She receives theater and film awards, is filmed almost all over the world, hosts the Venice Film Festival – and continues to doubt her merits. Meeting with Ksenia Rappoport, who does not like restrictions, is not afraid of change and is learning to be a little more carefree.
A true Petersburger, a beautiful and intelligent woman, a theater and film star, she seems to live outside her international success: Ksenia Rappoport avoids photo shoots and magazine interviews, does not like comparisons and excessive interest in her own person. Maybe that’s why he prefers black – to stand out less? She comes to our meeting in black. Although the open dress only emphasizes the liveliness of her smile. It was in this smiling girl that eminent directors – from Giuseppe Tornatore to Kirill Serebrennikov – saw a mature tragic actress. She played women who lose their children and lovers, a refugee, a prostitute … In these roles she is absolutely convincing – she manages to find and reveal in herself everything that especially excites and fascinates the audience: passion and pain, sensuality and impeccable self-control, risk and rebellion . Talent polished by the Russian acting school, Jewish roots and European environment is an explosive mixture!
And she is an unusually attentive, easy and friendly conversationalist. Now, at the table of an Italian restaurant, she gracefully controls the minestrone and tells, helping herself with gestures – now gently touching her face, then straightening the curls of her hair gathered at the back of her head, then loosening them with a lush mane. There is something of a graduate of the Smolny Institute in her – this illusion is broken only by a mobile phone and a laptop lying nearby. And the soft categoricalness with which she insists: “Are you going to send me the text? Usually I sit down and rewrite everything. Only after that does it work.” She has been living in the old Abramtsevo estate for two weeks now, where she is filming in a new film by Avdotya Smirnova. From there (not from the XNUMXth century?) Ksenia got out to Moscow, to our meeting.
Psychologies: Tell me, Ksenia, are you comfortable living in our current time?
Ksenia Rappoport: I know that the most correct and harmonious state is to be here and now, with all my being. Here with this spoon, at this table and with your eyes opposite. But in general our time, with its speeds and incredible amount of information, I don’t seem to fit very well. When I try to keep up with everything, I understand that I am losing something very important, I start to fuss and fall apart into some pieces. I think the century before last would suit me better. The quality of living time and life then was completely different. It was impossible to contact in one second with a person who was at a great distance. One could only think about him, write letters to him, wait for an answer … Now you can check anything on the Internet, but then the degree of trust between people was completely different. And trust in God. I liked the concept formulated by our contemporary, St. Petersburg philosopher Alexander Sekatsky, “transcendental carelessness”. This is the feeling of carelessness we are losing today. It is increasingly difficult for us to rely on God without worrying about tomorrow. We hope for anything – for our cars, phones, money, power … It seems to me that a hundred or two hundred years ago there was more space for faith, for thoughts, for life.
You shoot a lot abroad. Where is it more pleasant to live and work – in Russia or in Europe?
K.R.: Living and working in general is pleasant! I’ve always loved traveling, and when travel is combined with a good job and great company, it’s a luxury.
You are about traveling, and I am about those of us who think: having left, you can run away from some problems …
K.R.: Of course, this happens. But it only helps if you treat your flight as a conscious search for a solution. I had such a reception in my youth: to come to the Moscow railway station, get on the very first train and leave for Moscow. And there, having arrived, you must be very careful about what you see or whom you meet, because this will be the answer to your question.
You not only left, but also left – for example, three times from the theater institute …
K.R.: This is what is called “transcendental carelessness”! (Laughs.) I don’t remember that then I asked myself: “What about tomorrow?” I just understood that I had to leave, that I could not be here. And that’s it. Now, unfortunately, it is much more difficult to be as careless. Due to the fact that I am responsible for other people, for my daughter. But I believe that I can change my life if I really need to. I will take a step and not be afraid.
Have you always had this determination?
K.R.: At least my parents did not restrict my freedom. And they didn’t swear or frighten me when, for example, I refused to join the Komsomol. No, I was not such a brave dissident, I was just infuriated that I had to spend time memorizing the dates of the congresses. I never wanted to be “like everyone else.” No, I didn’t have a goal to show off – I’m just always interested in something else, something that is aside, that does not fit into the program. And I have always resisted pointless restrictions. I remember that at the age of 14 my class and I were in France for the first time. I studied at a special school, I knew the language well. The trip was led by a typical party worker who did not speak French, but could only shout in Russian. Our bus stopped in a traffic jam in the center of Paris: we were driving to the suburbs, from where the next day we were supposed to go to Le Havre, the sister city of Leningrad. And there, standing in this traffic jam, I suddenly understand: if I don’t get off the bus now, then I will never see the city that I read and dreamed about so much – perhaps never. I turn to our party aunt with a request to let me out, and she screams that I’ve lost my mind. Then I turn to the driver and say in French: “Madam let me get out here. Tell me, please, the name of our hotel, I will come there myself in the evening.” He calls me the hotel, opens the door, and as soon as I have time to jump out, the bus moves off. I will remember this amazing feeling for the rest of my life: I am alone, at Notre Dame itself, with my heart pounding from adrenaline and three and a half hours of freedom!
Do you remember Soviet times with a sense of lack of freedom?
K.R.: No, not only. Here are my grandparents, my father’s parents – after all, they were Soviet people. But they lived the way they could live in the XNUMXth century. Maybe they didn’t say “you” to each other, but in their “you” there was so much respect, tenderness, love – and at the same time distance. Which they managed to keep, living together with their parents, children and grandchildren: when I was born, there were eight people in our family! But there was a feeling that grandparents live in the estate: she is in her half, he is in his. Are they Soviet people? Soviet! Grandfather, a famous archaeologist, was never allowed to go abroad in his life, although he was invited to teach at all universities in the world. What they and my parents have always been defenseless against is rudeness. I also feel some absolutely Soviet fear in myself, for example, before traffic cops or employees of the housing office.
Are you close to your parents?
K.R.: I am very grateful to them.
What is in you from them – in character, in life attitudes?
K.R.: (Long pause.) Let’s move on to another question. These are deeply personal things. If you answer seriously, it will be like a session of psychoanalysis. And in a nutshell – how? I can only say that I have never felt the lack of their love. Never! But there are problems that I cannot yet consider resolved for myself.
Have you ever thought about sorting them out with the help of psychotherapy?
K.R.: I know that psychotherapy can help – for those who feel the need. And just as much as he needs it. At the same time, it is important to realize that in fact no one will ever solve any problems for us. The psychotherapist is not a magician who puts his brains in place and quenches sorrows, but an interlocutor who needs to be ready to hear. I have such interlocutors. And even among psychotherapists.
“I DON’T WANT TO DO EVERYTHING. AND IF I TRY, THEN I FEEL THAT I LOSE SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT, I FALL UP, FALLING INTO FUSION.
From the very beginning of your career, you have been playing adult heroines, mature in their femininity. How, looking at whom, did you build your own femininity?
K.R.: I often remember my other grandmother – my mother’s mother, she was very feminine. Until the age of 80, she flirted, until her last day. At the age of 13, I was terribly infuriated. At the age of 20 it was entertaining. And now I understand that my grandmother was a real treasure. You know, I resisted my own femininity for a long time. And a large breast size, and early forms. And the male attention that was drawn to these forms. And not to me – I felt this dissonance very keenly. It seemed to me that smartly dressed women, emphasizing their femininity, were a terrible vulgarity. I stooped, preferred to wear my father’s shirts and “goodbye youth” boots – so black, felt, with a zipper in front. All this I could wear with a skirt. And she thought that this is exactly how a decent girl who thinks about the soul should dress. And when at the institute I got the role of the beautiful Elena Andreevna in Uncle Vanya, she was bespectacled, round-shouldered, ridiculous … I was afraid that if I seriously portrayed a beauty, they would simply laugh at me. I had no idea: how can you be a beauty that everyone admires? It’s so relative – even Monica Bellucci is not to everyone’s liking.
Do you feel like a self-sufficient woman?
K.R.: I would like to consider myself a self-sufficient person. After all, this does not mean that a person does not need anyone. On the contrary, he wants to share what boils and splashes in him. Such people are very attractive. But it seems to me that it is impossible to be a self-sufficient woman. Because the very division of humanity into two sexes already presupposes their union. It’s just that the more independent a woman is, the more independent she needs a man … Or maybe it’s the other way around … I’m being clever here, but in fact I have no idea how it all works. I admire people who have lived together all their lives. Here they, probably, can share interesting experience.
Your daughter is 16 years old – what from your experience do you want to convey to her?
K.R.: The worst thing is to impose your own idea of happiness. Moreover, mine – from the number of books read – is so untrue … that even I myself understand this. She has something completely different. You know, I got it so early that I didn’t even think about any “transfer of experience”. Her birth was a shock to me, and the feeling that I am now responsible for her. I tried to share with her everything beautiful that is in my life, and, if possible, protect her from troubles. Although the result is that I share everything with her. We are friends, it is impossible to hide something from her. You could say we grew up with her. I learned a lot from her and still continue to learn. For example, she amazes me with her ability to perceive the most seemingly terrible problems easily and with humor. With this approach, most often the right, smart solution is found! When you make a tragedy out of everything, you usually don’t see a way out.
“I NEVER WANTED TO BE LIKE EVERYBODY. I AM INTERESTED IN SOMETHING ELSE, WHAT IS OUTSIDE, OUTSIDE THE GENERAL PROGRAM. “I THINK THE MOST WRONG THING IS TO IMPOSE ON OTHERS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, YOUR PERSONALITY OF HAPPINESS.”
Are you inclined to make a tragedy out of everything?
K.R.: It happens. But I force myself to take life more lightly. Ease needs to be worked on. And by the way, it’s not that easy! (Laughs.) If you remember the history of the Jewish people, it turns out that this tragedy is still not entirely mine, and it becomes a little easier. In general, what are our advantages and what are our shortcomings, this is a big question!
And what do you attribute to your merits, successes?
K.R.: No, just don’t talk about it! In general, I think that the opinion about some of my unprecedented successes … let’s say, is exaggerated. Just recently, two men came up to me in a cafe and said: “We don’t remember your name, but are you sure that actress who is always awarded for something on TV?” (Laughs) It’s all relative. And not very interesting.
What are you interested in?
K.R.: I am interested in people, it is interesting to get to know and discover them… It is interesting to be alone… To work, realizing that this is not the most important thing in life… and at the same time sometimes forgetting about everything except what you are doing. It is interesting to watch how children grow and mature. Well, in general, it is interesting to live.
Private bussiness
- 1974 Born on March 25 in Leningrad, her father Alexander Pavlovich is an architect, her mother Irina Borisovna is an engineer. Xenia’s sister Anna is four years older than her.
- 1991 Film debut – in Dmitry Astrakhan’s film Get Out! She entered the acting department of the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts (course of Veniamin Filshtinsky).
- 1994 She gave birth to a daughter, Daria.
- 2000 While studying in his last year, he rehearses the role of Nina Zarechnaya in Lev Dodin’s play “The Seagull”, with this role he makes his debut in 2001 on the stage of the Maly Drama Theater – the Theater of Europe (MDT).
- 2002 Plays Jocasta in the tragedy Oedipus Rex by Andrey Prikotenko at the Na Liteiny Theatre. Two years later, he will play Beatrice (Servant of Two Masters) and Ismene (Antigone) in his own performances.
- 2003 For the role of Elena Andreevna in the play “Uncle Vanya” (directed by Lev Dodin, MDT) receives the “Golden Soffit” award.
- 2006 The main role in the film “The Stranger” by Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy).
- 2007 Plays Ida in the film by Sergei Ursulyak “Liquidation”. Italian Film Academy Award “David di Donatello” for Best Actress in “The Stranger”; roles in the films “Swing” by Anton Sievers, “More important than love” by Vadim Ostrovsky. 2008 “The Man Who Loves” by Maria Soule Tognazzi; “The Italians” by Giovanni Veronesi; Kinotavr Prize for Best Actress in the film St. George’s Day by Kirill Serebrennikov.
- 2009 Volpi Gold Cup Venice Film Festival for Best Actress in Giuseppe Capotondi’s “Double Time”. Receives the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
- 2010 Film by Ricky Tognazzi Il padre e lo straniero (literally “Father and Foreigner”, premiered at the V Rome Film Festival (October 28 – November 5). Role in one of the short stories in the collection “Fairy Tale. There” (at the box office from January 27, 2011) ; starring roles in the films “36,6” by Yaroslav Chevazhevsky (premiered in February 2011) and “The Golden Section” by Sergei Debizhev; filmed in the serial film by Sergei Snezhkin “The White Guard”, where Elena Talberg plays.