Santa Claus climbs in our window

On the eve of the New Year, our columnist talked with the favorite of Russian viewers, actress Olga Khokhlova. According to an analytical review of Russian cinema, conducted by Yandex based on data from the Kinopoisk website, Olga Khokhlova was named the most energetic actress in Russian cinema, the record holder for the number of feature films and the number of roles in television series in Russia for the first 15 years of the 21st century.

— Olga, how are you going to celebrate the New Year?

– I am overwhelmed with delight that the New Year and my birthday preceding it are celebrated right on the stage of the theater. Invited to the play “Cinderella” based on the play by Evgeny Schwartz at the Gorky Moscow Art Theater. It was directed by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev, Liza Arzamasova plays Cinderella, and I play the stepmother. This, of course, is a complete delight. A delightful performance in terms of the fact that it is a real spectacle, a beautiful large-scale project with stunning costumes by Victoria Sevryukova, treated kindly by all sorts of awards from theater festivals. No expense was spared on decorations. Everything there is in crystal, in garlands – from floor to ceiling. Golden watch with gears. All this shimmers, just delight! A prince with a saber expresses his feelings in a real forest to classical music. The performance is musical, we all sing there “Stand up, children, stand in a circle.” And then the children in the hall sing with us on their bows. Of course I am glad to participate in such a performance.

– With the actress Liza Arzamasova, you meet not for the first time in your work. You starred together in “Daddy’s Daughters”, she played Glina Sergeevna, you are Venik’s mother. “Daddy’s daughters” are now returning to the STS channel. Will you share scenes with her there?

– While this is a secret, an intrigue, I have no right to talk about it, we are asked not to disclose details. We really worked with Lisa on “Daddy’s Daughters”, and for the first time in our lives we got into one performance. All the time behind the scenes we rejoice that this happened, we kiss, we hug: “How so! Are we really working in the same performance?!” Because everyday life in a metropolis, after all, it takes artists in different directions – you need to have time to do everything – both for your audience and for your family.

Our warm relationship began long before filming, from the moment when we were still living in Vladivostok. I love Lisa’s family very much, I know her mother Yulia, a very creative and gifted person. I have known Lisa almost since birth. I looked at this wonderful child and told her mother Yulia that her child was absolutely extraordinary, wonderful and seemed to come from outer space. Lisa had such extraordinary eyes as a child, she looked as if she knew everything about a person, her gaze pierced through and through. I have seen only two such children in my life. So we have a fairly large joint biography, we auditioned for various projects together.

— There are many interesting intersections in your life. For example, you play Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya in the theater, but Ranevskaya was the reference stepmother in the same Cinderella in the Soviet film, so loved by all of us … Does your stepmother look like Ranevskaya’s stepmother or is she completely different?

– In fact, such intersections are happiness. I notice that Faina Georgievna from the moment when I began to create her image on stage in the play “The Lonely Mocker” gives me constant surprises. Remember her famous phrase: “Oh, it’s a pity the kingdom is not enough, there is nowhere to roam!” One spectator approached me and said: “I was very afraid that you would pronounce this phrase, copying Ranevskaya’s intonation, but you did it in a completely different way, in a different territory and amazingly.” And I suddenly realized that while working on the role I was not at all guided by Faina Georgievna and her image, although I really like him. But it’s more intimate, and in our performance, the wonderful director Slava Starodubtsev added musical numbers, I dance a habanera with a scarlet fan and make the corporal tell the king without trying on that this shoe suits my daughter. I recruit him for three barrels of wine and new tarpaulin boots. Faina Georgievna has none of this. We play the same role with her, but in different territories. Yes, and the director immediately made it clear to me that one should not borrow any intonations from Faina Georgievna, that one must go from oneself. So I went on my own.

Where will we see you in the new year?

– The film “Golden Neighbors” is already on the screen, as well as the sports drama “Starting over”. Now the series “Lady with a Dog” has started on the channel “Russia”, many people call me, thanking me for my work in it. In February, the film “Peppermint Gingerbread” will be released, I have a small role there. And on March 16, a big premiere of the film “In the sun, along the rows of corn” is planned, about a pilot who landed a plane with failed engines right in a cornfield. Well, constant trials are going on, I won’t talk about what has not been done yet.

– Are you going to go somewhere on vacation during the New Year holidays?

– Yes you! What kind of New Year holidays can an actress have?! From January 1 to January 10, I non-stop play in the theater both Ranevskaya in The Lonely Mocker and the stepmother in Cinderella. I also play in “Mother-in-Law with a Surprise” at the Comedy Theater, where the mother-in-law, self-sufficient and power-hungry, does not want to become a grandmother and sit with her grandchildren, for which fate presents her with an unexpected, downright shocking gift – a very, by the way, funny play. The workload these days is enormous.

— Well, where will you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

— New Year is a family joy. Our beloved matchmakers, the parents of the youngest son-in-law, live in Istra, and we will celebrate with them. A beautiful Christmas tree is always decorated there, they are friendly and very hospitable people. The table is bursting with dishes – herring under a fur coat, salads, traditional Russian salad, baked shank. We will definitely set off fireworks. And for the younger children we order Santa Claus, who descends from the roof along the rope and climbs through the window in the apartment on the third floor. There is such a service – Santa Claus comes through the window. The delight of the children knows no bounds, they run to him, stumble, do a lot!

Taking this opportunity, I want to congratulate all Russians, my colleagues and readers of Moskovskaya Pravda, wish them good health and a peaceful sky over their heads. This is the most important thing for all of us right now. The rest will follow.

Elena Bulova.

Photos provided by Olga Khokhlova