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The actor gave Antenna a tour of the country house: “All the aesthetics here are the merit of my wife Rasa, she is an artist with good taste. It is a common thing to bring an old lamp from the trash heap, clean it, change the lampshade. “
Our residence in Tarusa is already about 20 years old. With my wife Rasa, we gradually matured to suburban life, looking for a plot in different places. I remember, I went to the vicinity of Ruza (it is consonant with our Tarusa), they even made a deposit, but it did not work out. We didn’t want a house close to Moscow (even 60–80 km from the capital – this is now a city), so we decided for ourselves that we would stop at an option no closer than 100 km from the capital. It doesn’t smell like a metropolis, and people and nature are different.
Here my close friend the architect Igor Vitalievich Popov (unfortunately, he is no longer with us) invited us to Tarusa, where I had not yet been. Although he knew a lot about this place, one of my favorite writers is Konstantin Paustovsky, and his story ends with the signature “Tarusa, such and such a year” … Marina Tsvetaeva, Nikolai Zabolotsky also found this place in verse, and other authors lived there. and artists. My wife and I went there, and we wanted to live in Tarusa. Tarusa, by the way, is consonant with the name of my wife Race. This is a Lithuanian name, it means “dew”.
“Mushrooms are a local religion”
At first, they decided to buy a house with the money that they had, they did not even think about construction. And when we came to a friend, we began to walk, look closely, saw one picturesque place on the outskirts of the village. We were taught: when you buy a plot, you need to have a road, water and at least electricity nearby. But when we saw this site, we forgot everything. We really liked this beauty next to the Oka and a wonderful forest, but there was absolutely nothing on the site.
We had modest funds, we decided to build a small hut with village infrastructure … But gradually I received offers, filming, money began to appear, so as the construction progressed, our plans were all enlarged. We were composing the house with the assistant of our architect friend. In any case, they wanted a wooden one, like in my childhood, and the Race in Lithuania too. By the way, the house ended up looking like Racine.
The first thing I dreamed about was to have a real Russian stove on which to sleep. There are almost no good stove-makers today, they found one in Belarus, are still grateful to this amazing person. They persuaded him for a long time, then watched with interest how he worked, doubted … He worked as an artist. I told him: “It’s just a stove!” And he looked at me with complete incomprehension. As a result, they installed an amazing stove on the basement floor, where there is a garage, a Russian sauna, which is heated with wood, and a laundry room. I have slept on this stove more than once. After all, we lived in the house without gas for five years, then we only managed to carry it out. And when there was already gas, all the neighbors broke the stoves and threw them away, but we didn’t even have such a thought.
As long as your parents live, your home is where they live. I worked in a theater in Siberia, in Omsk, and my mom and dad lived in Donbass. And I always came to them on vacation. Now my home is Tarusa. Although we have an apartment in Moscow, not far from the Moscow Art Theater, where I work. But I became very attached to our house, at first I thought because I slept well here, especially with age, when insomnia torments me. And then it suddenly dawned on me: that’s not the point – I just returned home.
I was born in the Gorky region, Mineevka station, the village of Vtoye Chernoe, and my god-aunt Masha was from Gorky, and people often went to her by train. And I was baptized there in the church, I was three years old, the place is called Strelka, where the Oka flows into the Volga. Mom often told me about this, showed me that temple.
I remembered this story, and now my house is on the Oka, and the current is heading towards Gorky, to the place where I was baptized. I have traveled a lot around the world, it is easier to name the countries where I have not been. He constantly toured with the theater directed by Anatoly Vasiliev. And after all my odyssey I returned to my roots. Sometimes I even refuse any offers so that I can spend extra time at home. The fishing here is excellent, the process itself fascinates me. With a spinning rod, you can catch pike, pike perch, and other valuable fish, but just a roach bites well with a fishing rod. Well, mushrooms are the religion of Tarusa. There are a lot of avid mushroom pickers, they show us the places.
Forest instead of a fence
A plot of 30 acres, at first it was 12, then they bought it in addition. We have no neighbors on the fence, on three sides there is a forest, and on the side of neighboring houses there is a so-called fire passage, which cannot be built up. This is great. On the site they left trees that were already growing, immediately planted five fir trees, a cedar, whose name is Kolyan, two fiery maples at the gate, two lindens, a nut brought from Lithuania, a juniper from my childhood. There is also a huge spreading pine tree. We planted plums, 11 apple trees, cherry seedlings, cherries … The grapes bear fruit well. Raspberries, currants, gooseberries and two beds for greenery. We have a large clearing, we constantly mow the lawn. And many, many flowers, the Race loves them.
Today there is no longer a tradition for everyone to gather in front of the TV, I don’t remember when they turned it on. Children are on the second floor, usually someone else is visiting. Everyone has their own computer. Sometimes my wife and daughter watch Turkish TV shows, snapping seeds, and I’m also doing something in my office.
When we were designing the house, we thought about the veranda, in the end it turned out to be very similar to the deck of a ship, half of which is covered with a roof. Our veranda is located at the level of the second floor, and there is a forest around, you go up to the deck, and it is as if you are floating above the trees. We have a huge table there, 40 people are accommodated at birthdays. Then they added another transparent visor, the rain pours and flows down the glass, and all the dry ones sit. In the summer it is the most beloved place. There I have a Swedish wall, for an hour and a half every day I bring myself into shape. I meditate there in the morning or in the evening.
Hammock from Colombia, rug from the trash heap
My wife and I have been dog lovers all our lives, saying goodbye to our last pet, dragging out time, not taking a new one. And now, 10 years ago, Race had a birthday, a lot of people gathered, and suddenly some kind of incomprehensible sound under the table, we look – a kitten. I tell my wife: “Take him out over the fence, feed him” … In short, it all ended with the fact that he lives with us. A stunning cat Tarusik, I never thought that we would become such friends with him. This is a separate novel.
Self-isolation was carried out, of course, here, every day they said: “What are we happy!” My wife praised me: “What a fine fellow you are! What would we do in Moscow ?! ” After all, many of our friends were forced to sit in their apartments without getting out.
I’m a chauffeur’s son, I can do everything around the house with my hands: a workbench, all the tools are there. But the aesthetics here is the merit of the Race, she is an artist with good taste, she does a lot of interesting things – dolls, paintings from different fabrics. I hate the word “creative”, but she is. On the street I painted the garage door. Our neighbor is the actor Seryozha Kolesnikov, here is the Race with him – scavengers, they collect everything in the garbage, and then they brag about their findings to each other. It is common to bring an old lamp, clean it, change the shade. There, she somehow found a carpet, washed it with a washing vacuum cleaner, and refined it.
When I graduated from GITIS, a friend from Colombia Alejandro studied with me. We have been friends all our lives, every 10 years he comes and brings another hammock (for Colombia this is a symbolic thing), and absolutely the same as the previous one. It wears out, it fades from rain and sun, and the material is durable. Rasa adapted that carpet – put it under a hammock, suspended between two trees, it turned out beautifully, we often rest there.
Family – submarine crew
We have been with the Race for about 30 years. I used to start talking about our relationship, and my wife said: “Well, why? Nobody is interested in this. Say, she is Lithuanian, I am Russian, temperaments are different, we speak and think in different languages. In the morning we get up and start swearing. ” And Rasa was once asked by journalists: “How did Nikolai make an offer to you?” She: “You’ll get it from him! I myself have been on my knees twice! ” Journalist: “Twice?” Race: “No, in my opinion, even three times, and also sobbed a lot.” But seriously speaking, it is important to meet the person you need.
Many years ago I lost my wife, this is a difficult story in my life. And, honestly, I was never going to marry again. The race pulled me out of loneliness (the future spouses met at the School of Dramatic Art – Race was a student with the head of the theater Anatoly Vasiliev, and Chindyaykin was a director. – Approx. “Antennas”), and I’m happy again. We lived with her parents in a large family for a long time, until they were gone. My wife, besides being a beauty, talented, smart – she has a smart heart, I also know that she will never let you down, and I am grateful to her. And it’s very important to be grateful.
The family of my daughter Anastasia lives with us, she is a screenwriter. The eldest grandson Aleksey is already working in the film crew as an administrator, the younger Artyom will go to the fifth grade, he studied here remotely, and my son-in-law is director Vadim Shanaurin. We have a big friendly family – the crew of a submarine, as I call it.