Elena Yakovleva: “Today I want to live most of all”

The audience has always loved her for many years – since the famous “Intergirl”. And she plays ordinary women – emotional and very recognizable. Moreover, her Kabanikha inspires no less confidence than Major Kamenskaya or the slutty lady from “Anchor, more Anchor!”. But the main thing is not even organics, but natural magnetism, that acting contagiousness that does not allow you to take your eyes off her – on the screen and on stage. In life, Elena obscures this delicacy a little, as if hiding it. But she does not let on mystery, remaining simple and sincere in all manifestations. Even in her conflicting desire to be both famous and invisible to everyone. She is different, of course. Shy, ironic, extremely responsible: she comes to the meeting not just on time, but in advance. It’s hard for Yakovlev to recognize at the time of the photo shoot: she seems to close herself internally and externally, stares intensely into the lens, and later admits that she is terribly afraid of the camera. Having overcome emotions, she becomes calm, uninhibited. Such as I find her a little later in the dressing room of the Sovremennik Theater. Yakovleva has the main role in the new play – “Five Evenings” by A. Volodin. She talks about work with understandable excitement. But I catch myself thinking that I see in front of me not an actress, but a happy young woman. Light, slender, all in black … She suddenly goes black – it does not extinguish, but only sets off her luminous face. Even her eyes – on the screen and all her photos are so familiarly sad – sparkle unrecognizably. Hidden peace and undisguised joy of life at the same time. Amazing transformation.

Briefly and clearly

Is your glass half empty or half full?

I have to constantly sip – so as not to overflow.

How would you like to age?

Nice. And as slowly as possible. There are all conditions for this now: medical, cosmetic, sports …

How do you feel about your body?

Critically. I pamper him often. But then I take a critical look – and immediately I take it with an iron fist.

When do you feel insecure?

At the beginning of any work.

What would you add to the list of the seven deadly sins?

Indifference. And also ostentatious, selfish kindness.

What would you change about yourself?

Perhaps nothing.

And in your husband?

For my husband, I would ask for more tolerance.

Can you present your weaknesses as strengths?

No. Rather, I try to hide them.

Your taboos in the profession?

I will never be naked and swear on stage and screen.

What else do you miss in life?

Plays. Funny, but with very good human relations.

Psychologies: You never aspired to be an unattainable star. Do you like that the audience considers you “their”?

Elena Yakovleva: I think this is due to the fact that I have many roles of contemporaries: I play little Western or classical repertoire. But I never wanted, living in this country, to be inaccessible. Otherwise, you have to live somewhere else … somewhere in the hills of Beverly Hills. Although I have no idea how to play, living in these hills, to be believed … I have my place, only mine. I don’t want to define it. But, if it did not suit me, I would change something in my life.

All 20 years of your career you are in great demand as an actress. Were there crises, turning points along the way?

E. Ya.: The turning point in my life was the birth of my son. Before that, I fussed a lot, I didn’t see anything but the theater: oh, art, the stage … Then suddenly it became so good, calm, as only a woman can be good when she has the most important thing.

Why then only one child?

E. Ya.: I gave birth to Denis too late. And then the housing issue … I slept all my childhood on a folding bed, standing next to my parents’ bed. Having my own room was an unattainable dream for me. Therefore, I wanted my child to have his own corner.

And you grew up with a younger brother. Were you friends?

E. Ya.: At first, no. We have a “critical” age difference of six years. I remember the daily struggle for the table at which we did our homework, and the constant “squealing”, as it seemed to me then, of my brother. Once I secretly pierced my ears: no one allowed me, but I really wanted to stand out at least somehow! I hid the earrings under my hair and showed it only to Dimka – under the strictest confidence! I promised not to lock him up in the pantry anymore and to give up the best corner of the table – in a word, I bought it in full. He betrayed me to my mother that same evening! The next day, of course, I locked him in the pantry and didn’t let him eat … It was a normal childhood. And then … We did not have time to really make friends: I left for Moscow. A big piece of my heart is now there, in Kharkov, where my parents and brother and his family live. I am more than sure: if we lived nearby, we would be the closest friends.

How did you feel as a child?

E. Ya.: How can a person who is constantly “new” feel? I am the daughter of a military man, we sometimes moved several times a year. I missed a lot of lessons – the teachers were condescending, the students were unhappy: why on earth is she, the newcomer, allowed to do everything? Mom always dressed me very neatly, beautifully. Dad served in Germany for a while, and I wore things bought there in some godforsaken town of the Irkutsk region. Original collars on the uniform, a coat with fur – all this seemed defiant. And so I, all so beautiful, overdressed and practically without knowledge, went into the classroom. The girls had one idea, the boys had another. But I have always had a lot of attention.

Did you like it or annoy it?

E. Ya.: I am a very communicative person. I easily get along with people. Apparently, I subconsciously chose this structure of communication: I think the more complex a person is, the more difficult it is for him to communicate with others. Therefore, I push my difficulties to the background and communicate simply. I always wanted this. And I constantly ran into the same rake. She came to a new class with an open mind, and someone was sure to look into her with bad thoughts. (Laughs.) It was a test: every year I wanted to be more modest and live to the state of a “gray mouse”. And now I’m such a mouse. I try not to draw attention to myself, not to provoke any emotions in others – the fewer of them, the calmer.

How do you manage to combine openness and the desire to be inconspicuous?

E. Ya.: I learned to clearly separate work and life. At the very beginning, when I got into the acting environment, I made a mistake: I thought that I should honestly tell reporters everything. That you can not play and invent anything. As it turned out later, sincerity is not valued in the press.

Would you like to start embellishing something?

E. Ya.: I have been working on myself for a long time. But it didn’t work! (Laughs.) I don’t want to compose or lie.

Was there anything permanent in your nomadic childhood?

E. Ya.: Escorting dad to the service and meeting him from the service. Constant was the endless search for something. Dad – apartments, mom – work.

Were you close to your parents?

E. Ya.: No. My brother and I had a street upbringing – in a good way. And I didn’t have to turn to my mother with any intimate questions – for the simple reason that in the company I found answers to all questions. But in difficult moments from my mother, I felt some kind of silent support. She knew how to look in such a way that I immediately felt better. Her eyes seemed to say: everything is fine, nothing terrible is happening, it’s just life. I would like to have such a look – calm and wise – at a time when my son will have some problems.

You raised him freely, without prohibitions. Why?

E. Ya.: I think it’s from laziness. I was reluctant to inspire him the same thing a hundred times, to convince him, to raise his voice, and I preferred to allow him everything. For example, he opens a locker in which there are little things: buttons, knick-knacks. You can collect everything in a bag and put it higher. But I was too lazy to do it. So I sat next to him and watched as he studied all the contents – an hour, two. Then in one book I read that my laziness is called “Japanese” education.

This month, the topic of our dossier is “Knowing how to part.” Your son is 13 years old, are you internally ready to let him go into adulthood?

E. Ya.: At first, my possessive feeling for him reached the point of insanity: I looked into the carriages and looked at each girl as a potential homemaker wife. (Laughs.) What does she look like, is she worthy of my son? Fortunately, I got through it and now I even collect some jewelry for my future daughter-in-law. Or maybe not one? You know, everything in life is so wisely arranged … Now my son has already matured, and I forgot how I held him in my arms, how I bathed … From close physical and mental intimacy with a small child to his final departure – a big stage of gradual distance. After all, I didn’t give birth to a son so that he would be with me until old age. I am sure that his calls, meetings on holidays will be enough for me. (Dreamily.) I won’t have to stand in the kitchen, cook – we will go to restaurants, we will begin a completely different life … Perhaps I say this so calmly because I experienced a monstrous fear for my son in the first years. That’s when I really needed the help of a psychotherapist. I remember how, six months after the birth of Denis, I left him for the first time for five days in another country. As soon as I got to the hotel, I rushed to call home: what if something happened? And out of fear, I completely forgot my phone number! And when I found it in a colleague’s notebook, I could hardly dial the necessary numbers. These momentary attacks of paralyzing fear happened more than once. At those moments, I felt like I was going crazy. But now I’m glad that I got over this mother’s “chickenpox” and, I hope, gained immunity.

Do you think you know yourself well?

E. Ya.: (Thinks.) No. I have a lot of fantasies. They sometimes carry me away to such a distance that when I return from there, I think in confusion: what would I do if it were real? And I understand that I do not find the answer. I like my fantasy actions more than my real ones. It’s like living in parallel worlds. Here and now I am doing something, but at the same time some other, fantastic reality lives in me. And very often it is better there. There I am more beautiful, better, more consistent than in life.

Who do you turn to for help in difficult times?

E. Ya.: I used to call close and distant friends. But, oddly enough, talking about your problems, you immerse yourself in them more and more. He can’t even take advice. If I need to make a decision or sort myself out, I take a break. Like Scarlett O’Hara: “I won’t think about it today. I’ll think about it tomorrow.” I switch to something completely different – definitely exciting. And after a while, the decision comes by itself. And besides, there is a theater – my doctor and psychotherapist. Toothache, colds and even toxicosis pass on stage!

A stable relationship is a desirable and rare thing for many modern couples. And your 20-year-old union with Valery Shalnykh – family and creative – seems so calm and happy …

E. Ya.: He is not calm. But he’s normal. Our relationship with Valera is the work of both, each equally. Patience, understanding, advice – all 50 to 50. Yes, the period of romance is passing quickly, we probably already have the third or fourth stage in our relationship. This is such a degree of intimacy and mutual understanding that with your thoughts alone you can cause a reaction from your partner. You enter the house with a certain expression on your face, and he immediately understands everything. Sometimes it becomes so boring that you have to … fantasize! (Laughs.)

What else helps to maintain a relationship?

E. Ya.: In moments of disagreement, in the most terrible situations, when I want to slam the door and leave, I think first of all about a child who cannot imagine his existence without me or without his father. This is the first, most powerful factor. The second one is my laziness. (Laughs.) As I imagine: my God, again studying someone’s facial expressions, getting used to each other … Laziness is a guarantee of stability!

How do you feel at 45?

E. Ya.: I remember very well how, at the age of 16-17, I considered all thirty-year-olds to be old people. We didn’t talk about those over forty at all – it was already an outrageous age. I am extremely ashamed of this now. Everyone says: why do you mention your age? You are perfectly preserved, and you won’t give so much … And I’m not shy, because I don’t feel my age. Otherwise, I would probably hide it. I am in good physical shape now. I even started – for the first time in my life – playing tennis and just catching a buzz on the court (sorry for the slang, but you can’t say otherwise). I am in a fantastic, elated state from morning to evening, I manage to do everything and do not get tired at all. It was physically more difficult for me at the age of 30 than it is now. What kind of midlife crisis are they talking about?

Have your priorities changed?

E. Ya.: For the better. Before, I had to work very hard. I felt the need to prove something all the time – first of all to myself. And now, before accepting a new job, you know what I’m thinking? About the fact that I need to leave two days a week for tennis, one for myself, for example, to get a manicure or read my favorite book. And then I think about work. Now I want to live more than anything. Go shopping, arrange holidays for yourself … Probably, this is also due to the fact that the child is old enough, he does not need my constant presence. One way or another, it seems to me, for the first time, I just wanted to live!

Private bussiness