Julia Peresild: "My profession has begun to be useful!"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

We met with actress Yulia Peresild after her rehearsal in a new performance on Malaya Bronnaya. She does not like to take part in social events and take part in photo shoots. This is a serious and thoughtful person, an interesting conversationalist, a bright woman and a talented actress. The fact that there is always a place for a miracle in our life - our interview.

Julia Peresild: We are rehearsing a new play, Rabbit Hole. But I don't like to talk about new works, because nobody knows how it will turn out later.

Cleo: Have you always been an excellent student? Does the excellent pupil's complex bother you?

Julia Peresild: Yes, almost always, I graduated from GITIS with honors. He doesn’t bother me much, but sometimes I’m angry that I’m an excellent student. Growing up, over the years I break it, I try to destroy it, sometimes it works. The worst thing in the acting profession is to be an excellent student. This profession requires violation of laws, requires the commission of such acts, which are not easy for excellent students to do.

Blitz "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- Not good.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- Rudeness.

- Where did you spend your last vacation?

- In Greece.

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- Pumpkin.

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- How to say … Capercaillie? I go to bed late, I get up early.

- What turns you on?

- Music.

- Do you have a talisman?

- A cross, if you can call it a talisman (shows a pectoral cross and an amulet).

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- Yours will not leave you. And second, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

К.: What is the most vivid memory from GITIS?

Julia Peresild: GITIS is a kaleidoscope of memories. Having passed the theater institute, and having passed it for real, you get an invaluable experience. It was a course with a master, with whom we spent 20 hours a day. And not so - we studied for three hours and went to the Lamborghini out of town. This is also sometimes taught in some theatrical universities (laughs). It was tough, serious, scary - a million impressions. We even almost set fire to GITIS - we had Zhenya Tkachuk, who invented a sketch about vagants. It was evening (as if night), the teachers left GITIS, and we, with burning torches, had to run along the windows. It was, of course, spectacular, but after that we were almost all kicked out. This desire for the theater to turn the soul, the desire for the theater not to leave indifferent, of course, almost led us to expulsion. What we just didn’t get up to! (Smiles.)

К.: And what about the teachers?

Julia Peresild: We had an amazing staff of teachers, this was Kudryashov's first course at the directing department. We had Agaeva - the head of the Vakhtangov theater. Kudryashov, Zemlyakov, Glushkov, Sopolev, Granitova - they were all with us every single day. The teachers are unique. Thanks to Kudryashov, I became what I became. Of course, thanks to my mother and God. But in the sense of the profession, it was a powerful platform.

К.: Who else can you name among the actors and directors who influenced you?

Julia Peresild: Zhenya Mironov. It is a shame to play next to such a partner somehow wrong … He is such a professional person that it is just that even if you are standing next to him, you are already learning. Each performance with him is a study. If you are not completely idiot, then you can learn a lot from him. Just don't take all the comments he makes with hostility. Vice versa! If he made a remark to you, you need to be aware of the happiness that you got.

К.: You do not serve in any theater. But you still play in theaters. What is the reason for this choice?

Julia Peresild: I do not serve in any theater - this is my conscious fundamental decision. Because I believe that repertory theater is destructive for young artists. There is no troupe in the Theater of Nations - this is a completely new type of theater. The Theater of Nations has thousands of faces, this is its charm and this distinguishes it from everything that happens. There are countless directors there. Therefore, to which director you find yourself, that theater is what you do. And in the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya I play, but I do not belong to it and never belonged, because I have never been in a troupe of any theater in my life. If you say that I belong to one thing or that is close to me? Nothing is close to me. The more and the more varied the material, the further the directors stand from each other, the more interesting it is to me. We, "kudryashi" (graduates of the course of Kudryashov - author's note), are somewhat similar to each other. We were raised by a master and passed on to us his secret knowledge about music in the theater, about its meaning and use.

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K.: How did you end up in theaters?

Yulia Peresild: "Warsaw Melody" was chosen for Danya Strakhov. I got there by accident. I think, thanks to "Shukshin's Tales". We just saw some girl and decided to take her - initially it was like that. And in "Keeler Joe" at the Theater of Nations there was a casting, at which I was selected by the director. It always happens there - sometimes it is an open casting, audition, and sometimes the director goes to the performances, meets and gets to know the artists he likes.

K.: It turns out that everything is a chain of accidents? Or do you believe in fate?

Yulia Peresild: I believe in fate. A chain of accidents and fate - I'm afraid they are one and the same. Fate is also an accident. After all, you do not know her, we can’t assume her, so it’s an accident for us.

K.: Does a person decide his own destiny or is everything predestined from above?

Yulia Peresild: I think that everything from above is decided. But if you lie on the couch and do nothing, it is absurd to expect something from fate. Although … After graduating from GITIS, I just lay on the couch and for the seventh time revisited "Portraying the Victim". And at that moment they called me and said: "Hello, can you meet in a cafe with Kirill Serebrennikov tonight?" I, of course, was stunned. If we talk about whether a person decides his own destiny … I always cite as an example Gogol's wonderful phrase - yours will not leave you. I know someone does this: oh, let's go to Instagram, 10 million likes! Or we will post all your photos on Facebook. Why chase it? This is not an end in itself! And then, all this should come naturally, by itself. There is nature, a profession, they cannot be violated. There are so many such allegedly artificially created stars, and we all perfectly understand this. But never fool the viewer.

K.: I propose to return to the moment when you graduated from GITIS and lay on the couch, doing nothing … And now - you are successful and famous

Julia Peresild: Popularity and success are two different things. As well as popularity and profession. There are musical jams. Now, if there were acting jams, I think that my classmates would be several heads taller than those who are now flickering on the screen! I know which of them is worth what and what thoughts are rolling in their heads. I don't think of criteria for popularity. Based on the requirements of this criterion, you need to go to all parties, fashion shows, etc. Yes, there is nothing wrong with that. Who wants what. We just go the other way. This is how the master taught us - for us the thought and the process are much more interesting than what they say about it. You know, I always get in a state of shock when I get to a party. They are very interesting though. At some point, when everyone in the audience says: "Hey, I'm so popular!" - "And I'm even more popular!" - “And I - still!”, Then I think: “Why don't I know any of your roles? What have you played? Anywhere? " There is no answer to this. But on the other hand, the popularity is off scale. After all, if you are an actor, then what does an actor do? Plays roles.

К.: By the way, about the roles. You have been playing in "Warsaw Melody" for the 6th year with unchanged success

Julia Peresild: It's incredibly interesting to play the same text about something completely different every time. On December 23, we played the 100th performance. I don't remember two performances alike. In this performance, Golomazov gave us freedom and air, but at the same time gave an interesting and serious analysis. You play this performance differently every time, you live this life. And Gela is different every time. For example, you act in one movie and it becomes like that. You act in another - and she turns the other side. The character lives.

Popularity and success are two different things. As well as popularity and profession.

К.: Who helps you with this? Partner?

Julia Peresild: With Daniel we always work together. Before the performance, we must definitely look at each other, understand who is in what mood. To understand what we are going to play this performance about today. What hurts now, what has changed in the world? Who came with what and what is Vitek today? It is very important to ask these questions. The play is almost always attended by Tatyana Marik, who is the second director, a student of Sergei Anatolyevich. This is a unique person! She does not receive a dime for her visits, and for the past six years she has been going to almost every performance. Then she gives her comments, after the performance is analyzed, she can say unpleasant words. She doesn’t say pleasant - it’s understandable: the audience is happy, flowers … In this sense, this performance is just a gift of fate, happiness. A play to which you come exhausted and squeezed like a lemon, and something starts in it, which makes you come to life, feel good and even recover if you are sick. Tanya is simply an irreplaceable and holy person. Thanks to her, this performance is kept in the form in which it is. The third eye is generally needed.

К.: Popularity is still the recognition of the public, which is the measure of the artist and without which his activities are not so appreciated?

Julia Peresild: I did not have this: "in the morning I woke up famous." This is definitely very nice. Believe me, it's much more pleasant for me when you meet with a person after the performance who is waiting for you to talk and say something good. Or when letters are sent and it is pleasant to answer them. When there is direct contact with people. It's not about popularity - I'm even afraid of this word, because it is somehow spiritless … This word has more responsibility than pleasantness. For example, I like it better when I am not recognized.

К.: Is it true that you still take the subway?

Julia Peresild: Yes. I have a car, I can drive it, but this is also my principled position - I do not want to lose touch with reality.

К.: Do they recognize you?

Julia Peresild: Sometimes they find out. I can roughly imagine my viewer. Sometimes they give me a business card, and I'm usually on the phone or in a book, and then I look, and there is some head of the literary department, or - a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, or an employee of the Tretyakov Gallery. And I think: “God! Why didn't I ask for a tour? These are all very interesting people. Girls came to my play, and then it turned out that they were studying at the Faculty of Ecology at Moscow State University, what interesting things they told me! I can't say that I have a lot of fans among ultra-modern guys. Probably, in the crowd of young filmmakers, I am not quite my own person. But, to be honest, I don't really strive for this.

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K.: And you are doing auteur films, as far as I know …

Yulia Peresild: I don’t know, it seems to me that it’s a shame to refuse VGIK. Who if not us? I have not yet entered the ranks of the mastodons. I’m in some middle category, when it’s like I’m not very far from the institute and I’m not very far from the top. So if something doesn't work out, let's sit down and discuss what can be done? I've always been lucky with people. Senior comrades never told me: “Fuck you! Do it yourself! They always accepted me, they understood me. True, I did not run away from this and did not say that I knew everything.

K.: Which year have you been an angel of the Galchonok charity foundation?

Julia Peresild: Third year. I came to them when they just opened and declared themselves. I met with the founder of the fund. They invited me. These are children with organic lesions of the central nervous system. Cerebral palsy is a branch of all this complex of diseases. There are both autistic people and children with other diagnoses.

The point is not that these children have worried me all my life, but that at that moment I was ripe for my profession to begin to bring more tangible benefits. And if we return to the conversation about the notorious popularity … This is the only thing that can make me go to these parties! I go there, spend the whole day. Today was supposed to be an event, I said that I would come, but then I realized - no, I will not go. On November 14, our children and families who bought tickets came to the "Stikhovenie". This performance, all the decorations and props, the whole atmosphere in general - everything was created at home. That year was the year of the Goat, and I played Gurchenko, I was wearing a Goat costume, whoever I could, I traveled around. This year, the Theater of Nations allowed us to make free admission for all the kids for the New Year's performance. Of course, we didn't take any money. It is interesting to communicate with such children, it is insane happiness. Sometimes I would like to communicate more often … At one time we had "Fairy Readings", where we talked a lot with our guys, but we developed into a different form and are now looking for a site where to play it. We had a good performance. First, wonderful literary material that the children did not know. Secondly, great artists who invested in it without money as much as they could. Thirdly, there are many sponsors and people who have helped us. At the end of the performance, we feed all the children with jam! And the children were in a pig's delight from this! As if they had never eaten jam in their lives. (Laughs.) We didn't think the kids would like it that much. At the end, the grandmother leaves, who feeds everyone with jam. This year the grandmother was Chulpan Khamatova. I would like the role of a grandmother to always be a symbolic person whom everyone loves, respects, and appreciates. Adults came up with tears: "Oh, well, you have this grandmother - that's all …" There was a moment when I felt like crying, and it seemed funny.

К.: Why don't you like photo shoots?

Julia Peresild: Not the fact that it will be professional. And then - after all, a certain amount of time will be spent on it.

К.: Are you not convinced that this will be a worthy result?

Julia Peresild: I am not convinced that this will somehow affect my destiny. Even the painting "Gurchenko" is not a fact that it played a plus in my creative destiny. But still, it somehow influenced my life. And to do what does not affect in any way … It's even scary to spend and lose time on this. Life is so short… When you help children, it’s not a fact that your help will have the desired effect… But you understand that it’s not in vain all the same: what if it’s something! Maybe in vain, or maybe not in vain. Chances are it's not in vain!