Fame and popular love overtook Gregory suddenly. Having starred in the TV series “Don’t Be Born Beautiful,” he one day woke up famous. Today he has everything that any actor could dream of: offers from directors, enviable fees, public recognition. And just a year ago, when signing a contract for the role of Andrei Zhdanov, Grigory could not even imagine how dramatically his life would change...
Gregory, how did it all begin?
From samples, of course. Moreover, the tests for me took place in two stages. At first I was approved. Then they called and said that for some reason I was not suitable and another actor had been approved for the role of Andrei Zhdanov. Then they called again and invited me to try out again, after which I was finally approved.
They say that the producers’ decision was influenced by the female half of the team, who took care of me. I don't know how true this is. But even if it’s a myth, it’s a very pleasant one. (laughs).
I believe that after the series, offers from producers rained down on you like from a cornucopia. Where are you filming now?
Brief questionnaire.
Are you friends with the Internet?
No.
What is an unaffordable luxury for you?
If I want something, I will most likely achieve it... At least that’s how it was until now.
What animal do you associate yourself with?
With some lazy person, a bear, for example.
Did you have a nickname as a child?
Only derivatives of the surname. There was nothing special.
How is a man different from a woman?
Everyone.
Are you a night owl or a lark?
Night owl, but would like to be a morning person.
Do you have a talisman?
No. I wear a cross, and that’s enough for me.
How do you relieve stress?
Differently. Depends on stress.
Where did you spend your last vacation?
In Cuba.
What melody is on your mobile phone?
Something from jazz.
Favorite aphorism?
A strong man cannot command his desires, but he must be the master of his actions.
Well, not exactly a cornucopia. New proposals, of course, appeared. Now I'm filming a 12-episode film, "The Man Without a Gun."
Have you changed after the series "Don't Be Born Beautiful"?
Absolutely not. As I was, so I remain (laughs).
How do you feel about your fans? To fan clubs that grow like mushrooms after rain? There are a great many of them on the Internet.
I’m not familiar with the Internet, so I can’t estimate the scale of these fan clubs. As for ordinary life, I drive a car, and this, to some extent, protects women from excessive attention... And men, for that matter! (laughs).
Doesn’t it bother you that the fans love not Grigory Antipenko, but Andrei Zhdanov?
Not at all. This is an absolutely natural process. The audience likes my character and they try to see me as their favorite hero. But this is an absolutely pointless exercise. Andrey Zhdanov is Andrey Zhdanov. And I am me.
Why can you love Grigory Antipenko?
In fact, I do not think that I am worthy of this nationwide love that has befallen me. I am the most ordinary person. With its own shortcomings and advantages. Very lazy, maximalist...
You are very critical of yourself.
How else? If I had not been so critical of myself, I would hardly have achieved what I have now.
There is a feeling that you are a person living in harmony with your inner world. Don't complain about fate, don't whine about missed opportunities. Are you a fatalist?
I can’t say that I’m a fatalist... I believe in God, not in fate. And I am looking for this very harmony that you are talking about.
Gregory, you have a dangerous hobby - rock climbing. You also wanted to jump from the roof of a building with a parachute. Managed?
I haven't been able to jump with a parachute yet. And I don’t have any time for rock climbing right now. Hope it comes soon.
Are you lacking adrenaline? Looking for a thrill? Adrenaline is a drug after all. And you seem to have gotten involved.
Rock climbing for me is not just a hobby. This is a way of perceiving life.
Passive recreation such as fishing, hunting, football is not for you?
Hunting is not my thing at all. I don't like killing animals. Fishing - maybe sometimes, but not a fan either. As for football, I am absolutely not a football fan. Any sport on TV is a waste of time.
How do you keep fit?
Absolutely not. I have already said that, firstly, there is no free time, and secondly, I am a very lazy person.
How so? You have a great figure!
This is all from the distant past. Once upon a time, I was professionally involved in various sports. Now I don’t do anything to stay in shape.
We know about your reverent attitude towards Hemingway. I have heard the opinion that only happy people understand this writer. Can you call yourself one?
Yes, I'm a happy person.
What do you think a person needs to be happy? Money? Glory? Health?
For complete happiness, everything should be in moderation.
You have repeatedly said that you found your ideal woman in Yulia Takshina. Are you not going to get married?
Marriage is not the goal of any relationship. All marriages are made in heaven, and this must be remembered. If suddenly the need arises to put a stamp in your passport, then why not?
Now there is no such need, we are satisfied with everything anyway.
Your favorite actor is Andrei Mironov. Surely you want to be something like him? Or not?
It is pointless. He and I have completely different roles. He is a comedian, and I... And I haven’t decided yet what kind of actor I am (laughs). Too few roles have yet been played. I want to play too much more...
Gregory, are you a patriot? If you were offered filming abroad, would you accept?
Yes, I'm a patriot. I love my country, my homeland madly. Maybe he would agree to film abroad. But I only want to live in Russia.
You are talking about the Motherland, but you yourself have not even served in the army...
Yes, I didn't serve. In Russia, unfortunately, we do not have the army in which we would like to serve.
Do you consider yourself a realized person?
Rather, in demand. I hope that the current demand will result in that very complete self-realization. This will happen when I can say that I’m tired of filming, and most importantly, I can allow myself to say it. For now, no.
You are nominated this year for TEFFI as the best male actor in a film/series. Do you think you will receive a statuette?
I treat all kinds of awards with a certain degree of indifference. I already have some kind of figurine. It's lying around the house, perhaps dusty. I don't think I'll notice if she gets lost. Maybe it will contribute to new roles, but for me it is absolutely meaningless. I don’t like these ceremonial presentations and parties. For me, the main thing is work. If it exists and I can fulfill it, I’m happy!
It so happens that our conversation is taking place on the eve of your birthday. How will you celebrate the holiday?
It’s unlikely that I’ll celebrate it at all - the filming schedule is very tight. I'm not making any fuss about this. Birthday and birthday. What's the big deal?
Grigory Antipenko is one of the young film actors who became popular at the beginning of the new millennium. He played in a large number of films, after which the artist became famous. The star of Russian cinema manages to play any role: from a hero-lover to a bandit.
The personal life of a film actor is a closely guarded secret. Apart from official information, no information can be found. Twice Antipenko tried to become happy, but neither official nor civil unions made Grigory happy. The actor is involved in raising three sons, who, according to him, are his main treasures.
Height, weight, age. How old is Grigory Antipenko
Grigory Antipenko, whose photos in his youth and now are of interest, weighs 83 kg. The man’s height is 191 cm. He is one of the tallest artists in Russian cinema.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the popular action movie “Code of Honor” was released on the screens of the country, in which the aspiring artist played a small role. Despite this, the actor was noticed. He had fans who wondered what his height, weight, and age were. How old is Grigory Antipenko - this question has never been hidden. In 2017, the actor celebrated his 43rd birthday.
Biography of Grigory Antipenko
The biography of Grigory Antipenko began in the mid-70s of the last century in the capital of the Soviet Union. Our hero’s father and mother worked as engineers, and my mother worked at the Mosfilm film studio. At the age of 6, he became interested in biological science, knowing the Latin names of living organisms. A little later, I began to dream of traveling to remote corners of the world to see rare animals, especially snakes.
During his school years, he dreamed of becoming a pharmacist, so he entered a specialized technical school after receiving a certificate. After receiving my diploma, I worked in my specialty for only a few months. Then the talented guy tries himself in different professions, but nothing attracted him.
One day Grigory walked past the Shchukin School and saw an announcement about the beginning of admission to the first year. A talented young man becomes a student at Shchuka the first time. Ovchinnikov becomes his teacher.
Filmography: films starring Grigory Antipenko
During his years of study, Antipenko became one of the best students of the course. The filmography of the popular film actor is diverse. He appears in diverse films: from hero-lovers to bandits. His works were loved in “The Talisman of Love”, “Junkers”, “Don’t Be Born Beautiful”, “The Climber”, “The Homewrecker” and many others.
A talented film actor then studies directing. In 2013, Antipenko began working at the Vakhtangov Theater.
Gregory has been actively voicing animated films in recent years. The characters in Ted and Jones and some others speak in his voice.
Family and personal life of Grigory Antipenko
Since the film actor’s appearance in “The Talisman of Love,” the family and personal life of Grigory Antipenko have been of constant interest to admirers of his talent.
It is known that the artist was married twice. Our hero got married for the first time in his youth. He lived with his wife for seven years. A son was born in cancer, but then a crack appeared in the couple’s relationship, which led to divorce. Then the actor was actually married to his colleague in the film series “Don’t Be Born Beautiful.” The young people lived for about 6 years. In mid-2012, Grigory Antipenko and Yulia Takshina broke up. For the sake of the children, they maintained friendly relations.
Currently, the popular film actor appears every now and then at various events with the most beautiful women of the Russian Federation, but is in no hurry to register marriage with anyone again.
Children of Grigory Antipenko
The Russian cinema star is currently a father of many children. In his first marriage, his wife Elena gave him a son, Alexander. Yulia Takshina also gave birth to two sons to the artist. Antipenko, despite the separation from his spouses, does not forget his children. He often communicates with them, goes to cinemas for the premieres of his films.
In 2017, the children of Grigory Antipenko, together with their father, appeared at the premiere of the popular Russian historical film “Viking”. It turned out that the artist came to support his colleague who starred in this domestic blockbuster.
Son of Grigory Antipenko - Alexander Antipenko
The popular film actor became a father for the first time in his youth. Soon after the wedding, a son appeared in the family, who was named Alexander in honor of A.S. Pushkin.
At the age of 2, the boy became seriously ill. For a long time, Sasha was taken to doctors, but the disease could not be diagnosed. The boy was melting before our eyes. The parents were going crazy with worry. Finally, doctors were able to determine the disease and prescribe the right solution.
Currently, the son of Grigory Antipenko, Alexander Antipenko, is a serious young man who is on the verge of graduating from school. He often communicates with his father and comes to his premieres at the theater.
Son of Grigory Antipenko - Ivan Antipenko
In June 2007, the film actor became a father. His second wife gave him a son, who was named Vanechka. Since childhood, the son of Grigory Antipenko, Ivan Antipenko, has been behind the scenes. The boy dreams of following in the footsteps of his parents. He has already played in several episodes of the famous children's humorous film magazine "Yeralash".
Currently, Ivan is in school in the 5th grade. He comprehends various sciences with great desire. In addition to school, the boy attends several clubs: theater and drama and sports.
Son of Grigory Antipenko - Fedor Antipenko
In mid-summer 2009, the film actor became a father again. His common-law wife gave him another son, who was named Fedenka. The child’s mother went to work early, so his grandmother began to raise Fedya.
Currently, the son of Grigory Antipenko, Fedor Antipenko, is studying in primary school. The boy plays sports with great desire, taking his first steps in studying martial arts. Recently, at the capital’s championship, Fedor won the first prize in his category.
Ex-wife of Grigory Antipenko - Elena
The film actor fell in love for the first time in his youth. They met at the institute where they studied. The lovers dated for several months. Then Gregory proposed marriage to the girl, and she agreed.
After the wedding, the couple lived happily for 7 years. The ex-wife of Grigory Antipenko, Elena, left the theater and began to take care of the house. The actor disappeared from work for days. Quarrels began to arise in the family. One day the artist took his things and left home with one suitcase. Antipenko communicates with his ex-wife for the sake of his son.
Ex-wife of Grigory Antipenko - Yulia Takshina
In 2005, on the set of one of the films, the artist met with Yulia Takshina. The young people often communicated and went to various events together. In 2006, the lovers began to live together. They did not officially register their marriage. Soon children were born, whom Gregory and Yulia raised together.
After some time, the common-law spouses separated. They maintained friendly relations for the sake of their children. The artist often comes home and talks with his ex-wife on various issues.
Recently, information appeared in the media that the film actor got married again. He was associated with one of his colleagues, Tatyana Arntgolts. It was reported that Grigory Antipenko and his new wife, whose photo was posted below, are happily married. They decided not to disclose their relationship for now.
To stop gossip, the artists did not communicate for some time. Currently, they are friends and do not pay attention to gossip.
Instagram and Wikipedia Grigory Antipenko
Instagram and Wikipedia of Grigory Antipenko are popular among fans of Russian cinema.
The artist’s Wikipedia provides full and detailed information about Antipenko’s creative path. It tells how he became an actor, what professions he was previously engaged in, who he was married to and which children were born. The page contains a complete list of works in which Gregory starred.
The artist’s Instagram is replete with information about his creative activities. Only photos taken on the set and in the theater are posted here. But photographs of children and wives cannot be found on his page. By doing this, the artist protects his loved ones from excessive attention from strangers.
Publication: Theater poster
Grigory Antipenko:
“One life is not enough for me”
Theater and film actor Grigory Antipenko is least similar to the comic image of the self-confident businessman Andrei Zhdanov, whom he played in 2005 in the TV series “Don’t Be Born Beautiful.” Having gone through a difficult path from a student of the Faculty of Biology, a stage editor at Satyricon, to an actor performing in the world theater repertoire, Antipenko never ceases to set himself the most difficult tasks, conquering more and more new heights. If Antipenko had not become an actor, he would probably have chosen the fate of a traveler, repeating the path of Fyodor Konyukhov, who constantly and alone plows the sea and travels around the world.
A mountaineer with 17 years of experience, Antipenko is of the opinion that in creativity, as in climbing, one cannot be hacky and cunning. It is much easier to fall down than to stay at a dizzying height, but you have to go forward and upward. The peaks he conquered can cause the envy of his colleagues: Orpheus, Jason, Othello, Benya Krik. The new peak, which the actor undertook to conquer in honor of his 40th anniversary, was the title role in the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” directed by Pavel Safonov at the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya.
What was the reason that freelance artist Grigory Antipenko suddenly dropped anchor at the Theater. Evg. Vakhtangov?
Rimas Vladimirovich invited me to join the theater troupe when the play “Othello” was being produced. Of course, I could not refuse such a flattering offer, especially since I was invited as an adult actor, with my own already established idea of principles and creative freedom.
What principles are we talking about?
I am categorically against violence. I cannot be forced to do anything, if only because I and the word “force” are incompatible concepts. You can only interest me; in extreme cases, you can politely negotiate with me. In cinema and theater you can always see when an actor does something he doesn’t like. Therefore, this is one of the fundamental principles that I follow both in life and in creativity.
Your first work was at the Theatre. Vakhtangov as a guest artist was Jason?
Thanks to Yulia Rutberg. Since Yulia played my mother in the play “Pygmalion” directed by Pavel Safonov, she continues to take care of me like a mother at the Vakhtangov Theater. Therefore, I am very grateful to her and for this invitation in particular. The entire Jason scene is actually a 25-minute monologue that I taught on the shores of the Adriatic, relatively close to where the play takes place. Therefore, this whole story is saturated for me with the very real air of the Mediterranean Sea, which, I hope, is transmitted to the viewer.
Why was Jason interesting to you? After all, “Medea” is a play about Medea.
No, “Medea” is a play about the relationship between these two epic personalities. And believe me, 25 minutes of monologue is enough to tell in all the nuances about your hero and about this most complex tragic collision between a man and a woman, where Jason does not justify himself, but tries to explain. There is no right or wrong in this story.
During rehearsals for the role of “Palestinian” in the play “Smile on Us, Lord,” did you quickly find a common language with Rimas Tuminas?
It would be presumptuous to think that I found a common language with him. In working together on the role, I only had the opportunity to get acquainted with his method of work. The Tuminas Theater is a theater of one director. As a rule, he does not accept proposals from actors, because he knows in advance what the performance should be like. Maybe somewhere in a random test he will say “that’s right, so good,” but he will not ask you to improvise - on the contrary, he will show everything himself, right down to intonation. He has an absolutely clear picture in his head of how the performance should look. While inside the rehearsal process, I watched how the fabric of this great performance was sewn. And I am convinced that this is a great performance, like all of his works.
Did you talk about future joint plans?
Rimas Vladimirovich is a mysterious person. Nobody knows about his plans. Sometimes it seems that he himself does not know. But the intrigue of future collaboration hangs in the air. Hope...
You came into the profession quite late. Was this a meaningful step by a person who had been searching for himself for a long time?
Knowing me from the past, no one would have ever said that I would even be able to go on stage as an artist. I have come a long way from a shapeless log to an actor who is invited to play leading roles. It required constant work on oneself, but it always brought pleasure. It happens that you reach a dead end that seems hopeless, but in the evening you go on stage and realize that you cannot imagine another profession for yourself.
If we talk about complex physical costs, I immediately remember the plastic performance “Othello”, in which you play the title role. Did you think for a long time before giving Anzhelika Kholina your consent?
Such roles are not rejected. The problem was that I had never danced in my life, except for very mediocre auditions at the Shchukin School. For me, this was tantamount to entering a choreographic school without the necessary data. Therefore, all the credit for the fact that this performance happened with my participation belongs to Anzhelika Kholina, who managed to invest the entire process of training and convincing me that it would be good in one month.
Did the fact that you had a partner with ballet training help or hinder you?
Now it definitely helps. And I am very grateful to her for her support. But there was a time when I had a terrible complex that I would let down my significantly more talented partners in this area. If it weren’t for Olya Lerman, Vitya Dobronravov, Pasha Teheda Cardenas and other participants in the performance, this event would not have happened at all. Angelica managed to balance the capabilities of the actors in this production so skillfully that the audience has no doubt about the professionalism of the performers. She understood perfectly well that I didn’t have the technology and couldn’t pull it out of thin air, and she patiently waited for me to be ready and believed. It was very flattering for me when, after the premiere, the artistic director of my course, Rodion Yuryevich Ovchinnikov, came up to me and praised me for not being afraid to experiment and go into zones of obvious discomfort.
It turns out that you are deliberately striving for discomfort?
I can't stand silence. I need life to be in full swing around me. No wonder I was interested in pyrotechnics as a child. At that time, you could only buy sparklers and caps for toy pistols in stores, so you had to do everything yourself. I won’t talk about the technology so that it doesn’t serve as an example to the younger generation, but in the comfortable 1980s there was no other way to stir up the space around you.
Is it this point in your online biography that is called “loved the natural sciences”?
No, we are talking about biology. Since childhood, I dreamed of enrolling in the biology department, which in turn led me to pharmaceutical school in order to improve my chemistry a little. But ironically, it was in this school, sitting at the table in a white coat and hanging out powders, that I was finally convinced that analytical work was not for me. I probably could have become a natural history journalist and hosted some kind of program about animals, but there was no Discovery Channel in our country at that time.
And this passion for biology resulted in a love for mountaineering?
Rather, the love for nature in general pushed me one day to go on my first hiking trip in the mountains of Crimea. We can say that it all began from this peninsula.
How many years have you been mountaineering?
Since 1997. Although there were stops and breaks, sometimes even for a year. But this is not a passing need. Even when emergencies, breakdowns, cold nights and other extreme joys occurred, a year later there was still an invariable desire to update the equipment, come up with a new peak and - “forward and upward, and there...”. This is not adrenaline or extreme, as many people think. Mountaineering is a philosophy. Each expedition to the mountains is a beautiful story, a full-fledged story, and sometimes even a novel. There, in two weeks you can experience as many emotions as perhaps one person experiences in his entire life. Every day, every minute brings new events and thoughts, a new feeling of the world.
I remember at an audition at the institute, Pavel Lyubimtsev asked me: “Why are you going into the profession?” To which, despite the stress and young age, I unexpectedly gave a very precise answer: “One life is not enough for me.” Mountains and theater give me the opportunity to live as many lives as I want.
Was the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Malaya Bronnaya Theater directed by Pavel Safonov a gift you gave yourself for your 40th birthday?
In the end, it turned out that I gave myself a gift, although I have no idea what fate awaits this performance. I don't even care how it will be perceived. The main thing is that I honestly try to play this role and use all my internal resources. What’s good about the acting profession is that you can improve endlessly. No limit. This is a space where you can achieve a level of mastery where you can convey information just by appearing on stage, without words. True, this is the peak that only a few can reach.
It turns out that if you are engaged in the acting profession, you assume that you are given the opportunity to develop your potential and reach the highest level?
Of course, there is no other way. I am a perfectionist, I am constantly dissatisfied with myself and constantly strive for perfection. From time to time I stop myself in my self-criticism so as not to get carried away completely. I remind myself that there are successes, otherwise they wouldn’t offer me roles, they wouldn’t bet on me. There must be moderation in everything, and in self-criticism too.
Don't you think that Rostand's play is very outdated?
Classics never get old.
What is "Cyrano" about?
About love. Agree, can this topic become outdated?
Have you decided for yourself who your hero is - a poet or a fighter?
He is more than a poet. It was not for nothing that both I and Pasha Safonov had associations with Vysotsky during rehearsals. Cyrano is a person with a strict moral position towards himself, towards society, and towards love. He does not compromise and burns himself out for this very reason.
Isn't this play about complexes?
Of course, about them too. But it is precisely thanks to complexes that the topic becomes so acute. If Cyrano had no flaws, then he would not have such a deep soul. Overcoming complexes, a person strives for perfection.
Will you have a nose?
There will be a huge hypertrophied nose. Not glued on, imitating the real thing, but a foreign body on the face, emphasizing the asociality of my hero, because our performance is about an inconvenient person who does not fit into the system, who stands out from the general picture with his sincerity and vulnerability. Against his background, the rest turn into successful snobs with fake smiles, feigned self-confidence and the conviction that absolutely everything can be bought in this life. This contrast is yet another proof of the eternal relevance of Rostand's play.
It turns out that Cyrano is ready to give up his beloved woman because of his nobility, wishing her happiness?
Yes exactly. We would simplify the meaning of the play if we imagined him as a player, a talented chess player playing with human destinies. No, he is a reckless, brilliant artist who is given everything except external beauty. We are talking about his aesthetic perception of the world. He deliberately refuses Roxana, not considering that his union with her can be harmonious.
Does the mask give you an advantage as an actor? Can you hide behind it or, on the contrary, does it dictate certain boundaries?
The mask gives room for imagination, because you can get weird with it. But you can’t hide true feelings and emotions behind it: without them there can be no performance.
Did you get used to your nose, did it bother you?
Oddly enough, no. I have a big nose myself. Plus three centimeters is not of fundamental importance.
Is this your first time encountering poetry theater?
Yes, this is my first experience. It's not easy, but incredibly interesting. I myself am an unrealized poet at heart. The poetic text contains enormous energy. Of course, it takes enormous work to master the mastery of words. But you can’t imagine what a pleasure it is to pronounce these lines from the stage, there is some kind of inexplicable magic in it.
Did you have any disputes with the director?
Certainly. At first we had completely different ideas about how it could be, what Cyrano should be. Pasha and I had a difficult rehearsal and constantly argued. At some point I caught myself thinking that the situation with Othello was repeating itself. It’s hard to say now what was more - lack of self-confidence or lack of confidence in the director. But it all ended with us discussing very loudly for several hours and trying to prove to each other the advantages of two translations - Solovyov and Shchepkina-Kupernik. It was akin to a conversation between two crazy people. And at one point I had an epiphany: I felt that somewhere above this performance had already been drawn up, its cast, director and my performance already existed and it was stupid to waste time trying to abandon what had already happened. After that, I became an ideal, obedient actor and no longer stopped Pasha from realizing everything he had planned.
Do you have your own rituals for preparing for a role?
They are not much different from the usual daily actions of an ordinary person: I wake up, do physical exercises and brush my teeth. But the most interesting thing is that on the day of the performance I very often catch myself thinking whether my hero, whom I have to play today, can behave the way I behave on this day of my life. And, oddly enough, you have to give up something.
You entered the Higher Directing Courses, but did not receive a diploma. Why?
I didn’t finish my studies and went on academic leave with the knowledge that I could make films without a diploma. In my opinion, a director is, first of all, character and an unbridled desire to shoot, to the point of schizophrenia. Like an artist who constantly draws and sketches in a notebook, the director must constantly shoot using all available means. This is his way of expressing himself. If there is no such obsession, there is no need to go into this profession or it is too early. The primary thing should be the implementation of the plan, and not the desire for money and fame.
Didn't you come into the acting profession for fame?
No, I came because I realized that no other profession suits me.
– Grigory, how did you feel about the appointment of Oleg Menshikov to the post of artistic director of the Ermolova Theater?
- In any case, this is a positive movement. I don’t know what kind of artistic director Oleg Menshikov will be, but there is hope that he will be good: he is a responsible person...
– As far as I know, you are always extremely careful when choosing roles...
– Indeed, I don’t agree to all roles, and this applies primarily to the theater. For me personally, the theater is a temple, a place of confession. If the work does not have a theme that affects me so that I want to tell it to the audience, I will not go to this production. In general, there are a lot of conditions under which I either fit in or don’t fit in. I liked the atmosphere in Odessa 913, despite the fact that the Ermolova Theater is not yet very promoted and has been slightly forgotten by the state. This is where actors really want to work. All significant projects traditionally happen unexpectedly for me, they literally fall from the sky, and “Odessa 913” is no exception. A project began with another actor, my classmate Alexander Ustyugov. They rehearsed for a month, but then Sasha refused to participate due to personal circumstances. We started looking for a replacement and eventually remembered that there was such a well-known guy for Rodion Yuryevich as his student Grigory Antipenko. I read the material, talked to the director and felt that I could try, take risks, and began to rehearse. In general, I am very grateful to Rodion Yuryevich for this role. Such offers are not refused.
– You came to the theater world as an adult, mature person – this rarely happens in acting departments. What was it like for you to study among, one might say, children who had just graduated from school?
– I had a rather tough upbringing in my family - I am not a spoiled person. I was taught to do everything on my own and to be completely autonomous. Studying with a different generation was not easy. Of course, I made allowance for the fact that I was the same about ten years ago. But in general it’s difficult with people who think differently due to age; it’s not easy to find common interests and contacts. In my opinion, I was the oldest not only on the course, but among all the Pike students at that time. I almost fraudulently entered the school, saying that I was twenty-two years old, but I was already twenty-four. I revealed this secret to Ovchinnikov only in my fourth year. But in some ways I was lucky - I had enormous worldly experience, it was not difficult for me to come up with sketches, and my young classmates were poking around, inventing stories out of their heads, trying to look for something in books.
– Is theater more important to you than cinema?
– Theater is the main thing, it seems to me. There are, of course, unique examples when people did without theater and became, in general, good film actors, and continued to do so until the end of their lives, but there are only a few of them. All the same, a person must nourish himself somewhere, try somewhere, build up his creative muscle mass somewhere... Even if you act in films all the time, and, God forbid, if you are offered different roles. But most often directors don’t do this; you exist in the same form that they use. Theater is an opportunity to try yourself in different genres and other incarnations. It’s great happiness when you meet a good director who begins to discover new facets of your abilities and possibilities that you don’t know about. So far, thank God, I'm lucky with this. I only play leading roles and grow up on very good material.
– For you, are there any boundaries of what is permitted on stage or screen?
– I don’t like obscenity, it annoys me. In my opinion, art, with the exception of some behind-the-scenes experiments, should be limited by the boundaries of morality. Art allows, thanks to various creative forms and solutions, to embody certain scenes in some other way, not directly, not through undressing and shocking. When there was censorship and other restrictions, we made great films. It remains like this even now, you don’t want to close your eyes in front of the screen and squeeze into your chair. Maybe it's just me who feels this way, but I think it's wrong when anything is possible. In any case, I will not take part in this; for me there are clear boundaries that I do not cross. Everything should be beautiful in every way - both spiritual and visual. “Beauty will save the world” - this is my attitude towards art.
– There is clearly not enough beauty now, there is much more outrageousness...
– What do these people who have filled an impressive territory in art today want, what position do they choose? Capture a large audience of young people, attract them to this shocking movement? Earn more money? Is this the goal of the masters who undertake this? Where to next? Humiliate everyone and lower them to the level of hell and tumble there? This is definitely not my thing... Now is such a stupid time that many artists, having gained fame, turn off their brains and turn into some incomprehensible characters, inflate like soap bubbles, doing who knows what. As a rule, this does not end well.
- Andrey Mironov. For me, he is the absolute embodiment of an actor with positive energy, with positive aspiration. Absolutely all of his work - dramatic, comedic - all his roles are aimed at creation. You cry, you laugh, but these are all genuine emotions, from them the soul is cleansed and life becomes easier. For me, Mironov is the ideal actor. Another thing is that it is impossible to learn, it either exists or it doesn’t. I love many directors: early Mikhalkov, Tarkovsky, Danelia, and many others. It’s just that now the “old people” would rather not film anything. Now there is some kind of timelessness, there are no big director names in the theater either - everyone lives on against the backdrop of former victories. And our best television programs are based on retro, because they themselves can’t come up with anything, they have no talent, but they want to make money as quickly as possible, weaken something, repeat it, get money and go to the Bahamas.
– By the way, about the Bahamas. How do you feel about the revival of social activity of Russians?
- I have a positive attitude. Another thing is that I wasn’t able to participate myself due to my busy schedule. It’s good that something has started to happen here, because it’s quite obvious that the government has outlived its usefulness, after endless beautiful words we want some action. When you learn this truth from those who know the real truth of the state of our affairs, your hair stands on end. Thank God, the country has not yet been completely sold out; everything is somehow still holding up, but on the brink. But I don’t see a person yet who could come and become a good alternative to all this.
– What if you had the opportunity to somehow influence the situation?
“I definitely won’t get involved in politics - it’s a dirty business, it grinds even good people down there.” How to defeat this system? Don't know. I hope people will have a desire to serve rather than earn money, because they are already infinitely rich. I wonder when they will stop stealing? Don’t they really have a desire to create something, at least build a house, so that the sign hangs, and everyone admires it and says that this house was built by such and such a person... Now is such a time without heroes. People don’t want to stay for centuries, but want to live a sweeter life, such a wild desire to grab more in their short life. It’s strange that people who have this opportunity every day can’t get enough of it: you have five, ten, twenty cars, houses all over the world, but you can’t live everywhere and use everything at the same time. Stop already, do something for the country, do it so that you remain in the people’s memory as a good, decent person. Nowadays, not a single politician can be said to be decent. Everyone is an outspoken businessman who always has an escape route, for example, somewhere in England. At any moment they will take off and fly and will rather build a mansion there...
– Would you like your children to become actors?
“Sashka, my eldest son, wants to, but I try to dissuade him in every possible way, saying: “Learn everything for now, you might need it later.” Acting bread is stale. There is nothing for anyone here, there is no absolute happiness here, immediately after the rise comes, if not a fall, then disappointment, a desire to leave the profession. If you are not prepared enough for this, it is easy to slip away. Stay afloat and be faithful to your profession and your moral path... Here you need to have character in order to become someone, otherwise what’s the point?
STAKHOVSKY: Mayak’s next birthday is coming, 50 years this year, a big anniversary.
KUZMINA: In August.
STAKHOVSKY: Yes. Of course, we are preparing all sorts of different special projects. And before the start of the program we started talking with our guest Grigory Antipenko... Good afternoon.
KUZMINA: Hello, Grisha.
ANTIPENKO: Hello, dear viewers.
KUZMINA: We got talking, Grisha asked: oh, you’re a prehistoric radio station? Excavations also show that...
ANTIPENKO: It’s not true, I didn’t say that.
STAKHOVSKY: Like trilobites.
KUZMINA: Approximately. And we said yes. Yes, Grisha, we invite you to our 50th anniversary.
STAKHOVSKY: But today is not about us.
ANTIPENKO: And about whom? Curious, are we waiting for someone else?
STAKHOVSKY: Yes, there is one comrade here whom we’ll talk about today. Grigory Aleksandrovich Antipenko, birthday October 10, 1974, place of birth - Moscow. Russian theater and film actor.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, it’s all true. More theater lately, and thank God, it’s really nice.
STAKHOVSKY: Yes? Do you want more theater in your life?
ANTIPENKO: Yes, because it is a creative outlet for any actor. And in our time, when there is almost no domestic cinema, this is salvation, and not just an outlet.
KUZMINA: What do you think about those artists who say in their interviews that no, the theater stage is not for me at all?
ANTIPENKO: Listen, there were a lot of such actors at a time when our cinema was at the proper level, and there is nothing terrible here. It’s just that some people choose theater for themselves, others cinema, and understand where they feel more organic. It somehow happened to me that at the theater it’s easier for me, better, I understand more there, I have time to understand and do more for myself in terms of creative development, and therefore theater.
STAKHOVSKY: Well, to each his own, in the end. We have the same story.
KUZMINA: That's it, boys, I had one question in total.
ANTIPENKO: There’s nothing wrong with that, really, but I’m just lucky here, really lucky, some people aren’t very lucky in this sense, but I was lucky at this time... I’m happy, I watched another series on TV today, which I refused, and crossed myself mentally, because there was no temple nearby, I simply crossed myself mentally, which I felt was not necessary, and refused.
KUZMINA: And he did the right thing.
ANTIPENKO: Absolutely. There's just no doubt about it.
KUZMINA: Listen, when you agree and then see this work as a result, are you more often upset by what happened, or are there still good works, in your opinion?
ANTIPENKO: Oh, seventy-five percent, eighty is a total disorder, and somewhere around only twenty percent... and then, unfortunately, not often in terms of the entire movie, but in some individual scenes, some successful creative meetings. Probably, the basis of pleasure now in our cinema is simply to meet some people whom I never thought of meeting, and then suddenly fate gave such actors, such mastodont directors...
KUZMINA: You're in trouble. Now Stakhovsky will ask to name the names of specific people, with whom he did not think, did not guess, and then - bang! - Meets.
ANTIPENKO: Well, yes, they caught me by surprise. Vasilyeva Vera. A lot, listen, but just offhand...
STAKHOVSKY: The name alone is enough, actually. Let's start with Vera Vasilyeva...
KUZMINA: This name is worth ten others.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, I’ll just throw out names as we go along.
STAKHOVSKY: Listen, let's go from the very beginning. Since our program has such an approximate outline, a two-page outline, you need to somehow follow it in order to figure out why and why you suddenly grew up to be so wonderful.
ANTIPENKO: Where does the homeland begin, right?
STAKHOVSKY: Yes. What is your first memory of yourself?
ANTIPENKO: The first memory of myself... You know, everything is vague, everything is vague, and it was a very long time ago.
STAKHOVSKY: But something bright first?
ANTIPENKO: It was a very long time ago, somewhere, probably, at the age of three I still remember myself, but at the age of four I definitely remember myself. Yesterday I walked along Povarskaya Street, this is actually my second home street, because I was taken there to the Gnessin School for teaching practice since I was four years old.
STAKHOVSKY: Study the piano?
ANTIPENKO: Piano, choir, what else, solfeggio, of course.
KUZMINA: Tell me, I wonder if your parents were engineers, did they want a better fate for you, or was it just customary for children to be fully developed?
ANTIPENKO: You know, at that time it was accepted, and it was very well received, as time shows. Nowadays it is no longer customary to send children to music schools; this is done only by people more or less connected with this. And before, houses thundered from piano scales and some other instruments.
KUZMINA: Trucks arrived loading...
ANTIPENKO: Yes, it actually happened. I remember there were even such problems when people quarreled, I mean neighbors, because they could not calm down some specialist in scales and some primitive musical exercises. Nowadays the only thing that is loud music and, yes, hammer drills are keeping people awake. But all this is gone, that is, the grand pianos, the pianos, everything is standing.
KUZMINA: Previously there were advertisements “I’ll buy a piano” or “I’ll give away a piano,” but now “I’ll buy a hammer drill” or “I’ll give away...”
ANTIPENKO: Unfortunately, we all somehow retrained as builders, installers, and so on. Tragic.
STAKHOVSKY: Well, again, to each his own. Tragic, yes, of course, in that sense.
ANTIPENKO: It’s tragic for the capital, you know. It's still culture. Here we must somehow set an example, or at least try. And it so happened that we went down.
KUZMINA: Wait, but it’s still in our hands. Evgeniy plays music, for example, at home.
ANTIPENKO: What are you talking about?
KUZMINA: Yes.
STAKHOVSKY: Where can I go?
ANTIPENKO: Well, that’s great. All my friends that I grew up with, they all play music, they all sing.
KUZMINA: And this means that the children, most likely, will also catch it, perhaps.
ANTIPENKO: God willing. This perseverance is needed, now children do not have enough perseverance to do primitive homework.
STAKHOVSKY: But we also didn’t have any perseverance, and it didn’t matter. It seems to me that the restlessness of children is different.
ANTIPENKO: I don’t know, there were actually fewer distractions.
STAKHOVSKY: That's right, that's probably true.
ANTIPENKO: There was not so much information, TV and other things that would distract.
STAKHOVSKY: There was a street where I still wanted to go, where the boys were, I had to run, play hockey immediately.
ANTIPENKO: Well, apparently I’m starting to get old, I’m already starting to notice some negative forms of life, the consequences of this endless mass media. Well, never mind, not about that.
STAKHOVSKY: Since we're talking about this, did you graduate from music school entirely?
ANTIPENKO: No, no, I went there for about five or six years, probably. At first it was a button accordion, then a piano was connected, that is, for about four years there was definitely a button accordion and for about three years there was a piano. Unfortunately for you...
STAKHOVSKY: Why did it end?
ANTIPENKO: ...I forgot everything. Well, I forgot, I can remember, anyway the motor skills remained in the fingers, like muscle memory. I think this can be pulled out if necessary. But the theater finally won, the art of acting in general, as such, the fascination with these completely unrealistic moves in this labyrinth, where you can enter once and never leave. Therefore, there is no need yet. If suddenly in some role I need to pull this out of myself, I will pull it out. It lies somewhere on the shelves of the subconscious.
STAKHOVSKY: I see. Who did you want to be as a child? Theater, of course...
ANTIPENKO: Biologist.
STAKHOVSKY: Still?
ANTIPENKO: A biologist, absolutely. I studied biology for 8 years at the Palace of Pioneers on Leninsky, this is Kosygina Street, well, actually next to Leninsky Prospekt. An absolutely stunning establishment. I am grateful to fate that it just brought me there somehow, and I stayed there for 8 years.
STAKHOVSKY: A biologist in some specialized field?
ANTIPENKO: Mainly aquarium science, but since I am interested in snakes, this is simply my love of life, then, of course, herpetology, in general, it is also somehow. And in general - that's all.
STAKHOVSKY: Where did the passion for snakes come from? Did you somehow explain this to yourself?
ANTIPENKO: I don’t know, it’s some kind of innate love. There is no logical explanation here. Much the same as acting, it has no logical explanation for why a person suddenly comes to the theater, falls ill - and for the rest of his life. Just like the mountains. These are some things that probably don’t need to be explained. It's just love, love is incomprehensible.
KUZMINA: Are snakes present in your life now? I don't know, maybe some collection of figurines? Everyone knows that you were or are interested in, love.
ANTIPENKO: Discovery. My love for Discovery, because there are absolutely wonderful programs there and they show and talk about it in sufficient detail, you literally travel with the people who do it. This is probably at this level for now. Although there were thoughts of going somewhere to Sri Lanka or Vietnam, where it’s just the Klondike, there’s no digging. And maybe someday I’ll grow up and actually organize some kind of expedition for myself - searching, catching, observing, and so on. Just for the soul, nothing more.
STAKHOVSKY: For some reason I have the feeling that this is not even a hobby, that is, your interest is not applied, but, perhaps, in places, quite scientific.
ANTIPENKO: Well, to the extent that I still knew quite a lot about it... Of course, science has advanced much more during the time that I was interested in acting. In general, my children's books were encyclopedias. Let me collect, God bless me, how many volumes there are, nine volumes of “The Lives of Animals”... or eleven, now I’m afraid to lie...
STAKHOVSKY: A lot, in general.
ANTIPENKO: The very fact that collecting this multi-volume book was a dream of life at that time. Can you imagine the passion? I sincerely hope that now somewhere there are still children who dream not of buying some gadget, another toy, but actually finding some next volume... Well, now they don’t hand over waste paper anymore, but then we they handed them over because it was impossible to buy such books just like that - only with certain cards that were earned precisely from this endless waste paper. Like this.
KUZMINA: If there were no acting profession, perhaps we would have acquired a researcher in this field.
ANTIPENKO: Well, how they acquired it, no one would have known about me. I think that I would be some kind of ascetic, I would live somewhere, perhaps in the regions of Central Asia, where all this is also found in sufficient quantities, and would calmly engage in scientific activity.
KUZMINA: Discovery would come to you and make films about you, by the way.
STAKHOVSKY: Maybe, not excluded, of course.
ANTIPENKO: Maybe. But in fact, I don’t feel such a directly intolerable need...
STAKHOVSKY: Aren't you vain?
ANTIPENKO: I am moderately vain, of course, but in our profession it is impossible without it. But I'm not very social, I'm rather asocial. That is, I need to go out somehow, show myself somehow, say something and tell something, but most of the time I spend alone and I feel just fine.
KUZMINA: If you, friends, knew how we dragged Grigory here! That it cost us to bring a person to the Mayak studio.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, I called several times and said, I need a car to pick me up, I don’t need a car to pick me up, but in the end I decided to come with my own.
KUZMINA: Thank you very much.
ANTIPENKO: I decided to save Mayak money before such a serious anniversary date.
STAKHOVSKY: That’s good, otherwise Kuzmina and I usually deduct all these points from our salaries.
ANTIPENKO: Otherwise there will be nothing to cope with.
STAKHOVSKY: Of course, this is a special thank you to you. You say that this has always been one of your character traits - involvement in yourself, and not in the outside world, right? You say that you need solitude from time to time, some kind of calm.
ANTIPENKO: No, listen, these are different things. I, of course, love and respect myself very much, but this is in no way... To understand myself - yes, but through the world around me. First of all, I am an observer, I do not withdraw into myself, like Grenouille, in my opinion, in “Perfume”, that was the name of this man?..
STAKHOVSKY: Yes, yes, yes, Jean-Baptiste.
ANTIPENKO: I am still a contemplative, I can sit and watch people for hours. And I remember that I felt wild pleasure while reading books and at the same time observing with my peripheral vision everything that was happening in the subway. Until I got a car, I had such a hobby, I just regularly resorted to it. Moreover, this noise and everything that was happening around me, this bustle, it did not bother me at all, on the contrary, my vision caught some personalities, some interesting characters, I somehow watched them, I noted for myself, Apparently I don't know. Apparently, the actor has some kind of inner instinct.
STAKHOVSKY: Well, these are some working moments.
ANTIPENKO: Although no, it was long before acting.
STAKHOVSKY: Didn’t you become a hooligan at school?
ANTIPENKO: This was actually some strange hooliganism. I just think that this is also some kind of strange phenomenon. Now, as an adult, I’m starting to analyze all this and think about where my legs come from. My hooliganism was not as primitive as that of normal children. Now I’m not trying to somehow distinguish myself into a separate caste; I rather agree that I am not a completely healthy person.
STAKHOVSKY: What was that?
ANTIPENKO: I drew geography, for example, on the way from home to school. For me, some part of the snowdrifts on the right side were the Cordilleras, and on the other side the Andes, and so, walking along these “Andes” and “Cordilleras”... I had no idea that someday I would develop a serious passion for mountaineering! And now I’m starting to relate how strange it is, why in the third, fourth, fifth grade, instead of running and hitting girls on the head with a briefcase, I walked along these “Andes” and “Cordilleras” and experienced some strange pleasure.
KUZMINA: You are not the first person who comes to us in this section and says that he did something in childhood that later grew into a professional or amateur, but wild hobby. This suggests that when parents see how a child develops, what he likes, how he imagines these snowdrifts, whether he imagines them as clouds or airplanes, one can understand who he would like to become or who he will become.
ANTIPENKO: So I’m not alone.
KUZMINA: Of course. Everything is fine with you.
ANTIPENKO: Thank God, I’m not sick. Thank you.
KUZMINA: That’s what we had to find out today, that everything is in order.
STAKHOVSKY: They failed the entire dramaturgy of the program! OK.
KUZMINA: You were born and lived on Mosfilmovskaya Street.
ANTIPENKO: Oh, beautiful street.
KUZMINA: And did this have any impact? Because this could be an accident, or maybe it really is, if there is a big film studio nearby, huge... Friends, if you have never been, be sure to go on an excursion to Mosfilm!
ANTIPENKO: Hit it, yes, hit it.
KUZMINA: Yes, definitely, until all these decorations for the old paintings are demolished.
ANTIPENKO: Well, unfortunately, they demolished the old ones.
KUZMINA: Well, yes, this is probably a modern story after all.
ANTIPENKO: This site is the so-called “sham town,” as we called it. And we climbed there as children endlessly, and the guards chased us there.
KUZMINA: Did you have any hole? Because getting into Mosfilm has always been very difficult.
ANTIPENKO: Listen, there was no such thing that it was impossible to climb over the fence there. Naturally, we children had no other access to Mosfilm. Well, my mother worked for 30 years at Mosfilm, my uncle worked for 40 years at Mosfilm. Of course, for some anniversary celebrations and shows I went there along these corridors, I saw it all, it happened before my eyes, all this seething masterpiece life, so to speak, of the era of our golden cinema, it was all before my eyes, but not so often. And for the most part I ended up like this, through the fence, straight into this fake town, where there were still houses from the time of “Mary Poppins” and so on, all this stood. Then it all burned down, and now there are more serious buildings there, I don’t remember, “The Pale Horse” or whatever, it’s a little bit from a different cinema. I haven't watched many films. Another story already, different. It was more romantic then, because childhood was natural.
KUZMINA: We cannot directly connect Mosfilm itself with your acting profession. What happened, what happened?
ANTIPENKO: I never thought, I never thought, walking along these wonderful corridors, that in some way in the future I would touch this place and many others in my life. Well, in general, it was actually a revelation for me, for me personally. Because I was an absolute biologist then, and for many years after, after it collapsed, I also remained a biologist. I went to study to become a pharmacist after the 8th grade, not because I wanted to become a pharmacist, but because I wanted to improve my chemistry, since there are five chemistry courses in pharmaceutical school, and so as not to throw away these two years. This was due to moving to another place, that is, I no longer wanted to go to that school, and I also didn’t want to move to a new one. And I spent these 2.5 years at pharmaceutical school, which finally led me to the idea that something was wrong. Something is wrong with me. Something is wrong with my head, apparently I can’t sit in one place. And, in general, in fact, these are also some non-random things. As soon as I sat down at the table, I realized that this analytical work (and this is 70 percent for any biologist, even a traveling biologist who goes into the field) is unbearable for me. I suffer from claustrophobia, I cannot sit in one place, I cannot sit in the office, I cannot sit in any room for more than two or three hours, unless, of course, it is my home - I feel quite comfortable at home. I cannot work under these conditions. This was partly the decisive starting point, after which I began to simply look for a profession.
KUZMINA: Where you don’t have to sit for three hours in one place.
STAKHOVSKY: You can walk around here and there a little.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, come and walk around the pavilion, for example.
STAKHOVSKY: Have you figured out this incomprehensible story? Although, it seems to me, they didn’t understand it very well.
ANTIPENKO: We figured it out. Enough about me, let's talk about you.
STAKHOVSKY: Listen, everyone has known everything about us for a long time, we are already where everyone stands. What I want to return to. You say that your favorite books as a child were encyclopedias, which primarily concerned, of course, the animal world. What about some kind of artistic, human literature? Classics of the genre?
STAKHOVSKY: What is this all of a sudden?
ANTIPENKO: But I don’t know, I was so carried away by his words that I couldn’t stop. I started out very simply, tried it, and then, until I re-read everything, I didn’t calm down.
STAKHOVSKY: Are you returning to him now?
ANTIPENKO: Yes, of course, listen, how can you not return to the classics.
STAKHOVSKY: You never know, maybe you were so tired of him then that...
ANTIPENKO: No, it's impossible. And then every time you reread it at a different age, growing up, you discover it again and again.
STAKHOVSKY: New facets.
ANTIPENKO: Well, I’m being banal here, of course, everyone who reads books in general will say that. The next great writer was Hemingway. Me too, until I re-read everything, I didn’t stop. It's just impossible, it's crazy. Well, and then there are Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, something like that. If I read, then I read voraciously, that is, some kind of inspiration appears - and that’s it, you just break for food... Or I don’t read at all.
STAKHOVSKY: Were there any reverse stories in life? Let's say you understand that there is some author who is considered a really big, huge and decent person, but for example, he didn’t like you? Have you encountered this in your life?
ANTIPENKO: I came across it while re-reading some foreign literature. I understand perfectly well that this is often and mainly due to the quality of the translation and the talent of the translator. And sometimes there were such disappointments. Especially after our classics, it is impossible to read any translated texts, because it is a terrible language, some kind of primitive. I understand the idea of what, so to speak, but it’s flat. And it's disappointing. Especially some American authors, perhaps. Now I will not give an example so as not to offend anyone. But there were such disappointments when, for example, I watched something, some movie, and I wanted to read. And so I picked it up and read it, and I realized that no, I’m just putting the book aside, I understand that, most likely, I won’t pick it up, I’d rather watch the movie.
KUZMINA: Please tell me, do you forgive people for their simplicity? Are you willing to communicate or are you patient?
ANTIPENKO: I have no right to judge anyone, and then, I live with the exact understanding and feeling that we come here, to this planet, with varying degrees of maturation of souls. This is my personal feeling, I am convinced of it. And that’s why you can’t judge everyone with the same brush, well, you can’t. There are people, of course, smarter and wiser than us just by the fact of their birth, there are people much simpler and more naive. Another thing is that, of course, I choose my social circle, and it is very narrow: a few people with whom I communicate once a month, and a little more people with whom I communicate once a year. There are no people with whom I communicate every day, only at work, if there is a need, yes, I come across them and communicate. And, thank God, there are people with whom I never get tired of communicating every day, but again this is part of my job. And so, of course, I’m a complete extrovert.
STAKHOVSKY: Introvert, on the contrary.
ANTIPENKO: More likely, yes, a finished extrovert and a beginning introvert, not finished, apparently, until the end of my days, like that. I feel very organic in this sense.
STAKHOVSKY: But nevertheless, you have friends, these are the people you meet once a month?
ANTIPENKO: So I listed them. Once a month a certain amount, once a year - a little more, and all the rest - once a century.
KUZMINA: In one of your interviews you said that mountains and theater have a lot in common. Can you tell us in a few words what they have in common?
ANTIPENKO: Mountains and theater is an absolutely strong-willed story. You can prepare until you’re blue in the face by reading, rereading, studying, etc. But you go on stage, and if you don’t have enough will to take over the audience, pull yourself together, make some energies move that don’t move in ordinary life, you are no actor, you are a zero actor. It's the same in the mountains. You can be a super athlete, but if you don’t have this one teaspoon of will that will force you from some completely disassembled state to suddenly stand on your feet and do at least a meter per hour, but do it towards the top, you won’t achieve any peaks. You won’t be able to win and take in your life.
KUZMINA: They say that seven thousand meters fell under you.
ANTIPENKO: Well, I can boast that, after all, I already have three seven-thousanders to my credit. These are the mountains of our wonderful former vast Fatherland, which are located in the south of our state, as it were, on the adjacent territory, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, this is my main patrimony. All our seven-thousanders are located there, five of them, of which I conquered three, these are Lenin Peak, Korzhenevskaya Peak and Khan Tengri, there are two more left.
KUZMINA: The experts gasped in our studio.
ANTIPENKO: It's nice. Yes, there are two more left, but the hardest ones, this year I am going to win, and God willing, EBZh - if we are alive, as Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy said, then maybe I will return, I hope I will return, I want to live again. And next year, again if I’m lucky, I’ll close out the Leopard’s 40th anniversary with an ascent to the Peak of Communism.
STAKHOVSKY: Is this your main goal now?
ANTIPENKO: I have many goals in life, but once a year, like some people go to the bathhouse, I go to the mountains. Once a year I just can’t, something strange happens, some chemical reactions in the body, I can’t help myself; I have terrible dreams that this could end tragically, the body resists in every possible way, it tells you: sit, you have already found your place in life, sit in Moscow, go to the theater, film set, have fun, bring pleasure to people. But somewhere towards the end, probably April...
KUZMINA: And this happens, apparently, from year to year at this time.
ANTIPENKO: ...every year some strange reactions begin.
STAKHOVSKY: Breaking.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, and you can’t do anything about it. The greatest pleasure gives you is to go to the store, buy some new gadget, some 100 grams lighter, say, a mug, or some new titanium burner, which is even 50 grams lighter, some sleeping bag that It also became a little lighter, no less warm, and this is what you live with until you go to the mountains.
KUZMINA: Is it true that you climb alone? Or when?
ANTIPENKO: Well, I must honestly admit that while I still go to seven-thousanders, these are mountains where people go. I walk alone, because I like to climb alone and I like to move in my own rhythm and at my own pace, so as not to run after anyone, because I am not of the right training.
KUZMINA: And don’t wait for anyone.
ANTIPENKO: And don’t wait for anyone, I don’t like to wait and I don’t like to catch up, I like to walk. I like to walk on my own, as I see fit, as I feel my body allows me to, and I’m not going to break any medals there for any reason. I'm not a super athlete. I prepare for the mountains at most a month before the mountains. The rest of the time, my performances, for example, “Othello,” keep me in shape. I am forced to move there, dance and perform some incredible things on myself. And that’s it, in general, this is the end of sports in my life. Therefore, alone, precisely because I don’t like to run and I don’t like to wait.
STAKHOVSKY: He got up and went. Is there a main mountain for you?
ANTIPENKO: I don’t know why I put Everest next to last in my life, probably, but still the main one is K-2. K-2 is some kind of magical peak for me, it always exists, it is very beautiful, it is almost impregnable, and, of course, non-professionals like me rarely go there. Maybe that’s why it completely excites my consciousness, and I live with it, with this thought that if there’s anything to end a mountaineering career, if it can be called a career, then such an unthinkable mountain. Or maybe it won’t end there, because there are still so many untrodden mountains, thank God.
KUZMINA: You said, at least a meter a day, but do it. Were there moments when, well, that was just it?.. If there were any, what inspired you, what helped you?
ANTIPENKO: Listen, in the mountains, in general, all the feelings that a person has are heightened, because there there is simply a desire to survive. And it is so primitive and simple that there is no logic there, there is simply a desire to live. I want to live and that’s all. Sometimes it blocks any desire to ascend. And this happens in the mountains almost every time. You just sit down and understand: sorry, I can’t, I’m going down. And there were such cases that I came down and was ready to fly away, I simply said: I’m waiting for the first board and I’m flying away from here, I can’t, that’s it, I don’t want to anymore. And, paradoxically, sometimes there are no planes there due to some circumstances: the weather, something else. No day, no two, no three. On the third day you calmed down, came to your senses and said: Lord, give me a sign to go up or go down, because I’ve been waiting for something for too long now, it’s not clear. Last year, for example, or rather, the year before (last year, unfortunately, I lost it), the year before last, I climbed Korzhenevskaya Peak and simply asked: give me a sign, please, at least some kind! At that moment when I asked - such things, I am more than sure, happen extremely rarely in the mountains, especially where there are people - a herd of sheep appeared, wild sheep in a good sense...
STAKHOVSKY: Normal sheep.
ANTIPENKO: ...who never come, they are somewhere in the highlands, they are hunted there by these crazy horn hunters.
KUZMINA: Poachers.
ANTIPENKO: I call them poachers, because this is absolute stupidity, they don’t even take meat, they just cut off the head and then show off these horns among themselves. And then a herd of such beautiful wild animals suddenly bursts up between the tents, through the camp, simply cuts through it all - people, tents, naturally, without touching anyone, just passing by, and goes somewhere into the clouds, to where it is high, where there is snow .
KUZMINA: They tell you: hey, boy, come upstairs with us.
ANTIPENKO: Yes, he says, boy, I think you’ve been sitting too long in this camp. The next day I went and climbed Korzheneva. Despite the fact that I no longer had any moral or physical strength. I was just sitting and stupidly waiting for a helicopter to take me out of here to my mother’s house, where there was a warm bed, where everything was fine.
KUZMINA: Where is breakfast?
ANTIPENKO: Where it’s cloudless, where everything is calm, where life is calm, with hot water, good food, and so on. That's why this happens all the time. And often subconsciously, without understanding why, but you go after it, after a miracle.
KUZMINA: Do you take something with you, do you have some, I don’t know, artifact of worldly, roughly speaking, life?
STAKHOVSKY: A talisman?
ANTIPENKO: I have an icon that has been with me for many years, it’s just small, completely microscopic, of St. Gregory, and it somehow took root, I have it, it doesn’t bother me, because it’s small at all, it doesn’t weigh any weight, so She’s with me, and so, in general, nothing. There are enough artifacts there that are necessary.
STAKHOVSKY: Do you bring any souvenirs from there?
ANTIPENKO: I have outgrown souvenirs, I have long outgrown them.
STAKHOVSKY: No? Well, I don't know, stone...
KUZMINA: It’s only in St. Petersburg that air in a can is sold...
ANTIPENKO: You can, of course, bring a piece of ice with you. So that it melts along the way.
STAKHOVSKY: No, well, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s happening there in the mountains, you never know, maybe there’s some kind of tradition about this, God knows.
KUZMINA: You bring feelings from there instead of souvenirs.
ANTIPENKO: There is nothing more beautiful than coming back if you have reached the top. This is something unreal, it is on the verge of, perhaps, birth. This is some new stage. You understand that you went through something that you couldn’t go through and probably can’t, but a miracle happened. And they, these tears, completely sincere tears of happiness, when the plane takes you away, this is an incomparable feeling. Maybe this is partly why you go there too.
KUZMINA: But this overcoming, perhaps, of some things that you are afraid of or believe that there are those who can, but I definitely don’t, takes place in your life, in some other areas besides the mountains?
ANTIPENKO: Listen, this is probably the leitmotif of life after all. If a person chooses such things, such means of recreation, let’s say, like mountaineering, then, probably, his whole life is one way or another... Everything I do lately is all a kind of overcoming. I'm interested in competing with myself. I'm interested in competing with my weaknesses. I have not yet found anything more interesting in this life.
STAKHOVSKY: To be better than yourself yesterday?
ANTIPENKO: Even if it’s just a micron, even if it’s just a little bit, but if you succeed, the day has not passed in vain.
STAKHOVSKY: There is still time, desire, perhaps, for travel of a different order?
KUZMINA: A star on the beach.
STAKHOVSKY: For example, yes.
KUZMINA: With a map of Rome.
ANTIPENKO: Listen, I love my children. Of course, where the children are, that’s where I rest. That is, the only place where I can rest my soul and not feel any remorse is the mountains. Everything else is still where my children are. Now they are spending the whole summer in Montenegro for the fourth year, and that’s why I go there every time I have money and time. For three days, five, more than two weeks I can’t stand being at sea, I’m starting to shake, I want to climb somewhere, even the children can’t restrain me.
STAKHOVSKY: And in Montenegro there are also a lot of mountains.
ANTIPENKO: I can’t. After seven thousand meters it’s a little hard.
STAKHOVSKY: That's it, isn't it?
ANTIPENKO: I can’t, somehow I can’t squander my money on trifles. If it's scale, then scale. The next step is clear, that the Himalayas, but only after the “leopard”, “leopard” I’ll close, there will be the Himalayas, again, EBZH.
STAKHOVSKY: Well, of course, yes, of course. This three-letter letter is simply at the forefront of our minds today.
KUZMINA: Do you have any collections? Favorite car that you cherish and cherish, perhaps a prehistoric one like mine? Or something that you perhaps attach more importance to than other people?
ANTIPENKO: I don’t know.
STAKHOVSKY: Snakes and mountains. Not enough for you?
KUZMINA: Theater.
ANTIPENKO: Theatre. You know, I am so passionate about my profession, so truly passionate, that if I have some kind of role, I even understand that the distance is several months, but I can’t think about anything else. I somehow do things and things that somehow lead me to this. Now "Cyrano de Bergerac", which, God willing, has already been set, will take place on October 17-18...
STAKHOVSKY: These are premieres, right?
ANTIPENKO: Yes, and I will certainly take the text with me to the mountains, because there are moments when you rest before acclimatization races and there is absolutely nothing to do, I will try if my brain allows it, because there, of course, in an oxygen-free environment it is very It’s difficult to force the brain to do something, but if it works, I’ll teach there, and I’ll try something at least a phrase a day, because it’s wildly interesting to me. These are roles of colossal scale, you still have to grow into them and play them. What series after this? They call me for auditions, and I already - with the knowledge of several monologues from Cyrano de Bergerac - cannot even read what is offered to me. I say: please excuse me, I love you all, I don’t judge anyone, everyone minds their own business, I will live on kefir and bread...
KUZMINA: “I’ll give you Vasily’s phone number now, he’ll play this role perfectly, he’ll do a great job.”
ANTIPENKO: Yes. So you laugh, and that’s how it’s done. I say: “Are you serious? I don't fit, really. In my opinion, there is...” - and I actually name several names.
KUZMINA: Listen, have you completed higher directing courses?
ANTIPENKO: Again, I don’t want to offend anyone, I went to the academy, I wasn’t interested. But I hope that someday I will have the desire and will return. By and large, what I needed for myself - just a feeling of whether I can do it or not - I got it. I can, absolutely absolutely. I can gather a company, if necessary, of talented people, more talented than me. I don’t have any ambitions in this sense; a director is, first of all, a person who gathers a team of talented people around him. And the more talented they are than the director himself, the better. The main thing is to collect and inspire them. I can do this. I manage to explain the concept to them, I manage to infect them with my idea of what I want to film. Even if it was on the scale of some tiny short films, I understand that I can do it, it’s interesting to me.
KUZMINA: Do you perhaps follow the directorial works of graduates, are they quite interesting?
ANTIPENKO: Well, I watched when I was studying. We have a lot of talented people, but, unfortunately, this is not in demand now. I really dream that we will finally have in our country, well, not Woody Allen himself, because he already feels great there, and what he does is brilliant, and directors and producers of this level have appeared who will appreciate and understand that this, by and large, is Russian cinema, deeply psychological, acting first of all, because everything we do at the level of special effects is always such an easy catch-up with the West. We will not catch up with them; they are already many, many thousands of years ahead of us. Therefore, what can we take? Our acting school and truly integral individuals who have no price. Now there are fewer of them, now they are being driven out, simply driven out by this elementary serial business. And even good actors turn into geeks because they lose their meaning. They come and count how much they will be paid for a day of filming, rather than being creative. This, unfortunately, is killing our cinema. Therefore, if I return to directing, it will only be with this subtext: to make highly intellectual, interesting, spiritual films that will be interesting to me personally. When I’m not competing with these crazy Western innovations, what kind of camera should I shoot with? Film it on your phone! If it is shot with talent and talented people in the frame, it will always be interesting.
KUZMINA: Is there anything that you are learning or have learned from your own children?
ANTIPENKO: Oh, courage, probably. They are wonderful. When a person is small, he is always bolder, he is always more impulsive, he can do reckless things. This is what we, adults, need to learn from them.
STAKHOVSKY: There are fewer borders.
ANTIPENKO: Fewer borders, no borders at all. Then, as we grow up, we begin to acquire them. This is what I'm trying to learn. I, like Benjamin Button, try to look younger as I age. Don’t turn into an old man who grumbles and, relatively speaking, blames everyone there for what is happening in the country and in life. God grant that they are more talented than us. And now, in fact, there are many of them, these generations of little ones, three-, four-, five-year-olds, they are already more talented. Just by the fact of birth. They already understand all these gadgets - where does all this come from in their brain?
STAKHOVSKY: It’s already genetically laid down, everything is instantaneous.
ANTIPENKO: That's strange. From whom is it pledged? Here's the paradox.
KUZMINA: Where from? You caught the eggs in “Well, wait a minute” genetically, and they do the same thing, only this time...
STAKHOVSKY: Correct. And our grandmothers, when this wolf appeared, also did not understand how to press these same buttons. When the TV remote control appeared - God, what to do with it? And they wrapped it in cellophane so that, God forbid...
KUZMINA: Many people still don’t film, Evgeniy, I’ll tell you more.
STAKHOVSKY: In this sense, everything is clear, everything is completely clear. Thank you! Grigory Antipenko was our guest.
KUZMINA: We need to say goodbye to you, we are letting you go.
ANTIPENKO: Oh, how nice. Thank you. We remember that I’m an introvert, so I have to say goodbye, and it’s nice.
KUZMINA: Everything you have can be seen on your website, apparently, right, on the Internet? Or at least try to take a peek.
ANTIPENKO: You know, I don’t know what’s happening on my sites, on other people’s, I’m an absolute amateur at this.
KUZMINA: Search on the Internet, in the open spaces. Thank you so much.
ANTIPENKO: Happy.
