“And she drowned in icy water and jumped from a helicopter”: Anna Banshchikova about the “horrors” and joys of the acting profession. - At least I found friends

“I hope my children don’t become actors”

Photo: Mikhail Korolev

“Masha is a fashionista and loves to look in the mirror. Very sociable, restless and a party girl. In general, she’s such a fire girl - she’s all about me.” Photo: Philip Goncharov

In my opinion, it’s so boring to be beautiful, important and serious all the time. You have to treat yourself with humor. Here Hollywood actresses are not afraid to appear fat in some role, like Renee Zellweger in films about Bridget Jones, or scary ones like Charlize Theron in "Monster". With us beautiful actress basically wants to be beautiful and only beautiful. Once I was sitting in the dressing room with one of my actress friends. In between, she told me that one of our colleagues got eyelash extensions. Like a fool, I ask: “And if she has to play some scary heroine, then how about removing eyelashes?” The friend laughed: “What are you doing, Banshchikova?!” She doesn’t play ugly people...” It seems to me that everyone is already tired of these glamorous beauties, they want to see normal people in the movies.

- Do you have any worries about age?

No! And this can be seen in “Snoop” - I don’t worry about appearance, natural age-related changes I’m not afraid and I don’t do anything “like that” to myself. When I have time, I do yoga, go to the bathhouse and do Thai massage - brutal, when they walk all over me. This really helps to recover quickly. And I have neither the time nor the desire for all kinds of injections - I’m a terrible coward, why inject myself with something unnecessarily?! All these “miracle injections” are just kind of terrible. As I said Sophia Loren: “Don’t touch my wrinkles, they’re too hard for me.” It seems to me that lifts and injections make women look not younger, but only stupider. I recently saw a post by actress Ksyusha Lavrova-Glinka. I don’t remember the exact words, but the meaning is: “I’m 40 years old, I have three children, I’m an actress, and I’m still wow! And bravo to me!” And really - bravo, I share it one hundred percent! Only I’m not 40 years old, but 43 years old... Maybe I’m not afraid of age because, as they say, I’m a character actress. And, accordingly, I only gain in the profession with age. I have something to tell about women with an interesting destiny.

- Yes, your heroine in “Bhound” has an outstanding character. How dashingly she commands her male subordinates...

Yes, she does it great! And if in the first season her subordinates tried to fight her, to somehow resist her, then they later gave up, became friends with her, and practically “lay down under her.” Although these are not shy guys - “sledaki”! In general, the situation seems very urgent to me. There are plenty of women like this! I don't mean a specific profession or position. But women really now have to command, or rather, take on everything, because men have become somewhat lethargic. There are, of course, exceptions. My husband (lawyer Vsevolod Shakhanov - Ed.), for example. And among my friends there are also real men. But, unfortunately, there are very few of them. It's getting ridiculous. Recently a sofa was brought to the set: they wanted to put it in my rest room.

— Since we met literally an hour and a half before your performance at the Sovremennik Theater, tell us at what moment you managed to control the anxiety before going on stage, which was probably present at the very beginning of your career?

“At some point you have to start fighting this.” It is impossible to go on stage with excitement - you need to do this in complete peace. Only then will something human emerge. And I apparently struggled for some time. But I’m probably still worried, though, much less now.

- And this excitement then turns into pleasure? Maybe there is euphoria after it?

- I didn’t think about it. But every time the excitement is like an exam. You still have to turn yourself on somehow. And this happens differently for everyone - there are no secrets.

Sometimes you get ready and think: “Well, there’s going to be a great performance today. I’m so cheerful!” But something doesn't happen. It happens that you are in some completely terrible state, tired after night shift, you think: “My God, how am I going to work as an artist today?!” And when you go out, it turns out the other way around. An unpredictable thing, in fact.

— The series “Desperadoes” is currently being filmed in Moscow, in which you are taking part. Tell us about your heroine.

- I'm playing cool woman. Her name is Rita. She is very positive, does not lose heart under any circumstances, and loves life very much. And, probably, this is mutual - despite some of its complex vicissitudes.

This is a story of two polarities different women who, due to circumstances, end up together. These women are always on the move, they are running away from certain circumstances, they are saving themselves. Such a movement.

• Shot from the series “Bhound”

— Do you learn anything from your characters? By creating them and endowing them with some qualities, in the end, perhaps, you adopt something from them?

— It happens that at a certain moment you begin to communicate a little, like them. For example, this Rita talks all the time with some kind of interjections. Well, that’s how she is—certain words slip through her lips. And then sometimes you come home and notice that they, too, begin to skip more than usual.

— Actors who had to play representatives of the criminal world said that then tinted jeeps stopped near them and the people in them expressed their respect, so to speak. Have you received something like this? feedback?

- Yes, sure. I had one like this good series"Zhukov". I played Zhukov’s wife there. They say the police like it!

After this role, someone tried to stop me, but another policeman said: “Don’t even touch me, you have to give honor - it’s Zhukov’s wife who’s coming.”

Therefore, it is possible to break it sometimes. I'm kidding, but... Maybe not exactly to violate, but sometimes to at least get some kind of leniency.

Now I’m actually like a lieutenant colonel (Banshchikova is referring to her role in the series “Bhound.” - RT). I remember how I lost my passport in Gelendzhik and came to get a new one. I go to the police station, which appears in the series. Lieutenant Colonel Kushnir serves in the Gelendzhik police. I arrive, and they immediately start calling someone: “Our boss Kushnir has come to us.” Everyone lined up...

— Did you do it quickly?

- Actually instantly. And it was funny that they perceived everything as if their boss had really come.

• Shot from the series “Bhound 2”

— Your Instagram is absolutely amazing. It's very bright...

- Yes, you know. They say that not everyone is like this! But what I read... they write such wonderful things to me! Just pleasant things. There is none negative feedback.

— Which review do you remember most?

- That I charge people from a distance. That people look at me from a distance and are happy.

They edit some incredible videos for me and send them to me every day, they make me happy. Some people find photographs, come up with something, and endlessly surprise.

I read and answer. I am in active communication with them. People are involved in my work life and I really support that. This is very, very important, really.

— Again, on your Instagram, you recently posted a video from the filming of a new series. There you are standing by the car, an explosion occurs and you fall to the ground. How difficult is it to film scenes like this?

— In this film, we quite often fall, and crawl, and climb through forests, we overcome various obstacles all the time, we kill people... And there are some wild scenes with truck drivers.

Well, whether it’s difficult or not, I don’t know. If you're interested, it's not difficult. It’s difficult when you’re not interested and when you don’t want to do it. And when it’s interesting, you’re involved in it, everything becomes a joy, everything works out.

• Still from the film “Hunting for Piranha”

— How do you feel about uncomfortable locations? So we visited the filming of your new series in a place to which the word “comfort” does not apply...

- What comfort can there be when there are night shifts, when it’s terribly cold, and we’re finishing filming?

In our story, it’s early autumn now. That’s why we walk around practically naked, with bare legs and some summer clothes. And it’s very cold outside - “behind the scenes” it could already snow. It's all uncomfortable, but no one said it would be comfortable!

It doesn't scare me. This is part of the horrors of the profession, as they say. We're used to it. During filming, I ran barefoot in the snow and drowned in ice water, and jumped from a helicopter... And now in the forests, in the rain, cold and hail.

— Don’t stuntmen jump from helicopters?

— In “Piranha Hunt” we ourselves jumped from a helicopter, from five meters. Well, sometimes you have to overcome some things in yourself in order for something to work out.

— What would you never do for a role? Maybe they wouldn’t shave off their eyebrows or cut their hair bald?

- If there was cool script, good director and interesting idea, I would do anything. I don't hold onto my eyebrows or my hair. On the contrary, I advocate such experiments with changes. I don't like playing the same people.

- “As if,” probably. Stupid word.

— Your first role in kindergarten or in a school play?

- Don't know. I remember I was a snowflake. For some time, two years, I studied ballet at the Palace of Pioneers. How I was taken is unclear. Through connections, probably. I had a pack, I was a snowflake. I danced right in some children's ballet...

• Still from the TV series “Secrets of Investigation-6”, 2006

- What will cause you more discomfort - unwashed hair or a cracked manicure?

- Unwashed hair. And now it’s fashionable to wear a cracked manicure. By the way, I’m playing this Rita now, and she’s been in motion the whole film - they started running away. So I walk around with a peeled manicure now. But everyone says: “It’s so fashionable now.”

— Who is your last message on WhatsApp or another messenger?

- From my director.

— Do children often write to you?

- No, they don’t have phones. Thank God they haven't asked for them yet. I’m somehow putting off this moment... That’s why they don’t write to me. I call grandma or dad, through them I can talk to the children.

— Do you still have any childhood fear?

— There are probably a lot of fears. Loneliness - that everyone will leave you, abandon you. They will disappear and you will be left alone.

I remember that I was always afraid - like all children, probably - that my mother would pass away. I had some such things.

- And now, if this happens, what do you do? Are you going to hug the children?

“That’s probably not what’s happening now.” Now, sometimes I wake up in the morning because I’m scared that I didn’t have time, didn’t do something. I don’t know whether it’s a child’s fear or an adult’s fear of not being able to do something in time.

— Do you perform any ritual before filming begins?

- Yes, there is no such ritual. When you sit in makeup, you somehow just turn on, turn into an artist.

The star of the series “Bhound” talks about children, age, relationships and his heroine.

Anna Banshchikova first announced herself in the film “Everything will be fine!”, when at the age of 20 she played “Miss Television”. Since then there have been many famous roles: in films, TV series and the St. Petersburg Theater. Komissarzhevskaya. Now the actress is more focused on raising three children - sons Sasha and Misha and daughter Masha, who recently turned one year old. But Anna doesn’t forget about work either: she started filming the series “Bhound” almost immediately after the baby was born. In the detective project, Banshchikova still plays police lieutenant colonel Alexandra Kushnir, who leads an entire department of men. The actress sees the balance of gender forces in much the same way. modern world, which she reported to TV Program without embellishment.

“My son got into the series completely by accident”

— Both the second and third seasons of “The Bloodhound” were filmed, with 16 episodes in each. Are you tired of police uniforms and corpses in the frame yet?

- No, you can’t get tired of my heroine. I like Alexandra Ivanovna, she's great. She is always different - strict, funny, naive, and tough at the same time. As if different tempers in it, so I'm interested.

— How does the heroine manifest herself in the new episodes?

— As life circumstances change, Alexandra also changes. And her character too. Each time it all depends on the conditions in which it is located. In the new season, for example, there will be new hero with whom she falls in love.

— You started filming almost after Masha was born. It was difficult to?

“It was scary because a few weeks after giving birth I had to be on set. This was alarming. How can I bear this, how will the child cope without me? Psychologically difficult moment. But there was no other way out. The agreement was made even before I found out about my daughter. It was impossible to postpone it for another year; they wanted to shoot it in the spring of 2017 so that the sequel would be released on time. People were really waiting, they sent great amount messages and letters, asked, counted the days until the release of the second season. And we couldn’t let them down (smiles).

— And they say that your son Sasha appeared in the new episodes...

“It happened completely by accident - I had to play one of the boys who found a cat in the yard. We needed guys his age. And Sashka just arrived at the site to see me. Played.

— How do you like your son’s first role?

- Well done! I was worried, of course. He even had words.

— That is, I could very well follow in your footsteps?

— I wouldn’t really like to, but I could (smiles).

- Why didn’t you want to?

- Well, somehow... for a boy... I don’t know...

— Is it harder for women in this profession?

- I think yes. In any movie or TV series large quantity male roles. And a maximum of two big female roles for the entire project. And in general, guys come to the shoot 10 minutes in advance, spit on your bald head, and into the frame. And we arrive in an hour and a half. They comb their hair, dress them, put on their makeup - and so on at eight in the morning every day. Of course it's not easy. And then you need to maintain this throughout the day. Even during lunch you can't fall asleep with your face in the salad.

“Women are gradually replacing men”

— How did your second son Misha end up in? Also by chance?

- Vice versa. He loves the humanities very much. Doesn't sit at a computer or console like most of his classmates. And when I saw the program, I wanted to go there. To find friends. The same guys who are interested in history and geography. I wanted to make friends with them. I went through several interviews and got on the broadcast recording. No one even knew that it was my son, because he had a different last name (Misha bears the last name of his father, the husband of actress Vsevolod Shakhanov. - Author).

— Did you watch yourself on air?

- Yes, and he didn’t like it (laughs). He said that everything was cut there. “It turned out as if I didn’t know anything,” he says. “Why did I participate then?” I explained that they couldn’t leave the conversation completely in this format.

- Have you at least found friends?

— No, I never met the other participants in the show. Everyone was filmed in different time. Now we have moved to another school. And there were many friends there who were interested in history and geography. He enjoys communicating with them.

- Two boys are always difficult. Do Misha and Sasha often fight?

- Vice versa. They are very friendly. The elder is inferior to the younger and vice versa. They don’t quarrel, don’t fight and support each other.

— Birth younger sister influenced them?

- Certainly! They became more caring and gentle. They treat her very carefully. If you love children, they feel it, of course. And they grow up loving. The girl is a special miracle. Completely different sensations, new to me.

— You gave birth to your third child, daughter Masha, at 43 years old. When some doctors probably do not recommend that patients take such a bold step. Was it psychologically easy for you?

- It’s not us who decide. If it turns out that God sent a child, what solutions can there be? I don't understand. There weren't even any thoughts about this.

—Have you ever thought that before you can blink, all three will grow up and fly away from their native nest?

- Not yet, it’s too early. Besides, we always have someone growing up. First the boys, then the baby appeared. So there is always someone to take care of. And then, lo and behold, grandchildren will appear!

— I once saw the headline “Anna Banshchikova hasn’t slept for 10 years”...

- Horrible. Are they writing this about me? Creepy. Of course, when children appear, sleep is a relative concept. This is probably true for all mothers. Increased anxiety for babies. Care and responsibility are already in the subcortex. Of course, you can’t sleep like you did when you were young. Besides, after work I go to bed late, but in any case I get up early. To take children to school and kindergarten. I do this whenever I return, even if it’s a night shoot and I managed to sleep for three hours.

— What is the most shameless nonsense you have read about yourself in the media?

— In one of the interviews, I blurted out that a daughter should be loved, not raised. It’s the boys who need to be raised, and the girls who need to be simply loved. As a result, the headline “Anna Banshchikova refused to raise her daughter” comes out. I was shocked! How is this possible? These journalists have families and children, after all. My daughter will grow up, read this, and then come and ask: “Mom, did you say that about me?”

- Let's talk about the good and the eternal. Do your boys play sports?

- Sasha - taekwondo and football. Misha - basketball and swimming. The children are fully loaded. This is a normal story now.

- So it won’t pass by your house.

— Yes, I would really like to go to the matches. There a complex system buying tickets, but I think we can get them with the help of friends. I hope they help. We love football at home. I also have a grandfather, who is now 83 years old, a passionate Zenit fan. I remember how he kept thick notebooks in which he recorded the results of matches and team compositions. If the match has started, that’s it, it’s over! He sat down in his favorite chair and while dangerous moments out of despair or joy he pounded on the armrests. The chair was broken from his emotions. Grandmother was even afraid to pass by him.

I'm not a big fan myself. But children - yes. They collect albums with FIFA stickers, order uniforms with the names of their favorite football players - Messi, Buffon, and so on. In a word, we are all involved. And I really want to give my grandfather a gift - take him to the World Cup.

— On camera and during photo shoots, no matter how many children you have given birth to before, you are always irresistible. What do you think female beauty is?

- Tenderness, the ability to love. Outdated concepts, in a word. What else? It's difficult to formulate. Women are gradually taking over the functions of men and displacing them. And I'm no exception. To talk about female beauty again, men first need to work on themselves. Make an effort, pull yourself together so that women are not cooler, as often happens. Feminine beauty- this is the ability to preserve oneself without being subject to fashion trends. If a man loves a woman, he loves her as she is. And if he doesn’t like you, then at least attach boobs to your forehead - it won’t help!

— Your heroine in “Bhound” is very inventive. And if you see an obstacle, do you go ahead or look for a gate?

- If it comes to children or protecting the family, I will go ahead and won’t look for a gate. Few can stop me. If we are talking about upbringing and relationships with children, then, of course, I will find a softer way. I myself am a reflective person and I don’t really know how to fight for myself. For another - always!

Private bussiness

Anna Banshchikova was born on January 24, 1975 in Leningrad. Granddaughter of Honored Artist of the RSFSR Polina Banshchikova. She graduated from LGITMiK (course of Dmitry Astrakhan) and was immediately enrolled in the troupe of the Theater. Komissarzhevskaya. She made her debut in the film “You Are the Only One” (1993). She starred in the projects “Everything will be fine”, “Empire under attack”, “Streets of Broken Lanterns”, “Mongoose”, “Kamenskaya”, “Piranha Hunt” and others. She worked at the Praktika Theater, the Liteiny Theater, and the Comedy Theater. Akimova.

For four years she was married to musician Maxim Leonidov, who, according to legend, dedicated the song “Vision Girl” to her. In 2007, she married lawyer Vsevolod Shakhanov, to whom she gave birth to three children: Misha (10), Sasha (8) and Masha (1).

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Mon. — Thu/21.30, First

The timid and gentle look of her big eyes is impossible to forget. No matter who she plays - from the wife of Marshal Zhukov to the director of a vegetable warehouse - one can still discern natural sophistication in her. In the fall, the series beloved by millions returns to First "Snoop", in which the heroine Anna Banshchikova Once again it will be dashing to solve one crime after another. The actress spoke about her shyness, selective memory and struggle for justice in an interview with THR.

You received the classical upbringing of a St. Petersburg girl from an intelligent family: ballet, music school... Why did you end up becoming an actress and not a ballerina?

Well, what kind of ballerina am I, look at me? Although I would look great in a tutu!.. (Laughs.) In fact it was purely for general development. In St. Petersburg it is believed that every girl should complete at least music school. It would also be nice to go to the ballet room.

Your grandmother, actress Polina Banshchikova, worked at the Leningrad Musical Comedy Theater. I suppose it was there, behind the scenes, that you had the desire to devote yourself to Melpomene?

Believe me, such a thought never even occurred to me! It just happened that way. By itself. These are now 17-year-old teenagers who are already adults, and at that age we were just children. We haven’t figured out what we want from life yet. Apparently, fate led me. (Laughs.) And it turns out she was leading in the right direction.

I’m unlikely to be mistaken if I say that, despite your fame, you have never eradicated your natural shyness. Doesn't this interfere with your work?

I've been shy all my life, it's true. At University (St. Petersburg Academy theatrical arts(SPbGATI), workshop of Dmitry Astrakhan, - THR) There were kids studying with me who had come from all over the country, and I, a St. Petersburg girl, looking at them, was really scared: how could I compete with their frantic provincial temperament? They came to conquer the world and simply tore space apart! For me it was constant stress. I didn’t intend to fight with anyone - that’s not typical for me at all. And only later, with age, I realized that the acting nature is quite shy. All my good actor friends are humble, reflective people. Our profession involves constant doubt and search. Otherwise you don't grow.

Why, despite all your employment in film and television, don’t you quit the theater?

We studied at the theater (St. Petersburg academic theater comedy - THR), and already in my second year I participated, for example, in a benefit performance Igor Dmitriev. In my third year I had a big episode with Alexander Demyanenko... It was very cool. An indescribable feeling when you stand on stage, silence, you speak in a whisper, but they hear you. And this incredible exchange of energy is like a drug. I tried it once, and you can’t live without it.

Anna is wearing: jumpsuit - Anika kerimova, earrings - Nissa Photo: Andrey Kovalev

I was always amazed how actors remember kilometers of prose text...

You know, this is amazing. I forget everything! I always can’t leave the house for an hour and a half because I don’t remember where my keys go. Or I meet a person and within a second his name slips out of my head. At the same time, I recently took part in a play at Sovremennik and learned a gigantic amount of text in four days. I voiced “The Bloodhound,” which we filmed more than a year ago, I come to the studio, they give me editing sheets, I start talking and I understand that there is no need for papers. It’s as if I’m standing on some kind of rails, and some unknown part of my brain is carrying me along them. But as for the events of my life, I don’t remember any bad things at all. That's why it's impossible to offend me.

Is filming in TV series, where there is no possibility of rehearsals and takes, relaxing or, on the contrary, stimulating?

TV series are hellish work! Even the most beautiful of them are a stream, an eternal race. There, people from the group can come up to you and say: “Anh, let’s finish at seven today, play quickly”. Or at the end of a shift, for example, three scenes are not filmed, the light goes out - what kind of creativity is there? As a result, even in the most rated series, the most important scene that people are really waiting for can be filmed in three minutes. Everything is contrary, and if you want to stay in this profession and save face, you must play with dignity. You need to be a real fighter to overcome all this. (He hits the clock with his fingers.)

The audience fell in love with investigator Alexandra Kushnir. Why do you think?

Firstly, crime stories are very popular now. And my heroine is a lady with character. I myself came up with this crazy woman who is obsessed with her investigations and at the same time terribly lonely. If it were just a dry woman, who would watch it?

Do you like detective stories yourself?

Hate! (Laughs.)

Can you imagine yourself as a real investigator outside of acting?

I can, I’m such a fighter for justice! Only they would probably have killed me the second day. I carry the truth everywhere and fight to the end, no matter what. I don't care, everything worries me. This is hard to live with.

Well, you’re not looking for easy ways at all. We literally left for the shooting of the second season from the maternity hospital... Did you take your daughter with you?

But what about it? I ran to feed every free second... which I didn’t have. Mashenka is a late child and has been dreaming about a girl for a very long time. It so happened that the start of filming coincided with the birth, but the contract had already been signed. I couldn’t refuse, and in the end everything worked out well. In general, I always try not to push my family into the background, I look for opportunities to be with my children. I'm glad that they are sympathetic to my crazy work (Anna's husband is lawyer Vsevolod Shakhanov and two sons, 11-year-old Mikhail and 9-year-old Alexander - THR).