She is seriously working on herself. With dignity, she bears the burden of responsibility for her high-profile surname, trying to increase that fabulous legacy that she did not choose. Meeting with Maria Mironova – an actress of great potential and a woman who cares about her own beauty only at the moment of choosing a photo for the cover.
She sits in the Psychologies office with a perfectly straight (as always) back and critically examines the frames of her photo shoot: “It’s too artificial, it won’t work … here the pose is far-fetched … it’s not me … this, maybe …” Then she corrects the text of the interview over the phone, as sculptor, cutting off all unnecessary – clearly, reasonably. It seems that Maria treats her own life in exactly the same way – as a demanding artist treats his creation. Like a gardener, he cultivates and, like a photographer, highlights the deepest, most essential in himself. She builds her way so consciously and purposefully that admiration for this woman is sometimes mixed with distrust: her attitude towards herself and the world seems too rational. Our meeting in a cozy cafe not far from the Machine House partly destroys and … confirms this feeling. She holds herself strictly, speaks confidently, without emotions – it seems that doubts are not familiar to her at all. Laconically answers phone calls, dials the number of his son Andrey several times (“Where are you?”). He is 14 years old, and this is not the most calm age for a mother. Soon, Andrey Mironov himself, a light, lively boy, runs into the cafe from the football ground: “Mom, can I have a shrimp?” And to me, with a charming smile: “Hello!” In our long dialogue, Maria thaws, laughs more often, gets worried, and I understand: she is talking about what is really important to her. About what she’s been through. About what hurts now. The acting profession is one of the main life priorities of Mary. In the theater, she finally got a large-scale role that turned all ideas about the talent of a young actress – the role of Phaedra in Andrei Zholdak’s play “Phaedra. Golden ear “(Theatre of Nations).
Briefly and clearly
What is the most important piece of advice you have ever been given that you have followed?
“Live today”. These are the words of my grandmother, Raisa Ivanovna Gradova.
An important piece of advice you didn’t heed?
There’s no such thing. Some deep things are sure to sink into consciousness and sooner or later germinate.
What would you give up in yourself?
From categoricalness.
What would you change about your husband?
Each person has his own time of maturation. If I name something now, it will be wrong.
What is the main difference between a man and a woman?
The first thing that comes to my mind is their different life functions. But I am a person who takes on many male functions, so this formulation should not come from my lips. (Laughs.) You drove me into a dead end! I’ll think about it.
Your masculine and feminine principles – in what relationship are they?
The man dominates! (Laughs.) Everything is as it should be.
What makes you most happy in life?
Life itself.
Psychologies: In the tragic role of Phaedra, you have grown incredibly as an actress: you play freely, deeply, passionately – for an aortic rupture. Has this job changed your attitude towards your other roles?
Maria Mironova: Before Phaedra, I had a lot of unspent energy with which I overburdened not too significant roles: they seemed to me very serious. Now I spend myself where it is necessary – in the Phaedra, and the rest I play easily. My new work in Vladimir Mirzoev’s play “Tartuffe” is one of the light and, unfortunately, outwardly spectacular roles. But rehearsing with Mirzoev is a great joy.
Who are your viewers?
M. M .: I would not like to distinguish between my audience, for example, specialists and ordinary viewers. The spectator for me is a single concept. In general, in my life I am a person not of divisions, but of connections. But, probably, it would be difficult for me to play for the audience of stadium concerts. This is not my audience.
Is your son’s generation your audience?
M. M .: Difficult to define. Speaking in general, teenagers – from 12 to 20 – live under a specific television, clip dictate. It’s not really my path.
You and your son have a relatively small age difference. Do you understand this new generation?
M. M .: I understand something, but … I am a person of rather conservative views and I feel that, most likely, I was born at the wrong time. I exist in it quite adequately – formally, tempo-rhythmically, but it is not to my liking. I feel close to the feeling of time that is in the films of Alexander Sokurov and Andrei Tarkovsky. Not flickering, not clip-like, but real, dotted. With a long feeling from each face, a breath of wind … For the current generation of teenagers, this is boring to watch. His outer rhythms of life merge with the inner ones.
Do you have a fear of losing contact with your son because of this?
M. M .: No, I had a period of life at the same transitional age, when I was ultra-modern and, like my son now, was influenced by fashion trends. But at some point I figured out what was happening around, and it became categorically uninteresting to me. I hope that the same will happen to Andrey sooner or later.
We associate certain hopes and desires with our children. But at some point, a native creature begins to live according to its own laws. Do you know this feeling of disappointment?
M. M .: I do not perceive the present moment as a point, as something completed. I do not have such an approach: today everything is bad, and I am disappointed. Then you would have to be disappointed in something every day. I know for sure that there is a possibility. Therefore, it remains for me only to the best of my ability to build something. And believe.
Faith in God that you speak of makes life clearer. How did you feel it in yourself?
M. M .: From early childhood, I had, perhaps, only one positive quality against a generally unfavorable background. (Laughs) It’s purposefulness. A very strong desire to achieve something, to understand, to achieve. That’s what helped me. A lot had to be overcome. And it was very difficult, because something can be overcome only within oneself. Trying to change external circumstances is pointless.
Sounds like you’re a maximalist?
M. M .: Absolutely. Maximalist, perfectionist and idealist. Terrible combination. My whole life – as long as I can remember – is defined by the desire for something ideal, and not by the presence of it.
Please explain.
M. M .: Maybe a parable? “One monk met with a layman, they talked for a long time, and the layman was shocked by his piety, kindness, wisdom, and once asked the monk: “Many beautiful things coexist in you – how do you manage to combine so many virtues in yourself? Show me the path.” To which the monk replied: “What you say is amazing, because for everything that you have listed, I have been desperately striving all my life, but I have not achieved this.” By and large, this monk was not deceitful. The further he went along his path, the more he realized how far his goal was from him.
Do you remember your first aspiration?
M. M .: I realized early enough – of course, at the level of sensations – that I, like any person, have a certain set of abilities. And that I should return what was given to me with a vengeance, and not bury it in the ground – that’s what I was most afraid of. I had to work hard and be very hard on myself. If you do not plow the field properly, nothing will grow on it.
Isn’t it necessary to love this “field”, that is, yourself?
M. M .: I don’t think it’s fruitful. The path of detachment from my “I” is closer to me in order to avoid addiction. When I first came to the theater, they wrote a lot about me, more often bad ones. I had a choice: to take it from my “bell tower”, which means to acquire complexes and build a defense (“I am good, but you don’t know me”). Or wonder why people write this. I chose the second way.
And now you can say that you are free from the opinions of other people?
M. M .: Partly yes. It took me a very long time to achieve this freedom. After all, any person is inclined to think that he is wonderful and unique, but for some reason someone does not understand him. This perception creates a lot of problems. I feel closer to feeling like a small part of a huge world: here I am, and next to me are other people. Our lives are mixed in equal proportions. It is very difficult to accept this. But – whatever the situation! The less you think about yourself, the more beautiful life is. And people start to perceive you better and better. (Laughs.) Because in another person, we are all primarily interested in his interest in ourselves!
But understanding others is not always easy. What do you do when you are not understood, not heard? Retreat, take it for granted?
M. M .: I turn on very tough internal mechanisms – to get through at all costs. The pressure appears like a bull. (Laughs.) The excitement is incredible.
What would you definitely wish for your son?
M. M .: Dependence on any imposed stamps, stereotypes. From the tribute of time. Russian people are generally prone to dependence – earlier on power, now on money … But for my psyche it’s terrible. When something imposed from the outside appears in my mind, I cease to be myself.
But after all, the external environment is also the people who shape us. Do you recognize authority?
M. M .: Authorities are needed, especially for a child. When I came to my grandmother, Maria Vladimirovna, as a child, and told me how I love to dance, play tennis, learn English, she told me: “Mashenka, you are like a leaky hose: it will fly out to the left, fly out to the right, and as a result …” – and showed a big figure. I agree with her: the child’s brain needs to be directed in a certain direction, and if this does not happen, then he will remain an infantile person who will find it difficult to realize himself in something. I was lucky: I had authorities and still have them. These are people with whom I have one hundred percent consonance of attitude, perception of life, everything.
Did you have authorities in terms of the formation of a model of femininity?
M. M .: This is not my topic.
Model of masculinity?
M. M .: Rather it is. I don’t know why – it just happened.
More rigidity than weakness?
M. M .: More constructive than emotional. I’m talking about my desire. I feel like I have emotions. But the vector of my work is directed towards masculinity. I don’t like hysterical, dependent women. And women are only feminine, not working on themselves, as a rule, they become like that – hysterical and dependent.
Are you not close to softness and sacrifice?
M. M .: As a rule, this then also turns into hysteria. When you donate thoughtlessly, you will always reproach others later for not appreciating it. I have never met women who donate wisely and do not reproach this.
There are wonderful examples of femininity in literature – Tatyana Larina, Natasha Rostova …
M. M .: Women over forty are closer to me: Phaedra, Madame Bovary – with other life baggage. I like heroines not perfect, but passionate. Every person has some kind of mental illness, that is, passion. I’m interested in the combination of this soreness and ringing, natural purity, which, for example, Sonechka Marmeladova has. And the humility of Tatyana Larina, humility – a great feature of the Russian people – unfortunately, is not quite my topic yet. But I have something to go, to grow.
Are you afraid of something?
M. M .: Everything in life builds. Everything. In addition, what depends on God, that is, life and death. The fear of a fatal disease or the death of a person from life – in front of something that does not depend on my actions in any way – I have not yet overcome. As well as other emotions associated with this: bitterness, resentment and much more.
Do you turn to someone for help in difficult times?
M. M .: I am deeply convinced that any situation that arises in my life appears in order to teach me. And I myself must resolve it: to survive, comprehend and find the strength to cope with the situation. I have had different moments in my life, and very difficult ones. And I determined one thing for myself: God gave me the strength to solve any problems that people create. As long as you are alive, there are no unsolvable problems. The worst thing is when one of those people who tied this knot – this problem is gone. This can be a huge burden.
But don’t you sometimes want to simply cry into someone’s vest – to make it easier?
M. M .: I’m not saying I never do it. But I think that this is not constructive: if there is a problem, it must be solved. I will take some action, pray to God to reveal my misunderstanding to me, but this is my problem! I’m not looking for ease. To feel joy, you must first earn it.
What is family for you?
M. M .: Family is the space of my beloved people, free, reasonable, most dispassionate, calm existence. I do not live under the wing – this is not my situation. The family is, rather, not protection, but harmony.
How do you perceive your age?
M. M .: I have always been older than my years, even as a child. Only now I am entering that time of correspondence between myself and my age, in which I am truly comfortable.
When are you happy?
M. M .: Recently, I stopped looking for happiness in the future or in the past. Moments of happiness for me are associated with gratitude. It’s a wonderful feeling! And I cultivate it in myself. I am grateful to God and the people around for very, very much. For the fact that my loved ones are alive and well. For the fact that I have a favorite thing, by which I earn money, without thinking by and large about how much. For me, perhaps, this is what is called happiness.
Private bussiness
- 1974 Born May 28 in Moscow, in the family of famous Soviet actors Andrei Mironov and Ekaterina Gradova.
- 1981 She made her film debut as Becky Thatcher in Stanislav Govorukhin’s television film The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
- 1991 Entered the Higher Theater School. B.V. Schukina, married businessman Igor Udalov.
- 1992 June 4 son Andrei was born. Eight years later, the couple separated.
- 1996 Graduated from the acting department of VGIK (course of Mikhail Gluzsky). Accepted into the troupe of the Lenkom Theatre. The first role – in Mark Zakharov’s play “The Barbarian and the Heretic”.
- 2000 The main role in the film by Pavel Lungin “Wedding” (prize of the Cannes Film Festival “For the best ensemble cast”). The second time she marries – for producer Dmitry Klokov.
- 2003 Yevgeny Leonov Charitable Foundation Award for the role of Eurydice in Mark Zakharov’s performance The Executioner’s Cry.
- 2005 Roles in the films of Vladimir Khotinenko “Death of the Empire” and Philip Yankovsky “State Councillor”.
- 2006 The role of Phaedra in the play by Andrey Zholdak “Phaedra. Golden Ear” at the Theater of Nations (pictured below). Filmed in the film by Sergei Govorukhin “No one but us” and in the film by Anton Sivers based on the script by Arkady Tigai. At the Lenkom Theater she rehearses the role of Elmira in Vladimir Mirzoev’s play “Tartuffe” (premiered in December).