Elena Drapeko remembered how she got married on a bet

– I celebrated the holiday in the Moscow region, in the close company of children and the family of an old friend. “We sat and drank champagne,” Elena Drapeko, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, confesses to MK.

– How do you feel about your age?

– Age doesn’t particularly bother me. I treat it calmly and do not specifically celebrate this anniversary. I didn’t hold a creative evening or a banquet – in order to pass this date unnoticed. Everyone in the Duma congratulated me, presented me with a medal, and gave me a certificate of honor from the Government. I’m working at the same speed. I am very afraid that if I record such a sad age for myself, then I will have to slow down. Everyone tells me: “You have to take care of yourself.” But I don’t want to take care of myself.

– You are a real long-liver of our parliament, in which you have been in for almost 25 years?

– Only 23.

– What do you think about age restrictions for officials in the country? Are they available for people’s representatives?

– There are no age restrictions for deputies, and there are very old deputies in the Duma. The fact is that age is not only health, it is also wisdom. And, as a rule, older deputies remember all the vicissitudes of the problems discussed. For example, I remember that when the great construction project started, it cost 4.5 billion, and today it costs 14.5 billion. And I ask uncomfortable questions. I remember the promises made by various governments and deputies of other convocations, I remember how we resolved issues, i.e. I have experience. Therefore, it is very important that the Duma has such masters as Vladimir Iosifovich Resin or Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, who are already well over 80. They are very helpful in resolving many controversial issues.

– How do you feel about the fact that for most viewers you will forever remain Liza Brichkina from Rostotsky’s film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”?

– Normal and wonderful. This always happens when there is one bright role. Boris Babochkin played 100 roles in cinema and theater, but everyone remembers him as “Chapaev”. And he forever remained Chapaev. Or the same Shurik of all times and peoples – Alexander Demyanenko, who played more than 300 roles throughout his life.

Many great artists don’t have a single role like this. And I’m lucky because I have several roles that audiences love and remember. Today a woman came up to me and admitted that she really loves the film directed by Vladimir Shamshurin “Fatherless” and my Olga Murovtseva, whom I play in it. For a woman, this melodrama lay in her heart.

– What historical character would you play in a movie or on a theater stage without rehearsals?

– Vasilisa Kozhin, partisan from 1812. A typical Russian woman who has held Russia for a millennium: she plows, she fights. I played in the theater for several years, but somehow my relationship with him did not work out.

BLITZ

The last time I was ashamed was when…

– At a meeting with voters who ask me “Why are the laws not enforced in Russia?” I am ashamed that I cannot influence so many things.

I was greatly influenced…

– Acquaintance with modern Russian philosophers. There is such a wonderful Nikolai Benediktov, a philosopher from Nizhny Novgorod, his books and conversations with him greatly influenced me.

The first time life disappointed me was when…

– This is the first time I’ve been betrayed by my friends. I thought I had a lot of friends. In 1993, after the shooting of the White House, trouble happened in my life and I simply had to throw away my notebook. I then came out with a condemnation of Yeltsin and the shooting of Parliament. After that, I was fired as the chairman of the Committee on Culture from the Administration of St. Petersburg and many people began to cross to the other side of the street so as not to greet me – they were afraid.

I’m still upset about…

– I’m not offended for anything!

I can’t do without…

– Friends.

I was absolutely happy that day when…

– She gave birth to her daughter Nastya.

The greatest difficulty I have had to overcome in life is…

– Your own laziness and lack of faith in yourself.

My most extravagant escapade was…

– When I first got married on a bet, they argued in a student group. I had an affair with one student, he was a handsome boy. I told everyone that if they sign him and me tomorrow, then I’m ready to marry him. Tomorrow was Tuesday, on these days the registry office registered only the dead. But they somehow persuaded the director and she agreed to register us. Moreover, I, a fool, registered this marriage and immediately, of course, ran to get a divorce.

It might make me blush…

– Compliments. I’m always shy, it seems to me that they are sucking up to me.

I would pay a lot to see…

– Pyramids at Giza.

If I had two tickets to heaven, I would…

– I would give them to my daughter and granddaughter – my favorite people on the planet.