Danila Dunaev: "I do not like to narrow the scope for myself in my work"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

Actor Danila Dunaev is at the peak of popularity today. At the same time, he manages to do everything at once - and participate in television projects, and appear in TV shows and movies, tries himself as a director and performer of songs. He spoke in an exclusive interview with Cleo about how he manages everything, what films he watches in his free time and how, in his opinion, our cinema differs from Hollywood.

Today you are literally snapped up - and programs, and serials, and your own projects. Discover the secret - how do you manage everything? Do you have time for rest?

I will reveal a big secret - there is always free time. Lack of time is a common myth among business people. In fact, everything depends on each person. Someone really does not have a free minute, he is constantly worn, spends a huge amount of energy. I spend, probably, more discretely, I don't even do 5 concerts a month, because I understand that I won't be enough. Maximum 2-3, because I give my best.

Blitz "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- Of course, with the head. Sometimes it would be necessary to arrange detoxification.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- Despondency.

- Where did you spend your last vacation?

- I have no vacation. I mostly travel around the world for work. If I get tired of work, my vacation is always at home with my family.

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- Yes, three: Giraffe (because it is long), Elephant (because it is healthy) and Walrus (because it was always the first to jump into a cold pool).

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- I am Savoronok or Zhova. (Laughs) I go to bed late and get up early. But lately the trend is towards Lark.

- How do you relieve stress?

- Reflections, household chores, walks with the family.

- What turns you on?

- Lie.

- Which animal do you associate yourself with?

- With a big cat.

- What melody is on your mobile?

- Basta Rhimes Get High Tonight.

- Do you have a talisman?

- Yes. My wife.

- What is your psychological age?

- 25-27 years old.

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- The worse the better.

The series are just catching up with me, they were once filmed, I periodically take part in the filming, and sometimes it turns out that several projects come out in a row.

Rest is sacred. The head should always be fresh, so for me naps are a must, if not every day, then at least every other day. Because if you are constantly in the rhythm, then you will be enough for a very short time. And my creative and work life develops in such a way that I always have time to rest and think.

And also, probably, I have time to do everything simply because I like to do everything quickly. I do not delay with projects. If I understand that I cannot do something myself, I definitely delegate, I find professionals who help me with this. If you have a good team, there are many things you shouldn't do. So it is very important to delegate, respect your time and count your strength. I guess I'm very good at calculating my strength.

Recently the project "Just the same" was completed, where you, firstly, acted not as a teacher (as in previous seasons), but as a participant, and secondly, received the Audience Award. How do you remember this show?

It was remembered by literally everyone, because for me it is significant. 2 years ago I got on the first project of reincarnation as a teacher, then it was called differently. Then I was invited for the first season of "Just the same", and now I have become a participant in it. It is always very important to leave the opportunity to learn something. From all the participants in this season, I definitely took something for myself. And of course, the main event was when I went to the site myself. Because it's one thing to watch, but it's completely different to sing in serious make-up with a huge number of cameras on the main stage of the country. On the one hand, this is a huge responsibility, on the other - a completely crazy drive. I didn’t do some things before the project and must officially declare that I started singing in February 2015. Before that, about 7 years ago, I studied with a teacher, Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya, a great master and a great singer. She once revealed in me the singing possibilities, and I was able to fully apply them in the project “Just the same”. For me, this is a big milestone and a big step forward, so many thanks to Channel One and personally to Yuri Aksyuta, who invited me to participate.

Which celebrity you yourself would like to show, but, shall we say, did not have time? Why?

Yes, a lot of people. We talked about this with Yuri Viktorovich Aksyuta, and when I called someone I want to do, he kept jokingly saying: “Boy, I got it, this is from your itunes”. He is absolutely right, because the audience of the channel is huge, and there are not so many taste opportunities and knowledge of truly legendary characters. And many times in all seasons they showed the same. For example, I wanted to sing Nina Simone, the legendary soul singer, but no one knows what she looks like. Or Missy Eliot, she is very popular in America, but we know her very little. Basta Rhimes, Brian Ferry, Jerry Lee Lewis. I wanted to do Justin Timberlake, but there was a great fear that it would be a hefty and awkward Timberlake. But I seem to be able to move and in the end I made an image much more complex than Justin, this is JK from Jamiroquai. Difficult, because, firstly, he is one and a half meters tall, constantly dances and he always has very difficult vocals.

Of course, I didn't have time for something, but I think I will have time to do it at my professional concerts.

Do you prefer to act as a teacher or go on stage yourself?

A teacher, who is also a director - this, of course, is much more difficult. 168 images of participants, plus images of guests, pass through your head. Also, at least 4 days of runs before the programs and plus also individual lessons - you need to keep everything in your head: from time to time the head exploded. In the same season, I worked for my own pleasure. From time to time I helped my colleagues - someone asked him or I came up, said something.

You not only play the music of others, but you also sing your own. On June 11, you are preparing a big solo concert in Moscow. What can those who do not yet know Danila the performer expect from him?

Wait for nothing. Life teaches that it is better to be pleasantly surprised. I have my own material, let's call it intellectual hip-hop. There is no thieves' corporate identity in it. All songs are written within the meaning, in each song some kind of story is necessarily revealed. This year our project is 8 years old. For a very long time we were looking for a sound that would be understandable to the Russian ear and at the same time would respect the style, in my opinion, we found it.

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None of the songs were written in a week or 2 days. Each is a year of work. They are very energy intensive, a lot has been invested in them. Each of the songs is like a micro-performance.

And also thanks to the project "Just the same" I can now perform cover versions of songs of my favorite artists and not only those that were announced in the project. Naturally, I will not completely reincarnate, but I will observe the vocal style. That is, I will dilute my songs with those on which I grew up.

My solo concerts are very important to me, it is something completely separate from what I have done before. It will be a mixture of music, words, and artistic skill.

Tell us about your character in La Dolce Vita. The series itself is positioned as very frank. Why did you agree to take part in it?

I came to the tests of the series as to the tests of any other project. I did not see the first season, they gave me the text, they said that the character Roman is a homosexual and needs to be portrayed somehow. Although in the end the role in the film turned out to be such that it is not completely clear. But after all, people of this orientation cannot always say that they are gay.

As for frankness, maybe this is so for our television, but it seems to me that everything is quite touching there and there is nothing special. Well, yes, from time to time the girls strip naked, we all swear, but all this beeps, naked places are closed, and in the end it all works for the general sense that nothing in this world is possible without love. Everything here is just like in life. When you watch this show, you don't pay attention to all these details.

The series is a marathon and a test for professional suitability - can you quickly turn on, can you keep the topic of what you are playing for a long time.

What is your favorite genre, movie or TV series?

You can't separate movies and TV shows. The series is also a movie. This is a marathon and a test for professional fitness - can you turn on quickly, can you keep the topic of what you are playing about for a long time. One of the best examples for me is the actress Sveta Ivanova, who knows not only her role, but also the role of a neighbor and can tell the text. She is a very serious professional and completely unique. I'm not like that. (Laughs.) I never cram a text to such an extent, it does not work, due to the fact that I have a director's brain, I start directing this text for myself, which then may eventually interfere with the director on the set. Therefore, I am more of a supporter of improvisation.

And in full-length films they work more on artistry, on the atmosphere of the frame. One scene can be filmed for several days. In a series, this cannot be, several scenes are necessarily filmed there a day, because there are deadlines.

Therefore, I can't say about my favorite genre. I just love movies.

What films do you yourself watch?

I really love science fiction. She has always been a fundamental genre for me. I believe that it contains all the elements of drama and tragedy that exist. If you paid attention, any fiction is very medieval, always a little Shakespearean: big passions, big characters, surely some of the heroes have a shield, or a sword, or a spear, etc. Science fiction tries to interest a person with something otherworldly, extraterrestrial, although in general the themes are disclosed the same as elsewhere.

I also like to watch a good drama. I have two of my favorite films about the relationship between a man and a woman - "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "Gone Girl." They talk about the same thing, but from completely different angles. The first is more fantasy, and the second is realism, detective and psychological thriller together.

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I also like the movie "Real Ghouls", an absolutely incredible picture of how modern vampires live, who are stuck in time and live in consciousness two hundred years ago, and the 21st century is at the same time. Very cool movie made.

As Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky said: “I recognize any art except boring.”

What will the short films you are working on look like? What are they about?

The first film "Rabbit", which, by the way, has now won the main prize at the Hawaiian Festival as the best foreign film. In fact, this is a screen version of an old anecdote. For a very long time I pored over the fact that this director is doing it wrong, but that one is this. And then I think - take his place yourself, try to do something, and try. He shot the film very simple, very intelligible, starring Oleg Fomin, Nadya Zharycheva and Kirill Shcherbin. Vasily Soloviev, a former NTV commentator and now a film producer, also appeared in one of the roles. The result is a funny story, quite simple and dynamic, about the trip of a young couple, who is in the first crisis of relations, to their dacha and about the events that changed these relations. We are planning to shoot fantastic films.

The most important thing is that it is interesting and understandable, and there must be a main idea. Even if I shoot super-mega-sci-fi, it will still be either about family, or about love, or about parting, etc. My films will always be strictly about relationships.

But in general I am a person of the situation, if the mood develops, I will shoot a movie, if not, I will be an artist. I do not like to limit my scope.

Are there any plans to shoot a full-length film on your own? What could it be?

Yes, there are plans, but these are far-reaching plans, we still need to live to see that.

Would you like to work in Hollywood?

I would like to work, but just for the sake of interest. Because everyone has a different attitude to work, a different approach. But there is no end in itself, and I am not dissembling. I really want to work here, perform here, make films here, for our market, because I believe that Hollywood is very blurry now, a huge number of superhero and vampire sagas have appeared. Although, of course, in their home market there are new excellent authors who will definitely soon enter the world market. But we need our own.

We had great Soviet cinema, which is now taking a very long time to regenerate. Sometimes some diamonds turn out like Sergei Mokritsky, who shot "The Battle of Sevastopol", Zvyagintsev, there are still guys … A wonderful comedy "Bitter!", It is really for Russia. We have a lot of things, but everything is one-time. I would like to have our own industry, so that we do and look at us, as it was then. It's not that I'm dreaming of Soviet times, it's just that it was.

We have a lot of things in the cinema, but everything is one-off. I would like to have our own industry, so that we do, and they look at us, as it was then.

As frightening as it may be to say this, Stalin created the cinema system at one time, he was, of course, an incredible tyrant and a bloody murderer, but with all this he created an instrument that worked for ideology, and the charge was so strong that it lasted up to 90 x years. And we had both Oscars and Palm Branches, and after all, not all were released yet, otherwise they would have broken the market altogether, probably. One Bondarchuk Sr. is worth something, and the younger is also good.

In general, yes, it is interesting in Hollywood, but only if you go and then come back and do something so that everyone is stunned.

Another project of yours is the preparation of the performance. Tell us more about it

I am a big fan of Stanislav Lem's book "Solaris", and in February next year we will release a large multimedia one-man show, a presentation of the book "Solaris". A very serious team is being planned to work on this performance. The goal is the awareness of the book. And I really want to show the viewer that this is not something abstruse. Tarkovsky shot a brilliant film, but he shot absolutely his own story. Lem there is very conditional. But the book talks about very global things. One of the main themes in it for me is the scientist's reflections on God and the recognition of the existence of God. And the second theme is man to man solaris, that is, we seem to be all so similar, but nevertheless we do not understand what is going on in each other's heads. And world conflicts, political wars occur simply because we cannot agree, everyone has their own interests. Perhaps, if it is successful, if we are satisfied with the work, we will take on a full-length film.