"The script reconciled with the name of the film": Irina Bezrukova - about filming in "Escort" and the play "Rehearsal of the banquet"

- The film "Escort" with your participation was released. An exciting topic that does not leave anyone indifferent. Do you play a girl's mother with reduced social responsibility?

- Yes, indeed, the topic is not the most innocuous. We understand what the word "escort" means. And the older generation also understands that these are girls with low social responsibility. When I received an offer to star in a film with this title, I naturally asked who the partners were. I found out that they were Anna Starshenbaum and Dmitry Nagiev. Only then did I ask for a script. He's already reconciled me to the title of the movie. I choose carefully where I'm ready to shoot and where I'm not. People who follow me, my followers, will probably be surprised that I starred in such a picture. But, as they say, an artist is an advocate for his role. I didn't even have to be a lawyer or a prosecutor. My heroine has nothing to do with the oldest profession.

Then there was another aspect. When I was invited, it was a request to help out. The fact is that the film was already completely shot and edited, two weeks remained before the premiere. The band had force majeure. And I had to go on tour, which I couldn't cancel. And we only had one day that I was able to devote to filming.

- Why did this happen, and how did the shooting take place in such an emergency mode?

- The director and producer decided that the picture should be strengthened by another character - the mother of the main character. The script added the memories of a girl who at the age of 17 ran away from the family and chose this tragic path.

I play a teacher from Tula. I know this city very well, as I played in the Tula Drama Theater, I was there on tour. My partner in the shooting was a young actress, she is not yet 16 years old. She played my seventeen-year-old daughter.

• Irina Bezrukova on the set of the film "Escort"
• © Photo from personal archive

My shooting day lasted more than 17 hours. I finished at three o'clock in the morning, and filming was still going on. For four hours we shot in a severe frost, on the street, where there were shops, similar to retail outlets in the 1990s. After that, we moved to an apartment, which on the contrary was hot. My heroine came in from the street and immediately found herself in a situation where it is necessary to clarify relations with her daughter. And I walked in what I was wearing on the street: a wool turtleneck, fur boots and a down jacket. After the cold test was the heat test. In addition, in the apartment, to make the memories look more convincing, there was a movie smoke, and I had not yet cured bronchitis and any smoke caused a tickle in the throat and cough.

But artists are like soldiers: they are accustomed to doing through "I don't want to" and through "I can't".

Then there was a small lunch and we moved to the hospital. The ward was very modest. There, filming lasted another three hours. My heroine lies without strength and cries. An hour and a half before that, it took age plastic makeup - I was turned into a 65-year-old gray-haired woman.

It was a tough day. But at the end of the shooting, there was applause, and the director said: "See you in the next picture."

• Irina Bezrukova
• © A shot from the film "Escort"

- In this film there are references to the landmark film for the late 1980s "Intergirl", where the mother's worries about the fact that her daughter was engaged in prostitution led to a tragedy?

My whole generation watched the movie Intergirl. I even rehearsed in the theater the role of a young friend of the main character. This play also blew up the film industry of the time. There are no direct references in Escort. The theme is similar and some moments also seem similar because it is one area of life. Once such women were called prostitutes, then prostitutes. "Intergirl" is just the 1990s. And then they came up with the word "escort." That's all coincidences. And it's also a coincidence that my character's mother is a teacher, just like in the movie Intergirl. And, of course, she can not positively relate to such a profession of her daughter. Teachers instilled in us a sense of morality, decency, honesty, purity, nobility. And the people who carried this in themselves could not support or approve of the oldest profession.

What was it like working in plastic makeup?

- It took a decent amount of time. It was comfortable to work. I was lucky to have a makeup artist. Another thing is that the hair turned into a paklya because of the means by which they imitated deep gray hair. When, after the shooting, I looked in the mirror at my face after exhausting filming in the smoke, in the cold, with three hours of tears, in this age-related unhealthy makeup, I threatened the reflection with my finger and said: "Please watch your health. You see what a face can be." This made me think that no matter how tired I am, I need to plan sleep and rest. Our profession is for a long time, for someone forever. It is impossible to keep up with youth, but still look younger than your age, 10-15 years old is pleasant and within your power. Just follow proper nutrition, check the body, maintain it and lead a healthy lifestyle.

• Irina Bezrukova
• © Victoria Apostolova

- Recently, the premiere of the play "Rehearsal of the Banquet" took place. You played the main role there, directed by Sergei Bezrukov. How did the idea for this production come about?

- This is the second work in the last two years in the genre of comedy. For a year now, I've been playing in the play "Dreaming Is Not Harmful" - this is a comedy of provisions, people laugh a lot on it.

And they sent me a play called "Banquet Rehearsal," the character of which I really liked. Especially the fact that in a number of scenes she is a completely alien type to me. And in the finale, there is a transformation. I will not tell you everything, I will leave the intrigue. There's a lot of laughing at this show, too. I have four great partners.

And there was a similar situation when I jumped on a departing train. Because the men rehearsed this play for several months, and I joined them in a few rehearsals. I played my role from start to finish only three times before the premiere. But after the first show, I was literally bombarded with flowers. I've never had so many flowers in my life. I realized that the viewer missed both me and pleasant emotions. A bit of a buffoonery show-show, a performance-concert.

- "Banquet Rehearsal" does not repeat "Quartet I" with its "What Are Men Talking About"?

- I don't think so. Of course, the men there open up, sometimes even "confess", expose themselves both mentally and partially undress. But it's a very different performance. The author is contemporary. There is no task to repeat anyone, although I love "Quartet I". In our country it is more of a karaoke performance, where you can sing along, because the songs are famous. And the audience is happy to do it. If you look for repetitions, it's also a comedy, there are also four men there, they say, they have very interesting monologues, each has its own story, but I think these are completely different things.

You said that by the end of the play, your character is reborn. Is it cinderella turning into a princess or a moral rebirth?

- There's a kind of invert. As one of the actors who watched the premiere in the hall said: "Irina, you just fascinated me. It's just some kind of trick." I can't say more. My character changes internally, but rather it is still an external transformation. What is interesting, I was told by friends who unwittingly witnessed conversations at intermission, one girl noted: "On the poster irina Bezrukova, I hope she will appear at least in the second act." For me, it was the highest compliment, because I had already played three scenes in the first act, and this girl did not recognize me. That's what we wanted. And this transformation is quite contrasting and carries an important meaning. In a nutshell, in order not to reveal all the secrets of our performance, men sometimes do not see a woman as she is. But as soon as she makes a little effort, men turn their heads, looking at this woman. And it's still the same.

• Scene from the play "Banquet Rehearsal"
• © From personal archive

Is it really possible to explain clearly to a man what a woman wants?

- Yes, of course. Another thing is whether he will agree with it. As for the author of our play "Banquet Rehearsal", he put in the mouth of my heroine in a direct text what women want to see in their man. And when I then go to the hall and ask: "Are you girls?", the hall responds with a single organism: "Yes!". So men, if they come to the show, they will just hear through me what women want.

- A few years ago, the media became aware of the story of how you saved Rodion Gazmanov when he was still a child. And he's thankful to you so far. Are there any people in your life whom you consider your saviors and to whom you are grateful?

As for Rodion, we have been friends with him, and we have been friends since his 13 years, from the very situation when we met. I'm friends with his mom, I talk to his dad. As for me, there have been many people in my life who have influenced me. They were my saviors, in the sense that they became examples for me, my beacons. Some of them don't even know me. These are outstanding personalities, these are books, films, poems, these are my teachers - school and professional. If I hadn't become interested in the theater studio, it's unclear how I would have spent my time. I come from Rostov-on-Don, and girls have fun there in different ways. I can call my friends saviors, who in the most difficult period of my life were nearby and did not leave me alone for a minute with my experiences. My sister, my friend Lena, everyone who was involved with me. It is very important that a person who is in a difficult life situation, psychological, moral, physical, does not remain alone. So that there are those who respond, try to take on some of his pain, who are ready to come and make sure that you eat, because sometimes you forget even about it. These people are my angels. I was very lucky to have met them. First of all, these are my relatives and friends, and I continue to meet caring, cordial, sincere people who are always ready to help.

For me, the story of Mahatma Gandhi, the story of Jesus Christ, the history of many other pure, bright, outstanding people of heart is a salvation. In difficult moments of life, I turned to them. This is also the story of the life of my grandmother, my mother, who continued to fight cancer, but at the same time did everything to ensure that her daughters received full care: a Christmas tree for the New Year, delicious pies, homemade cakes. She knitted, sewed, cooked, made repairs with her own hands, starched our shirts, but at the same time she was seriously ill. These are my angels, my saviors, I am grateful to them all.

The world is filled with kind, beautiful and pure people, the main thing is to see them. And if the world is disposed to you, if you look around, there can be many moments or reasons for gratitude. You can also be a support for someone, or even just cheer up. This is sometimes also very important.

• Irina Bezrukova
• © Victoria Apostolova

— What are you working on now? What can viewers expect in the near future?

- There are three performances in the works. Two of them are the comedies "Dreaming is not harmful" and "Rehearsal of the banquet". The third one I have been playing for seven years in the Moscow Provincial Theater, it is called "Endless April". I call it a performance that connects hearts, binds family and friendship ties.

I went to several castings, and now my candidacy is being considered, including with other artists. It's always unpredictable who gets approved. But soon there will be results, and then I will be able to share in which projects I will begin to act in the near future. My team and I are considering another interview project, but more on that later, when it becomes clearer. I attend the premieres of my friends in the cinema, in the theater. I'm looking forward to a film about the last five days in Yesenin's life. In it, I starred with an amazing artist Alexander Petrov. That's in a nutshell, what's happening right now. What is considered or in the forecast is not in my rules to talk about it. Later.