were initiated into certain mysteries of intelligence.

I see people who have taken an oath to their state, or to their idea, and go to fulfill this task.

And what is good and what is evil is up to people to decide.

Should viewers wait for the second season?

- I don’t know, it all depends on the producers, and they are based on the rating.

What do you think, does the story have the potential to continue?

— Yes, but in general there is always potential.

Here, according to the plot, there will be a certain snag, and then the scriptwriters need to come up with.

And it is important that it be interesting to the viewer, and we will all try to bring the idea to life. 

Would you agree to continue playing? 

- Depending on what scenario they offer me.

Not everything in this world is controlled by money and the face that is on the screen.

It's not a shame to be poor, it's a shame to be cheap.

When a story is offered, you see the idea and start from it.

If he starts to excite, then you: “Yes, yes, yes, go ahead, of course!”.

• Shot from the series "Artist"

• © TV channel "Russia 1"

- Recently, the TV series “Trap for the Judge” came out with you.

You play there the brilliant investigator Zabelin, who easily solves crimes, and in this role you resemble such a modern Sherlock Holmes.

Tell us who or what inspired you while preparing for the role?

- The model helped me build crime series in which the same clichés.

I looked at my colleagues who were already tired of playing these roles, drew conclusions and came to the conclusion that my boyfriend is very simple, and calls things by their proper names.

That's all.

- Recently, the premiere of the film "Heart of Parma" took place, which blew up the film distribution ...

- This is great.

It means that the viewer accepted our work, responded.

It's always very happy for the artists, for the band, for the producers.

- Of course.

Tell us how you prepared for the role of Prince Yermolai.

Have you read Alexey Ivanov's book?

- Long before the film was going to be shot.

As well as "Bad weather", and much more.

In general, Alexey Ivanov, at the moment, I think, is our best writer.

- Were you embarrassed by the serious discrepancies between the script and the plot of the book?

“I read the script and understood everything perfectly.

It's just that more can be turned into less, but less can't be turned into more.

Therefore, it seems to me that Anton Megerdichev understood this very well, that something needs to be got rid of, and something needs to be changed.

Or it won't be artistic.

I know that the film was generally meant to be longer than three hours, but it's very hard to keep the viewer's attention for that long.

How did you prepare?

I don’t even know, probably in many ways, intuitively.

Something in the memory was seen, the subconscious responds to this, finds something, clings.

This does not mean that we steal something from someone.

It's just that we accumulated it, once appropriated it to ourselves, or once it got into the visual memory and now splashed out.

I don't even know who it came from or where.

There are films and novels that I love.

And in the end, Anton and I were able to find the golden mean in the manifestation of Yermolai as a ruler, as a person, as a father and a warrior.

- How do you assess the motivation of your hero, who decided to kidnap the Golden Woman despite warnings?

- Well, listen, it is heavy, Monomakh's hat.

Risk is a noble cause.

And, in the end, we are talking about personality now.

Even with the way Yermolai made such decisions, he deserves to be a prince.

If, thanks to this Golden Woman, he subjugated the people, it would be a kind of victory, and the laurels would naturally go to Yermolai.

It's all a game that takes place in power.

The higher you climb, the less such a thing as recognition of "friend or foe" probably works.

And such a region as Perm was very important for Mother Russia at that time.

• Alexander Gorbatov as Sergei in a scene from the play "Katerina Ilvovna" directed by Alla Sigalova at the Tabakov Theater

• RIA News

• © Vladimir Vyatkin

What was the hardest thing about filming?

Probably action scenes with mass felling and fencing?

- The most difficult thing was to get into the image and not let it go.

And cold, heat, glued beards, all kinds of chain mail - this is the second story.

Nobody drove us there with a stick, we ourselves chose a profession, and it is strong-willed.

Difficulties are always there, life without them is generally boring.

Therefore, we overcame them with enthusiasm.

- And in the near future, with your participation, the serial project "Chaliapin" will be released.

Tell us how you got into it? 

They called me and offered.

Before that, I auditioned for Gorky, it seems they approved me.

Then he went about his business.

Then they called me and offered to play Chaliapin.

To which I replied: “Which one of me is Chaliapin?”.

They told me: “No, no, very convincingly.”

As a result, we met, talked and made me an offer that I could not refuse because of my curiosity and desire to develop.

This is a historical character, it is always scary to do this for one simple reason - people will compare.

But I take it easy.

They have always compared and will continue to compare.

There will always be those who like it and those who don't.

This is fine.

- Did you strive for maximum external similarity?

It must have been a tricky make-up.

- We tried to make some outlines, but this is the artist’s inner kitchen, I can’t explain it to you.

We looked at a lot of photos.

There are a lot of myths and legends around Fedor Ivanovich that do not correspond to the truth.

I am grateful to the people with whom the producers introduced me and gave me the opportunity to work and communicate.

From them I learned a lot about Chaliapin.

But still, we have our own image of Fedor Ivanovich, we did not try to please someone's myths or views.

What myths have you heard about this historical figure?

- Yes many.

He sang - the chandeliers burst, the glasses fell.

He drank vodka with faceted glasses, he was an utter womanizer.

His voice made people faint, and so on.

He was of such incredible strength that he could lift a house, spoke in a low voice.

All this, by the way, is not true.

He was, in fact, obsessed with creativity.

And in general, we are talking about the theater artist.

The profession in any case leaves its mark.

Not at all, but he went through fire and water.

Some are born to sit straight on the priest, while others are born to walk.

The character and the very nature of this man was to get out of the bottom into the light.

And I think that it is, in many ways, unique - to observe a person who came from a deep province and ended up in a theater.

He learned to speak again, learned to behave in society, learned languages.

It's interesting - how he changed, how he was tormented by the fact that he was one of those, and not one of these, that they poked a finger at him, they say, from rags to riches, how he tried to live up to his success.

- Speaking of voice: did you have to sing on the set?

- Not.

We tried, but it's impossible, not there at all.

We got by with phonograms, and teachers from the Bolshoi Theater taught us to open our mouths, explained what articulation is, how to present it.

Another problem is that we had only ten days to prepare and a huge number of operas and arias.

It was joyful that such a world opera star as Ildar Abdrazakov worked with us, and a little scared.

You give the footage to a person who is very closely associated with this.

How will he look at it, how will he react ... But the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing it.

• Photos from the filming of the series "Chaliapin"

• © TV channel "Russia 1"

- Did you manage to fully prepare in ten days?

- In some ways - yes, but something is already on the move ...

Did they improvise?

Well, what an improvisation.

I worked my shift, I came home, but not to sleep, but to sit and study, constantly turn it on and listen, listen, listen ... Then, with a specialist, lay everything out into scores, rhythms, tempos ... This is in order to open your mouth in time, take breathing, work with the diaphragm, facial.

Much has been achieved.

But that's something you'll probably decide when you watch it.

- And what is the peculiarity of the hero in your performance?

- I can not say, the audience will appreciate it.

I will now tell you that, well, it seemed to me that I should raise my eyebrow like this, and this is my uniqueness.

It's funny.

The uniqueness is already initially in the fact that the person you play is a lump, the whole world knows him.

The uniqueness is that I was entrusted with it.

And I play it with my body, adapt the plasticity somewhere, leaving a gap so as not to get lost.

This is the process, this is the most fun.

For four years during my studies, I walked past the mansion of Fyodor Ivanovich, looked at this wonderful monument, where it lay so imposingly, and together with my classmates said: “This is the role that needs to be played.”

And I had no idea that I could beg for it from the Almighty.