Interview - Konstantin Khabensky, actor. Konstantin Khabensky about Tabakov, filming in bad films, the death of his first wife and how he got drunk on stage - What do you mean

Curving like a boomerang, the casting fate of Konstantin Khabensky forwarded him through all possible roles - a tyrant and a klutz, a warrior and a terrorist, a loser and a charismatic - from the role of a senior lieutenant in "Deadly Force" to the role of Rodion's investigator, which will cost many. Multiply the maniac from the series "Dexter" by Russian reflection and Shukshin's landscapes - and you get our "Method", not meaningless, but merciless. True love knows no boundaries - we went to visit the main actor of the country in Nizhny Novgorod, where in the very heart of the patrimony of Balabanov's "Blind Man's Bluff" the shooting of Alexander Tsekalo's production project is taking place.

From a street musician to the role of a maniac investigator in the series "Method" - Khabensky always goes his own way, doing and saying only what he considers necessary and important. He told us about the roles that influenced his life and how he changes the lives of others: about his charitable foundation, children's studios creative development and the musical "Generation of Mowgli", staged in collaboration with the MTS company.

At first, before entering the theater institute, you studied at the Leningrad College of Aviation Instrumentation. Would you like the liners to take to the skies with your name on board?

It was an absolutely normal desire for any free-thinking person to quickly leave school and from under the care of their parents into a free life. But by the third year of the technical school, I finally realized that only in theory I am a god, but in practice I don’t understand anything in technology at all, and I need to tie it up with this. I mastered many professions, in the eternal search for a source of income, I was a janitor, and floor polisher, and a street musician, and a stage fitter in the theater-studio "Saturday", which, by the way, is still alive today. It was in “Saturday” that I first appeared on stage as a so-called pea, that is, extras, then I had some words in the play, and pretty soon I felt an interest in acting. As soon as I liked it, I thought that there must be a university that teaches all this, and I decided to go to it.

That is, when submitting documents to LGITMiK, you did not consciously seek to enter the workshop of Veniamin Filshtinsky?

No, it was a happy accident. In the summer of 1990, I was going to enter two Moscow universities at the same time, I think GITIS and VGIK, but I just didn’t have enough money for a ticket, and I stayed in St. Petersburg. And so it ended up with Veniamin Mikhailovich.

In the early 1990s, not only the Soviet Union was collapsing, but the entire theater system. Did you ever feel like you chose the wrong profession?

All this misfortune fell on the shoulders of the course that was graduating before us. They could not find a job, many left the profession. But we were so busy studying - acting students are at the university from nine in the morning until midnight seven days a week - that we did not have time to think about how things would turn out. future life. As a result, thirteen people out of twenty-six who entered the diploma reached the diploma, and five of my fellow students work in their specialty today. The numbers speak for themselves.

However, you, and Mikhail Porechenkov, and Mikhail Trukhin, and Ksenia Rappoport, who studied at the same time as you, are successful in the profession. What did the master teach you?

First of all, dedication. And also the ability to give everything that you are capable of, at the very moment when you are called, for example, to audition for a movie.

In your last years at LGITMiK, you served in the Perekrestok theater.

He was in the attic of the long-demolished Palace of Culture named after the First Five-Year Plan, on the site of which is now the new stage of the Mariinsky Theater. It was an experimental theatre-studio in which our entire course played. We held out for a year and a half in 1995-1996 - quite a lot in the conditions of the then lack of money. They themselves made the scenery, they themselves sought the coveted hundred dollars from sponsors for the printing of posters, which they themselves then pasted around the city. Yuri Butusov's play "Waiting for Godot", staged there, was a great victory.

In the same years, did you try yourself as a TV presenter?

I led the Parovoz TV music chart on Regional Television, one of the most popular programs at that time. It seemed to be a job for the sake of money, but nevertheless I tried to look for some new forms of self-expression for myself. Then there was also the informational program "By the way", so I even managed to work as a news anchor, albeit not for long. He came up with some funny leads to humorous, in fact, plots. One grandmother, apparently our constant spectator, guarded me after the broadcast and indignantly attacked: “What are you doing, we believe you!”. It was then that I realized that it was not in vain that I studied acting. Working in television was a necessary practice for later work in film, to interact with the camera confidently and look confidently into the lens.

You did not immediately move to Moscow, working in two cities in parallel for several years.

Yes, there was a period in 1996-1997 when I played both in the Satyricon and in the Lensoviet Theater. In the Moscow theater, with Konstantin Arkadievich Raikin, he appeared on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac and in the Threepenny Opera, and in St. Petersburg - in the performances of Yuri Nikolaevich Butusov "Waiting for Godot" and "Woizeck". But soon he completely returned to St. Petersburg for several years, ceasing to play in Moscow, only because he missed the big job, which at that time was offered by Butusov at the Lensoviet Theater. It was the role of Caligula in the performance of the same name, and I did not even have any doubts about what to do.

You played in Caligula for ten years, arriving to this performance after moving to Moscow, and two years ago you returned to this play by Camus. Why?

Didn't release material. But since at my age it was already simply indecent to play in this performance, designed for a young performer, I chose a new form - a literary and musical evening, during which I read excerpts from the play, accompanied by symphony orchestra directed by Yuri Bashmet.

What age do you feel like?

In different ways, in this sense it chatters me very much: sometimes I forget and behave like a fourteen-year-old teenager, and sometimes some very old grandfather rushes out of me.

Can Yuri Butusov be called the closest theater director to you?

With Yuri Nikolayevich, we periodically converge again and again, I am always ready to cooperate with him. It is now even difficult to call his productions performances, they are rather theatrical mysteries with capital letter. I'll have the audacity to call myself his actor. I do not quite understand intellectual theater preferring the emotional one. One that will not let you fall asleep and reach out to the viewer in the thirty-second row. If a person in the theater laughs and cries, the goal is achieved. Then there is only clowning, this is generally aerobatics.

Can't work in the cinema or don't want to work with directors on an ongoing basis?

Do not abuse the attention of directors, moving from one of their projects to another. Even if you succeed, it's better to pause, step aside, see what the director is doing next, and connect on the next projects. Maybe it's the same in the theatre.

Did Oleg Tabakov personally invite you to the Moscow Art Theater in 2002?

Yes, we were introduced, and quite soon he offered me participation in one performance, which I considered uninteresting for myself. And literally two weeks later, an offer was received to play Zilov in " Duck hunting based on the play by Vampilov, and, of course, it was already impossible to refuse it.

Are you satisfied with your current employment at the Moscow Art Theater?

I went through everything. You can play thirty-four performances a month and not get tired at all, or you can go on stage four times a month and even after that you can hardly crawl. I do not want to come to the theater as a job, to treat it as a source of earning money. You need to go on stage, splash out and leave, but otherwise it makes no sense. Therefore, I still have voice loss periodically, and my eyes burst. Otherwise, I can't. And in this situation, it doesn't matter how many performances I'm busy with. As for my workload at the Moscow Art Theater, the story is very simple: at some point I asked Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov to release me for a while, for one season, from all productions, except for The Threepenny Opera, in order to take a break from the theater. He understood me, and we agreed that I would return in a year with a new idea. And so it happened, we came to him together with stage designer Nikolai Simonov and offered to stage Patrick Suskind's "Double Bass", already having a ready-made solution for the performance and scenery. It was brazen and bold, but I did not see how to take the next step in the profession in a different way. I had to break my back: before it was impossible, later it will be difficult. Our "Contrabass" is a production not so much about a musician, but about a person in a creative profession who is not doing his own thing. And I see around enough those who live by inertia, not looking for anything new. As a result, "Contrabass", which premiered this spring, turned out to be very correct both in terms of genre and, excuse me, in terms of the accumulated internal experience, human and acting.

Did you find the director yourself?

It was fate. Kolya Simonov and I were looking for someone who would develop and bring our idea to its logical conclusion. The young director Gleb Cherepanov at that moment was doing a performance on the Small Stage of the Moscow Art Theater, we talked with him and realized that we were suitable for each other.

The genre range of your film roles is extremely wide - from Kolchak in the biopic "Admiral" to a teacher from the city of Fingers in the comedy "Freaks". Is there any logic behind this?

Of course, there is a certain internal logic here: first of all, I am interested in doing something that I have not done before. It may be a new genre or character for me. But all these are reflections on the shore, and then, when we get into the boat, everything can turn out as you like, it is impossible to foresee the result, unfortunately. Of course, I want to break my stereotypical positive image created by the media. On the other hand, given the viewer's habit of associating an actor and his characters, I can't afford to play exclusively negative characters.

Do the roles played leave a mark on the life of an actor?

At first I thought they didn't show up. They appear, and how! In some cases, I can say this with pleasure, acquired on stage and in the cinema becomes part of your character, and in some cases - your destiny.

The role in the "Day Watch" did not bother you?

It cannot be said that I am baptized for every dome, but sometimes I refuse absolutely extreme offers. This may depend on the mood, fatigue or well-being at that particular moment. In fact, many factors influence when you are called for some kind of work, and you say no sharply and categorically.

In the series "Method", which is currently filming, the theme of violence is touched upon. You play the role of a maniac investigator.

The product that we are currently filming in Nizhny Novgorod for Channel One is a very tough story. But unlike most of our crime series, this is not just a thriller or detective story. The message here is very clear, which we agreed with the director Yuri Bykov and the producers from the very beginning. We are trying to explain to the viewer: everything that you, dear friend, see around you, is happening thanks to you, because you simply averted your eyes at the sight of injustice.

Is it important for you not to hide your eyes?

Yes, I consider this important, for example, answering your questions now. And I have no reason to look away.

In December, the film "Black Sea" directed by Kevin McDonald is released. Is this another step towards Hollywood?

It was another opportunity to work for my own pleasure and communicate with those with whom I was interested in doing this. This is Kevin himself, whose film “The Last King of Scotland” is remembered by many, and the leading actors Jude Law and Scoot McNairy. An interesting international company gathered at the project with the participation of Serezha Puskepalis, Sergei Veksler, Grisha Dobrygin, and I thought: why not? This is not a career growth, not a desire to go to Hollywood, but just another adventure. It is with this understanding that I relate to such stories, be it "Wanted", "Spy, get out!" or World War Z, from which my entire rather voluminous role was cut clean. I like to fantasize with colleagues who have become very famous, but retained the desire to develop themselves.

Do you feel like a Muscovite after twelve years of living in the capital?

It's hard for me to answer this question. I travel all over the country, and for the last six months, for example, I spend most of my time in Nizhny Novgorod. I can only say that I live everything in the same mode that is familiar to me.

In what exactly?

In the energy conservation mode, which is very characteristic of Petersburgers. I try not to run around with my tongue hanging out. And although I plan a lot for myself, even if I only do half of what I planned, I think that this is already good.

More than seventy people participate in the musical "Generation of Mowgli" - children and adults, famous and beginners. How did you manage to bring everyone together?

We hold an annual festival called Plumage, which attracts paratroopers from all the cities where our studios operate. At one of these festivals, the idea was born to make a modern version of the play based on Kipling's The Jungle Book, about a human cub in the stone jungle. Musician Alexei Kortnev joined the project as a composer, and artist Nikolai Simonov offered absolutely brilliant scenery. We didn't want it to be a performance with three cubes and one spotlight, the result had to be serious. As a result, a bright musical called “Mowgli's Generation” was born, in which seventy-two studio employees aged nine to fourteen years old and five adult actors are simultaneously employed. In my opinion, the performance came out completely not shameful, it has every chance of being sold out. So far it exists only in Kazan, but in December we are planning a premiere in Ufa. In general, according to my plans, in each of the eight cities in which our studios of creative development work, the musical "Generation of Mowgli" with its own cast of actors should be staged.

What is your role in this project?

We have a director, Ainur Safiullin, a graduate of Sergey Zhenovach's workshop. He will continue to work with this project in other cities. I acted here as the author of the idea, artistic director. All those whom I was able to attract to this project as technical specialists either agreed to work for a very symbolic remuneration, or refused it altogether, and many adult actors transferred their fees to our Foundation. Alexey Kortnev, Timur Rodriguez, Gosha Kutsenko did an excellent job with their roles, despite the fact that they are all crazy busy. I rehearsed with them on video, sent them recordings of the process, and when they arrived at the place, everyone was ready - entering into an already invented drawing was very fast. Of course, their names attract viewers and media attention to the performance. Now Timur Bekmambetov's team is editing a television version of the musical "Generation of Mowgli", which will be shown on the STS channel - the information partner of our project.

Is the performance intended to help the wards of your Foundation?

For two years I thought about how to involve my studio students in charity, but I did not want to directly push the guys against their peers who found themselves in a very difficult situation, literally on the verge of life and death - not every adult can emotionally endure this. And I am very glad that we put it all together so simply: the funds from each performance go directly to help the peers of young actors who are currently struggling with oncology. Thus, not speculatively and right on the school bench, our children understand that you need to be merciful and act. They see that it is possible to help not only with pocket money, which many of them often simply do not have, but with their energy, their soul. They realize that if they work with a cold nose, without any emotional cost, they will cease to be interesting to the public and, therefore, will not be able to help save someone's specific life. In general, you need to understand that "Generation of Mowgli" is not just a musical, but a huge charity project that we are implementing together with MTS. She has been supporting us almost from the first day, when the idea of ​​​​creating a performance was born, because with our modest financial resources we simply could not cope with such an expensive undertaking. Even though the original goal was to create a performance for children, we were able to go much further. First, we put the children's musical performance, in which on the same stage are involved famous actors, musicians and children from the regions. Second, we launched big story on the Internet: this is the official website of the project, dobroedelo.mts.ru, and the Generation of Mowgli group in in social networks where any child or teenager can take part in creative competitions and thereby help the wards of the Foundation. The point is that for creative work, as well as for all activity in social networks, points are awarded, which are then converted into real money and sent to charity. The Internet has become a kind of virtual laboratory where children can try themselves in various competitions aimed at developing their imagination and unlocking their creative potential.

Have you had to deal with refusals from businessmen, turning to them on the Fund's business?

Only because they already have their own similar charity projects. And so everyone goes along.

Is it not so easy to negotiate with officials?

Yes, this is more difficult. Most recently, I specially came to St. Petersburg on my day off to talk with the local city authorities: I suggested creating a city-wide studio here, holding our Plumage festival next year, preparing my own version of Mowgli's Generation and asked for help with the premises. Until I heard an answer.

Photo: Slava Filippov
Collages: Igor Skaletsky
Text: Vitaly Kotov

1972 January 11 was born in Leningrad. 1996 Begins work at the Moscow Satyricon Theatre. 2000 All-Russian glory comes with a role in the TV series "Deadly Force". 2004 The role of Anton Gorodetsky in the national blockbuster Night Watch. 2012 Becomes People's Artist of Russia.

I feel like I'm free, but I'm really not. I can offer my freedom of views only on stage

One of the most sensational domestic films of the year, The Geographer Drank His Globe Away by Alexander Veledinsky, is being released. A tragicomedy about a drinking teacher from the provinces, staged based on the novel of the same name by Alexei Ivanov, brought the creators several main prizes at Kinotavr - the Grand Prix of the main jury and the Grand Prix of the distributors' jury, as well as awards for music and best male role - Konstantin Khabensky. By all accounts, in this film, he most accurately played the hero of our time. Like it or not, the Friday columnist discussed in a conversation with Khabensky himself.

It seems that this role had to be matured somehow. Not in the process of reading the script and preparing for filming, but in advance.

It cannot be said - especially in the cinema - that you have been preparing for some kind of work for years. But I, although it sounds immodest, had a premonition of the role. I did not know what exactly I would play, but I was preparing. I knew that in five years someone would knock on the door. This is what happened with the Geographer. Sasha Veledinsky and I met and began to fantasize - not only on the theme of Ivanov's novel, but also on the themes of the films on which we were brought up: “Flying in a dream and in reality”, “Vacation in September”. And we decided to try to weave it all together.

How was the hero met by young viewers who did not watch old paintings?

The hero was so in demand! I still imagine our film as bright, not devoid of perspective.

But your geographer, Viktor Sluzhkin, has lost his job and lives with a wife who does not love him.

From the point of view of the hero himself, he did not fail. This is his philosophy: this is how he defends himself from society, from everyday life. His defense is his idealism and his alcohol. With this, he will move on. In this we are probably a little close. As an actor, I have no right to be a cynic and let go of my childhood; I have no right not to be at least in some way Sluzhkin. But after all, he tries to make people think, and then he realizes that both his friends and his students do not understand what he is saying - and, of course, withdraws into himself. We have no other options in Russia. This is probably why so many of my friends think The Geographer is a dead end movie.

Here, perhaps, we can talk about the epidemic of infantilism that has captured the whole world. A person “does not let go of his childhood” - and as a result, even as a teacher, he cannot reach out to his own students.

Sluzhkin got through. He was heard, maybe only one person, but heard. Let it be in a few years, but other guys will understand his lessons. After all, I also work with children quite a lot, in my acting studios in eight cities: the more specifically and honestly you communicate with them, the faster they understand everything and switch to the same language with you.

Is it a coincidence that you have two films in a row - "Freaks" and "The Geographer Drank His Globe Away" - in which you somehow interact with children?

Coincidence. As well as the fact that many guys from the Creative Development Studio in Perm and Yekaterinburg starred in Geograph. Something converges at the top, and matches. The guys, of course, were prepared, but when they went through the shooting, I asked if they wanted to become actors - they unanimously answered: "No." It made me very happy.

- Why?

Because already at this age they managed to take off their rose-colored glasses, to see the working side of acting. This helps them communicate with each other and think for themselves. Plus, they understand that acting is a dubious and momentary profession. So they went in other directions. Biologists, for example, have become.

- What about geographers?

I don't know those.

What is it like to be an actor in Russia today?

I'm interested. I can't answer for everyone. True, sometimes nothing interesting comes for a long time, for example, a whole year. Maybe I'm complaining in vain, and others have a worse situation. But I'm still interested: in addition to theater and cinema, I have children's studios where I can throw my energy. This year Ufa hosted the second All-Russian festival, and we are getting ready for the third one.

That is, the situation in the theater and cinema is such that a famous actor must seek creative satisfaction somewhere on the side. Stalemate, no?

I would not say. Recently I watched the film “And there was no better brother” by Murad Ibragimbekov - a brilliant picture, but doomed to failure at the box office. The situation in our cinema, unfortunately, has been brought to such a level that the audience that goes to the cinema will not sit up to the middle and will not understand what the problem is.

People go to good Western films more willingly than to Russian ones.

Many also left the Cloud Atlas, they did not catch up. Although the money was brought to the cashier. But if the situation in the cinema is really not very good, then people go to the theater.

Even you have few really significant roles in the movies. Will there be something to show the children with your participation?

No. But it normal. There are some episodes in those films where I starred, the scenes are not bad. I think this is enough. I have no films with which I will go to God.

With the "Geographer", it seems to me, you can contact.

I do not hurry. I want to work more.

Is there anything you dream about? Directing, for example?

Directing for any actor is a tricky thing. I understand what kind of profession it is, and I want to try my hand at theater directing. I will do it with the children, we will think of everything on our own. I don't have a dream role. I live by other concepts: roles come unexpectedly. How the Geographer Came.

Actor Konstantin Khabensky talks about a new, more sedate stage in his life and life in conditions of energy conservation.

“Where only Konstantin Khabensky and I did not meet! - Says Vadim Vernik in the preface to the interview. - This happened for the first time in Kaliningrad, when he was still a student and, together with his classmates, played a graduation performance there. This time we agreed to talk right in the photo studio before shooting. I arrived ten minutes before the agreed time. I looked around the studio, talked to the staff and the film crew, and only then noticed Konstantin in the corridor. It turned out that he had already been here for an hour - he arrived in the morning on a high-speed Sapsan from St. Petersburg. Kostya sat quietly in the far corner and felt very comfortable in solitude. And this is the whole Khabensky ... "

Kostya, you have an unusually short haircut. What is it connected with?

It has to do with the wig. I am filming in the TV series Trotsky, I have three wigs there, and in order not to injure my hair, of which there are not too many left anyway, I made a strong-willed decision - I cut my hair short.

Is it comfortable to wear a wig?

No. As well as in pasted beards, mustaches and so on. Therefore, I prefer to do otherwise. For example, for the "Method" I grew all the vegetation for myself, so as not to think about whether the beard would peel off or not at the most inopportune moment.

You have been somehow lucky lately with historical characters: there was Kolchak, and the singer Pyotr Leshchenko, now here is Leon Trotsky. And cosmonaut Pavel Belyaev in the film "Time of the First".

“The last time”, as you say, is already ten years. Belyaev rather collective image, just like Kolchak, and like Leshchenko, because there is not a single video recording with him left, we can judge this person only by the voice from the record and by the photographs.

Tell me, Kostya, did you need any special preparation for the filming of the film “The Time of the First”?

Physical - yes, due to the fact that there are a lot of moments associated with stunt tricks, primarily with weightlessness. Weightlessness can also be called a kind of stunt trick: you are tied to cables all day, you need to save your back, and legs, and arms, and create the feeling of flying. You have to keep some parts of the body in tension. So yes, it took a lot of physical effort. And thank God that Zhenya Mironov and I thought about this a little earlier: he suggested that I finally go in for sports. This is in the fifth decade! ( Smiling.)

What, you never played sports?

So, to specifically go to the gym - no. But if you plunge into the history of my performances, you will see that all of them are primarily associated with the work of Yuri Butusov (theater director. - Note. OK!), are designed for good physical fitness. Therefore, each performance is both a gym and an incredible race championship.

Yes, yes, especially Caligula, my favorite performance with your participation.

including Caligula. And now I had to pump up those muscles that “fell asleep” for a while. But I can not say that I got a taste. Other shootings have begun, so now I continue to do more at home: push-ups, rubber bands.

The main thing is that Zhenya Mironov inspired you to these classes. By the way, was this your first time filming together?

For the first time. Zhenya is a wonderful actor. This is another reason why I agreed to act in the film "First Time". Then the story itself. Initially, we entered this water to participate in a very interesting history a conflict of two characters, a conflict of worldviews of two people who find themselves in a confined space. It's a damn interesting experiment. And where it takes place - in space, on a submarine, in a cave - it by and large does not matter. I didn’t have such shootings, this is such an extreme situation where you can’t overact like an actor, you can’t squeeze it.

Something I don’t remember a single film or performance where you overplayed or squeezed.

At least you can think about it all the time. It was very interesting for me to take part in this story, as, probably, it was interesting at one time to try this incomprehensible format of the Night Watch. And space, let's say, is a more plowed field for cinema. I hope that the film "Time of the First" will raise the general mood and prestige of the country in the eyes of the audience and someone will think again that we are the pioneers of space. Now I would like to draw a parallel with what we are doing - I am talking about our creative development studios for children, our festivals. It's not someone who invented it, it's us who invented it. We came up with and implemented it with our own hands. Incredible effort. I won’t say that it was directly cosmic, but it also required transcendental human efforts.

Recently I was in Nizhny Novgorod, where we opened our own festival, intermediate between the Plumage summer festivals. It's called "Small Scene of a Big Life". It lasted three days. The guys from seven cities brought their serious works, I looked at them and, let's say, put a quality mark. We even sold tickets. Children took to the stage - in three days we showed eight performances.

Did you participate there too?

Yes, but not in all performances, only in three. I opened the festival, participated in a press conference. It's not that I had a colossal load, but it seems to me that my participation is able to draw attention to the works that we show. And the work is worth it, really. These are performances for adults, that's the point. Children play in performances, and the questions that are raised there are addressed to adults. How can I get around this topic? How can I say: “No, I won’t go, I’d rather lie on the sofa for these two days”? How? No way.

I like the excitement with which you talk about your wonderful studio movement. A few years ago I was at your festival in Ufa and watched with admiration how devoted the guys are - and sincerely - to this cause. And with such love, with such joy, with such incredibly warm energy, you gave yourself and give yourself to all this. Time passes, and in this regard, nothing changes.

No, it's changing. Not in terms of my relationship, of course. I like how fast this “bush” grows, what incredible “flowers” ​​grow on it. I don't know what to expect from the next festival, in good sense.

You exist on a very tight schedule. Are you deliberately pushing yourself into rigid limits?

I understand what you're talking about. I am always in a state of “I need to dilute my schedule with rest, some kind of vacation.” For the last few years I have been living with this dream. And all the time I fail to achieve my plan.

In spite of all this, you are a foolish person.

I'm probably inconsiderate. But here's something else: I'm very ... addicted, that's what you need to build on. It seems that I came up with some kind of schedule for myself, and then op! - something else interesting, then op! - studios, some tours, then something else. It's hard for me to give up things that I like. those related to the profession.

Usually such greed for work is manifested in those to whom life has not given something. But your case is quite different.

Of course, it’s wrong for me to sin that I didn’t give it enough. On the other hand, it is also not entirely true to say that “I finished it”.

What do you mean?

I have good offers, there were good offers, but I don’t want to say that everything happened to me and everything is wonderful, just as a matter of principle. There is work, there are many, many things, but, again, I say, I can’t refuse what is interesting, what captivates (this is not necessarily cinema, not necessarily theater).

When you are in constant time pressure, you can become angry, irritated.

Does character deteriorate over time?

Well, we all go down this path. Sometimes there are moments of goodness, kindness, and so on. It doesn't have to be in Lent. This post can last for a year - for those who have learned to extinguish in themselves, let's say, negative energy and not let anger into themselves. Sometimes it just affects the physical condition. Well, a lot of things. I am a normal person, and increased attention is also sometimes out of place and at the wrong time. But I understand that it is not necessary to take this path. No need to get angry.

Listen, you have so many wonderful reasons for positive emotions! You married. Olya Litvinova is a beautiful woman and a talented actress, I have been following her fate at the Moscow Art Theater for a long time. My daughter was born less than a year ago. All this also gives some new energy.

Undoubtedly.

Tell me, do you have time to take care of your daughter?

No. I have just arrived from St. Petersburg, and instead of immediately diving home, I am sitting here in a photo studio with you and talking about the fact that I am sorely lacking time, you know? In general, I will say very simple thing(this is to the question of how there is enough strength for everything and how to do everything): I realized that you just don’t need to ask yourself these questions, don’t. And don't try to answer them when others ask them. Otherwise, you won’t have enough strength, otherwise you will start moving like a centipede and get confused. That's why I'm not looking for answers. You just need more sleep.

How much do you sleep?

In different ways, sometimes you can catch up with ten minutes during the day in pauses, in rearrangements on the set, between rehearsals. I fall asleep very quickly. I'm good with taxes, so I fall asleep instantly. ( Smiling.) In general, there are such training things (they are taught at acting courses) - these are relaxation exercises. But to be honest, I don't even need these exercises. It's just, probably, the rhythm and fatigue plus age - you shouldn't forget about it either - contribute to the fact that you instantly turn off.

For a long time escaped to Moscow?

For a few days. I now have all the shooting in St. Petersburg. "Trotsky" we partially filmed in Mexico, and the rest of the time - in St. Petersburg.

Tell me, does Peter remain your hometown?

What do you mean by " native city"? Firstly, Peter is beautiful with any facades on a sunny day. Any quality of facades on a sunny day pleases the eye. But these sunny days are few in St. Petersburg, unfortunately. And now I look at the quality of the facades of houses located outside the city center, which used to be luxurious, but now, unfortunately, in a terrible state, and this upsets me wildly. If it wasn't my hometown, it probably wouldn't upset me so much. Accordingly, I still have serious feelings for Peter.

That is, you will probably never become a 100% Muscovite.

I am now a 100% passenger. A passenger on planes, trains, ships - anything, like many of my colleagues ...

...and you can't and don't want to change the record.

Sergei Prokofiev said that at first he was infuriated and killed by touring roads, but at some point he began to perceive the road as part of his life and enjoy it, watch it, pull adventures out of it, and suddenly this road turned into a holiday. I "picked up" this observation about life on the set of Anya Matison's film "Prokofiev: On the Road." And I try to follow this, otherwise everything you do will turn into hell.

You know, many people look at you, at your sad eyes and believe that you are not a very cheerful person in life ...

Yes, I want inside! I laugh inside - partners and friends will not let me lie. And appearances are deceiving.

Kostya, a few years ago you told me about your asceticism, that you come home, and in the refrigerator you have only sausage.

Every joke has its share of jokes. Now you have a family life, everything is different. Or do you remain the same ascetic?

Let them say about me “pompous idiot”: now, when something turns out, when there is some incredible interest in what you are doing, it doesn’t matter to me what is in the refrigerator.

I ask you about the everyday situation, but you still translate the conversation into a profession.

Tell me, do you have everyday life in your life?

Yes, there is. But at home they don’t hang any duties on me, if that’s what you mean.

Happy.

I go hunting, chop wood and shoot the beast, bring it all home and go hunting again. These are my main responsibilities.

And Olya is satisfied with all this?

For now, yes. This is the purpose of a man, once it all started with this. And now too many Amazons have appeared on the territory of Russia, who themselves go hunting and take away from us both furs and forests, and so on.

It is clear that you prefer the old fashioned way, when the head of the family is still a man.

You are busy at the Moscow Art Theater in only one performance. This is "Contrabass", almost a one-man show. Recently starred in the movie "The Collector" - it's almost a monofilm. Are you the most comfortable?

I say this with humor: of course, in this situation, no one interferes, no one forgets the text. ( Smiling.) I specifically went down this road - I mean "Double bass". Later, there was an offer to star in the "Collector", and I also could not refuse it, because stage space mono-performance and cinema space of mono-work are different things, this is different tension, different forms of existence. In a performance, even if the actor is alone on the stage, there is a dialogue, there is a conversation with the audience. Even if the viewer is deprived of text, he is not deprived of the emotions that he gives you as an interlocutor.

Would you like to continue moving in this direction?

No, you need to have a conscience. Do not forget that I also have the play “Do not leave your planet” in Sovremennik based on “ little prince».

Also, in fact, a one-man show.

God loves trinity. I think we should stop there. In general, I really hope that the stars will converge like this and we will work again in our excellent team, we will give out something a la “Musketeers ten years later”, figuratively speaking.

Are you talking about your team with Misha Trukhin and Misha Porechenkov?

Yes. Hope so. And we will connect Yuri Nikolaevich Butusov, because ten years ago we did something with him for the last time.

Do you still have the old soldering with Trukhin, with Porechenkov? Or is your family enough for you now?

I won't say it's enough. Basically, we are always missing something. And the spike, as you say, has not gone away: even when we don’t see each other for a long time, it is felt in SMS correspondence. When we get in touch with each other, we understand that nothing changes, thank God, in this sense. But we probably ended that stage of life when we spent the night side by side with each other, despite the fact that we were already married. Another stage of life began, perhaps more sedate. Although, it may seem from the outside that it is sedate, but in fact the inner heat, ardor is the same.

Kostya, I sometimes talk on the phone with your mother Tatyana Gennadievna, she has such a powerful temperament, so much incredibly positive energy. But you are still quiet. Cap, dark glasses - if only no one noticed.

As for Tatyana Gennadievna, my mother, yes, she inflames her energy everywhere at 180, or even 360 degrees. And I try to save all this for the stage, until the moment when it needs to be thrown out. We, Leningraders, have always lived and continue to live in the law of conservation of energy.

We have a low sky, we have a strong wind, we do not need to open our mouths very often for chatting, otherwise you will freeze. Therefore, the law of conservation of energy is deeply rooted in us Leningraders. Then, at some point, there is a need to “open”, and then we give out. And my mother still spent her childhood in Yoshkar-Ola. This is a warmer climate, after all, this is the former Mari ASSR and everything is a little different there. I was born and raised in Leningrad.

You say "we, Leningraders". That is, it is more pleasant to consider yourself a Leningrader than a Petersburger?

I'm definitely not a Petersburger. Petersburgers I saw. And I, probably, from St. Petersburg Leningrad.

What is the difference?

If you put me next to the facade of a St. Petersburg building, I will not harmonize with it. But the Petersburger will be. Petersburgers are some other inner rhythm, another world. Here at our institute there was such a teacher in foreign theater Gitelman Lev

Iosifovich. In the early 90s, we sat in unheated auditoriums in winter in jackets and scarves. And he came in in a three-piece suit, steam came out of his mouth (because it was cold), looked at us, so young and impudent, packed in padded jackets, and said, looking out the window: “So I went in - and the sun came out.” Then he gave a lecture and turned to us during a break: “And now we will go down to the buffet and have a cup of coffee.” What is meant by a cup of coffee? Disposable plastic cups that were still pierced with cigarettes. And he took this burnt plastic container, with a little coffee at the bottom, and drank, savoring the process itself. For me, this is a true Petersburger.

Great example! Listen, Kostya, an amazing thing: when we just started talking, you were tired, exhausted from the road, and now, although not much time has passed, I have a feeling that you seem to have changed, as if rested, and look became softer.

This is because, thank God, you retain your profession, you know how to conduct a conversation, ask questions that I am interested in answering. If in your place there was a person who would ask banal questions, I would have shrunken in ten minutes. That's probably the whole answer.

Thank you.

I'm not a talker, but you turn me into this talker who thinks about his beloved city, about his profession, about whether or not you need to devote so much time and effort to it. For example, I understand that it is not interesting for me to go on stage in order to pronounce the text and bring myself out, the people's people, the winner of numerous awards, and leave. I wonder how Mikhail Konstantinovich Devyatkin, an actor of the Leningrad City Council Theater, when he was 75 years old, jumped on chairs, already saw poorly, but nevertheless played beautifully! And so he said: “Kostenka, it doesn’t matter whether you are deserved or whatever. It is important that you came out today and proved that you have the right to do so.” I memorized his words.

A little more about the profession. I already told you once that I am absolutely delighted with the way you performed in the comedy The Good Boy. The character, the father of the protagonist, turned out to be such a sharp character. I would like to see you on the screen more often and like that too!

Well, such interesting things, starting with the script, there are not so many in my life, not so many. So I grabbed this story. It was ninety percent bullying. When we all fantasize in the same direction - it's always a big thrill. When the director fantasizes in one direction, and you are completely in another - this is hell, this is torment. You play with clenched teeth.

There are conditions in the profession: a director and an actor. Whoever takes the chair first is the director. Like psychiatrists: who first put on a bathrobe is the doctor. Therefore, the rules of the game must be accepted, or initially not included in this game.

Do you want to take the director's chair yourself?

I am well aware of what these people do and what you need to know in order to really do it. But it's probably time to try. To either fall in love with it, or say: "It's right that I didn't go this way."

Still, you are a perfectionist, Konstantin Khabensky.

I may be wrong, but I have a complete feeling that they made me like that on a course at a theater institute. It seems to me that I came to the course completely different. I will repeat a phrase that I once formulated for myself: at the institute I had some kind of imperceptible blood transfusion.

What made you different?

I don't even know how to say... That's bad and good taste - what's the difference? I'm not saying that I have really good taste, but people who can fantasize are people with good taste. People who do not know how to fantasize - they, unfortunately, have more meager opportunities. So, I probably came to the institute with rather meager opportunities. And he came out with not quite perfected acting technique, but with fountains of ideas and a desire to work. Although at first I had the most terrible dead ends, my fellow students will not let me lie. The master of the course, Veniamin Mikhailovich Filshtinsky, periodically told us: “Find the strength in yourself to leave the profession.”

Has anyone left?

Of the twenty-six people from the course, only seven or eight people remained in the profession. Here is the answer to your question...

Well, Kostya, I am glad of our meeting and conversation. And may you still only dream of peace. I am convinced that in your case it cannot be otherwise.

I'll tell you this: I'm in a fairly normal boxing weight category, I'm not burdened with any fat, it's not hard for me to move around. The only thing is that I did not study as a test pilot, so physically all these flights and transfers - they, of course, affect. But we comb our hair, straighten our eyebrows - and continue into battle! Probably so ... Well, I'm going to master the technique of a photo model? ( Smiling.)

Photo: Olga Tuponogova-Volkova. Style: Irina Volkova. Grooming: Svetlana Zhitkevich

Shirt, Van Laak; Pilot's Watch Chronograph, IWC

In the summer, at the premiere of the play "Contrabass" at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, a full house reigned. No wonder: and literary work, and the reputation of the theater, and the name of the actor - - on the poster promised the theater-goers a spiritual Elbrus with an indispensable catharsis at the top. A failed musician, hopelessly in love with a woman and endlessly disappointed in life, described by Patrick Suskind, Khabensky turned out to be almost comical. If not for the occasional tears coming to the throat, the performance could be called a comedy. But no, this is the most tragic farce - a word that Khabensky himself loves and utters so often that it is difficult to understand whether it is only about the theater. But you almost never hear the word “I” from him. He tries to answer any question impersonally: it's either in natural modesty, or in unwillingness to let outsiders even into the "hallway" of his inner "home".

ELLE To be honest, I wanted to ask you...

K.Kh. I don't know, I haven't filmed for a hundred years.

ELLE And the news says that you finally made a choice in favor of cinema and television.

K.Kh. Lie.

ELLE Well, how about it: the series "Method", the Russian version of "Dexter" ... They say you are already subscribed to it.

K.Kh. In the "Method" I'm not filming yet. Preparing for filming, these are different things. I confirmed my participation, but I need to enter the project, continue it, then finish it, voice it - and only then can I say with complete confidence: “Yes, I am part of this material.” That's why I'm asking: what are we going to talk about with you?

ELLE About the weather? You so calmly perceived the difficult conditions of our shooting ...

K.Kh.(surprisedly looking around the open terrace of a cozy cafe). Are you talking about this?!

ELLE Woolen three-piece suit at +32 °C is, you know, not for the faint of heart.

K.Kh. Weather conditions - no reason to complain. I'm just not a fashion model. I have never hidden and do not hide that this part of the work is the most difficult for me. Besides, when the company is good, it doesn't matter what the weather is like.

ELLE Is comfort important to you? What shooting conditions will you never agree to with your experience and professional status?

K.Kh. All this is unimportant. Of course, you always plan to work in the velvet season on the seashore, without running around and nerves ... But it turns out the other way around. Where we shoot and when, the producers decide. And I am an ordinary hired labor force. Don't be confused.

ELLE In this sense, then tell me: to what extent is an actor a creative profession? Where is the line between the will of the director, the letter of the script and your own imagination?

K.Kh. This is a mutual game. You can't say that I put the director on the back burner and do whatever I want. But sometimes you pass the material more through yourself, your body - and the director is already following you.

ELLE What does it depend on?

K.Kh. From the openness of both sides. And from a clear plan for filming or rehearsals. Whatever your seething fantasy, whatever inspiration you have, you need to shoot exactly what is planned. Just like in the theater, you need to play the performance that is put in the repertoire, and not the one in which you want to appear today.

ELLE Do your desires usually coincide with your plans?

K.Kh. I'm prepared for the fact that sometimes it's not possible.

ELLE Do you take on roles that are not close to you at all?

K.Kh. Whether the hero is close or not is the wrong question. Is it interesting, that's what matters. If I took on the role, then it is interesting to me. At the same time, the character may not be absolutely close, but so unusual that you are trying to get to the bottom of him, pull him up to you, or, conversely, sink to the bottom with him.

ELLE By the way, it's true that...

K.Kh. No.

Cardigan, shirt, all - Lanvin; Portuguese Perpetual Calendar, IWC

ELLE Everyone lies, that's understandable. By the way, they say that you periodically invent something in your interviews - about the collection of theatrical shoes, for example.

K.Kh. It was a long time ago. Now not something, but everything ...

ELLE Is everything true?

K.Kh. I invent everything. (Smiling.)

ELLE Then tell me honestly: from the outside it seems that you are specifically taking on something complex, large-scale and unbearable - take at least the recent premiere of "Contrabass". Are you looking for the easy way?

K.Kh. Otherwise, it's just not interesting. At least in my case: when it's easy, it turns out to be some kind of sticky. Here's a sticky - that's all. And he himself becomes ashamed that he didn’t think somewhere, missed something ...

ELLE Does the feeling of shame go away with age?

K.Kh. No, being ashamed is normal.

ELLE How do you understand that you are ready for the role?

K.Kh. In our profession, this does not happen - neither in the cinema, nor even more so in performances, where each time in a new way, in a lively way.

ELLE You have filmed a lot in the West. Feel the difference between here and there?

K.Kh. The only difference is in the preparation. Moreover, we have groups that shoot at the level of European and Hollywood cinema. They are few, but they exist. And in the West, a high level of team training is far from the norm. It all depends on the category of the film.

ELLE Is there something in which our cinema is stronger than Western?

K.Kh.(thinks). I would like simplicity to be our strength. I would very much like to.

ELLE Do you represent your audience when you are working on a film or play?

K.Kh. In cinema, no. I understand what genre it should be within, but I don’t identify the viewer and, moreover, I can’t somehow correct it. In the theater, I can roughly imagine what kind of people come to my performances, sometimes I manage to lead them, sometimes I don’t have enough strength. But let me not formulate what kind of spectator he is Khabensky. I believe that theater is not about formulations, it should be emotional, tragic farcical, everything else is just details. But most importantly, it must have emotion.

ELLE Do you make decisions with your heart or head more often?

K.Kh. I'm still trying with this tool. (Pointing to heart.)

ELLE Does it happen that feelings fail?

K.Kh. It happens, of course, it's natural. No matter how it seems from the outside, I emotional person. Just expressions of emotions, maybe a little different. And I can be just as wrong about my feelings as other people.

ELLE You are an ambassador for IWC. What is your personal relationship with time?

K.Kh. Complaining about the lack of time is stupid. I plan a lot more than I manage, that's all. From what I drew for myself on the calendar, it turns out about half. So there is no time in the end.

Pants, vest, shirt, loafers, all by Giorgio Armani; Pilot's Watch Chronograph, IWC

Vest, Giorgio Armani; trousers, Ralph Lauren; shirt, Van Laak; Portuguese Hand-Wound Eight Days, IWC

ELLE Why don't you have time? Maybe they have long dreamed of doing something, going somewhere, but everything does not add up.

K.Kh. Exactly! For a long time I dreamed of doing something, going somewhere, but still nothing. That's what I did, thanks for the help!

ELLE I formulate the question myself, I answer it myself...

K.Kh. Sometimes it happens! Each person plans something, but then - either he missed the moment, or got carried away with something else ... But then there is no need to complain. If you are passionate, be kind, devote time to your passion.

ELLE And you don't like to complain at all.

K.Kh. Sometimes I watch how in some television programs artists discuss problems in front of the whole country ... But I don’t think that this is a way out.

ELLE How would you characterize the time in which you live?

K.Kh. If you start from the current moment: it's hot, you're thirsty, four hours of working as a fashion model ...

ELLE In general, there are no good words left.

K.Kh. I feel a bit of an idiot when I start thinking about our time. Normal time. No worse and no better. Slightly more gadgets than 500 years ago. Slightly fewer talented musicians than 200 years ago. But they still exist, they just play other instruments. A little faster than a vehicle. Maybe a little more ... No, the same number of wars, but now they are covered more actively. Nothing changes. Sure.

ELLE Now there is a lot of talk about the fact that generations are getting smaller. You regularly communicate with a variety of children. (The Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation helps children with brain diseases. - Approx. ELLE.) What are they like in your eyes?

K.Kh. Lovely. You can find a common language with them, get ideas from them, you want to share your view on one or another of their fantasies or inventions with them. My colleagues and I want to show them the way to individual thinking. I will not say that I am a guru in this matter. Just like children, I try to learn. We discussed and argued a lot about whether it is worth introducing a stage speech course into the program of our creative development studios. But I think: if a person has something to say, he does not need stage speech lessons. And when there are no thoughts in your head, no matter how clearly you pronounce the hissing consonants, empty porridge will come out of your mouth.

ELLE Do you think many children will choose acting after talking with you?

K.Kh. Hopefully few.

ELLE Why do you hope?!

K.Kh. In our studios, among many other great things, children are getting rid of rose-colored glasses. They understand that the acting profession is not the easiest bread. And those who are not turned off by this in the end understand what to expect in the future.

ELLE You are always on the road. Has the feeling of home been lost yet? And where is it, your home?

K.Kh. Home is where you are expected. This place is energetic, these are not walls. When you come in, put things in the hallway and understand: "That's it, I've arrived." And vice versa, you can live somewhere for a year on a long working expedition - and still not get used to a new place. It seemed like a year! But no. Body, head, heart, soul understand that home is not here. This is something on an instinctive level, like dogs and cats, which, without seeing you yet, sense your approach from a kilometer away. We are no worse than animals, we also feel.

ELLE Can you feel the people too?

K.Kh. Of course, I immediately understand whether my person or not.

ELLE And what are you like with yours?

K.Kh. Do not know. I find it boring and uninteresting. If in a nutshell. And ask them the rest, although I think they will answer the same.