Today Maxim Averin is one of the most sought-after Russian theater and film actors. He appears on the stages of many theaters, and appears before the audience in different theatrical genres.
We spoke with People’s Artist of Russia Maxim Averin, who talked about participating in new shows, inspiration and what connects him with the Moscow evening.
— Maxim, what theatrical and cinematic projects are you currently involved in?
“Every time they ask me about this, I say: Wait! After all, a play or a film with my participation has just come out. The TV series “Sklifosovsky” is currently being filmed. Recently I played at the Russian Army Theater in the premiere of “The Proposal” by Alexander Lazarev. This is something new for you, but not for me. There are two or three premieres per season. Quite a lot. I also continue to play on the stage of satire in the plastic drama “Masquerade Without Words.”
Sometimes I think I’m about to hand over another job, and suddenly I get a call again from Sasha Lazarev (Alexander Lazarev is the chief director of the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army. – “Virtual machine“), which offers me a new role. I have already participated in four of his performances. First there was “Running”, where I play General Charnota, then Pontius Pilate in “Roman” based on the work of Mikhail Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”. Well, I would be a fool, not an artist, if I refused to rest only. And I would have been wrong if I had not played Yevgeny Arbenin in the Satyr Theater, and even in an experimental play. Or in the classical production of “The Jungle” where I appeared As a tragic actress.
And in “Lenkom Mark Zakharov” I am busy with as many as five productions. In addition to “Running”, which I already mentioned, these are the wonderful performances of Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov: “Marriage”, where he played the role of Kochkarev, and “Funeral Prayer”, where he appeared in the role of Menachem Mendel. These are also new productions – “Hamlet”, where I play Claudius, “Orchestral Rehearsal”, where I get the role of first violin. And now comes the first show organized by our artistic director Vladimir Pankov. I’m talking about the film “The Great Schemer” based on the novel by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, the premiere of which will take place on June 9 and 10.
— It is noteworthy that this is the third performance of the new artistic director of Lenkom Vladimir Pankov.
– Yes. And I really like working with him, because there’s improvisation. And I love it. Moreover, there is also a live orchestra. Simply wonderful. And of course, the amazing humor of the wonderful texts by Ilf and Petrov is valuable – just diamond prose!
– Who are you playing in the play?
— My hero is the underground millionaire Kuriko. He is not a miserly knight agonizing over his millions, but a man who sings and dances and imagines how he will live and spend this money, but he cannot do it; He wants love, but it doesn’t work here either…
In general, I always treat a new role and production as an adventure.
– The specificity of production is the music…
Music is one of the tools that influence scenes, whether in cinema or theatre. She’s a partner. If the artist is playing bad, turn on the music. So, please note that all our series are now an endless playlist. But when music becomes the hero of a movie or play, I’m a huge fan. And in our production, as I said, there is a live orchestra, and this is a completely different breath.
– 50 artists participate in the production. Is it comfortable to play when there are a lot of colleagues on stage?
— As Roman Viktyuk said, the presence of two paintings on the stage is already theater. Any theatrical space is mine, and I’m always there like a fish in the sea.
But Pankov somehow manages to draw everyone into the event, despite the fact that he promises every time that he won’t. For example, in an “orchestral rehearsal” production, the entire theater plays and not only the dramatic artists, but also the chorus and orchestra. A little lower here. It’s great to cast different actors for the same role.
– What kind of theatrical performances do you think audiences need today?
“I will answer this: In art there should be everything but the boring.” But against the backdrop of what is happening recently in the field of theater, I would like to ask some people a question: “Did you dream of this in the beginning, did you want to reach exactly this result?”
In any case, theater cannot be merely entertainment. This is the art that should heal the soul. Something similar happens when you listen to music or look at works of art. In my opinion, the purpose of theater is to save. At least today – for sure…
I believe that we will overcome all these crises, modernizations and unifications. Bolshoi Theater, Lenkom, Taganka Theater, Sovremennik and others… Previously, each theater had its own idea, and they were not alike. Maybe something must happen, something must be born again. I really hope so.
– Don’t ticket prices seem too high to you sometimes?
“You still need to walk the ground and understand that many theaters inflate their prices not because they want to, but because the theater, for example, has workshops where they make scenery, props, costumes, and all this costs money.
In general, going to the theater should be a holiday, a rather life-changing event. Expectations, expectations, feelings… and everything must be done to ensure that these hopes of the viewer are fulfilled.
Does your busy schedule allow you to go to theatres?
– Not as much as we would like, but it works. And I like it very much. It is impossible to not hear the time and live in your cocoon. Although there are artists who cook their own juice. Maybe something like this could happen too. But I just need to see a movie or a play or an exhibition. I need this, I feel kind of hungry for such things.
-What movies do you like to watch?
– Different. Sometimes I come home at night and turn on some stupid, dumb comedy. Sometimes I spend my time watching TV series. For example, I really like the performance of American actress Jessica Lange. I’ve been a fan of hers since childhood, ever since her appearance in the movie Tootsie. I’m crazy about her.
I have also seen Soviet cinema, so I have something to compare with. As for the series, they used to say about them: The third grade is not a waste. Now it’s the opposite, it’s a great format.
Sometimes I talk to the TV, and when I see some kind of cinematic breakdown, I say: “Well, not to the same extent… Well, that’s not really necessary…”. I also love historical films. It turns out I’m pretty versatile (laughs).
You can also teach students at the Shchukin School. Maybe you feel great happiness when sharing your experience with young people?
– vice versa. Very scary. When pedagogy came into my life, I initially thought it was time, and somehow I happily immersed myself in it. Evgeny Knyazev, dean of the Shchukin Institute, told me it was time to pay off the debt. They also said that teaching gives you energy, but in reality it takes a lot of energy. Yes, you have experience, but men have untouched souls. This is an enormous responsibility.
30 years ago we were released into the void, and there was nothing. Which theaters and cinemas? Oh my goodness! What are you talking about?.. Now it’s more difficult, because the choice is huge.
How do you not get lost in all this?
– That’s it. When I come to students, I know what to tell them about it. It’s not just about theory, I also prepare them for practice, where they will go off, make mistakes and fall. There’s a lot they don’t know.
But what happens to theaters worries me. A huge number of theater institutes were opened, and a large number of young people graduated.
– But no one participates in the distribution?
– Yes. After completing their studies, children need to find work and earn money. And they want to become famous artists. This is good. Yevgeny Knyazev says that it is impossible to have so many theater schools. For one city – a lot. It is difficult to attract the audience’s attention.
– She published a collection of poems…
“My friends got together and forced me to take such a step. If this were my profession, I would sit up at night and work and exhaust the paper. Thus, when the poems are born, I write them in a notebook that I always carry with me. And I do it by hand the old-fashioned way.
-You are left-handed. They say that these people have a special mentality…
“I’d better ask people who are my friends and live with me about this.” In Soviet times, left-handers were retrained. But my mother came to school and said: “My son is left-handed, so don’t touch him.”
But terrible situations arose in the pioneer camp. When the detachment lined up and it was necessary to turn left, he turned to the right. Everyone thought I was joking. A kind of torture…
But over the years I accepted and fell in love with myself. Previously, there was a desire to be loved. Youth and career made themselves felt. Now it’s different. There is no such goal. The main thing is to attract the attention of the audience and captivate them …
– Tell me, is it true that you did not speak until you were four years old?
– But now you can’t stop… I’ll tell you a story. In an intelligent family, a child grew up who never spoke. The parents thought the boy might have been mute. When he was seven years old, everyone was sitting at the table and eating dinner, and then the birthday boy said: “It seems to me that the meat is not cooked enough.” Everyone was amazed: What are you saying? He replied: “Yes, and it is wonderful.” “Why have you been silent for so many years?” “Before this, everything suited me.”
— You first found yourself on the set of the Mosfilm film studio, where your father worked, when you were five years old. Remember that time?
“I was shocked – the scenery, the lighting equipment, the smells of the film… kind of magical.” At the age of nine, I was playing in the theater. I couldn’t help but love acting. I remember the first screenings in the House of Cinema, which no one had seen yet, in the Studio of Literary Expression. I was about 12 years old at the time. This is a big part of my life. Now the legendary building of the cinema has been destroyed, but not only because they wanted to demolish it, but because time is passing. As in the cult film “Pokrovsky Gates”.
I understand that Moscow is being built and changed and this is great. But I’m sad for that city, for the movie theater…
— We started talking about the capital, and I couldn’t help but ask about your favorite and most memorable places.
-There are a lot of them in the city. Mosfilm is gifted. The parents met there. I love the Arbat because I dreamed of entering the Shchukin School, Vorobyovy Gory, Hermitage Garden, where there was a reading room in the gazebo. I remember my father and I sitting there and drawing it. Now I am tormented by the fact that I cannot find this drawing.
I will also highlight Marina Roshcha, where the “Satyricon” named after Arkady Raikin is located. The theater was under reconstruction for a long time. I’m a good Muscovite, and I know the city well. As for “Moscow Evening”, it is dear to me, because when I was a teenager, I was about 13 years old, I went to earn money. I worked in the post office. In the morning I studied, and in the evening I read my favorite “Moscow Evening”.