Valeria Lanskaya: If it weren’t for a grandmother, my son would have sat on our neck long ago

– In such a creative family as ours (the husband of the actress is the film director Stas Ivanov. – Approx. “Antenna”), Artemy simply had no chance to be different. He is a very active child. Now we go to swimming, gymnastics, learning to draw.

But then he himself will choose what is closer to him. You know, when my mother took me to a bunch of circles as a child, I really loved everything I did! And I talked with friends in the studios, and just had time to play with them. Absolutely everything that I was taught was useful to me in the profession.

– I waited for my son to show love for singing … Only we, parents, can instill in him a love for something at this age. We also vaccinate. I just see how he likes to move and direct him to what he is interested in! But now I notice that Artemy is more interested in everything related to physical activity. He goes to children’s gymnastics and loves to climb, jump on trampolines, and run. It’s right there. He is not afraid of pain when I or the coach stretch him.

To a large extent I listen to my mother’s opinion (Elena Maslennikova is a choreographer – “Antenna’s” note) and trust her experience. She is an athlete and will advise her grandson only the best … Therefore, when I take Artemy to swimming or gymnastics, I ask her to come with us so that she also looks and expresses her opinion.

Of course, she also dissolves in her grandson, but she can reprimand him, praise, scold him. Next to my mother, the son is always more disciplined.

– If it weren’t for her, Artemy would have long ago sat on our necks with Stas. Already at the age of three, he enjoys our loyalty. And the fact that, perhaps, we allow him a little more than necessary.

I don’t remember the last time I got enough sleep … These years I sleep 4-5 hours a day – this is already happiness for me. In the morning I take care of the child, in the afternoon business, work, rehearsals, and in the evening – the theater. Filming usually goes in a separate article: from early morning until late at night, or even on an expedition. Of course, it’s a sin to complain, and I always look forward to filming, but you really have to sacrifice rest.

In the new season of the Moscow Operetta Theater, I am Anna Karenina again. In addition, the musical “Monte Cristo” has returned to the stage, where I have been playing Mercedes for ten years.

I really love both musicals. “Monte Cristo” is my first such large-scale work in this genre and, like my first love, is not forgotten. Mercedes will always be special for me. And Karenina is the title huge, complex, multifaceted role that every actress dreams of! Many thoughts are connected with Karenina. I remember that I did not fully understand her. It is ambiguous. Now, playing her, I justify her actions as much as possible. The ambiguous decisions became clear and close to me.

In general, I am attracted by the time of the late XIX – early XX centuries, and with the era of Nicholas II I have some kind of mystical emotional connection. When I find myself in the places of St. Petersburg, where the royal family lived, or in the Sverdlovsk region, where tragic events took place, I am covered with insane emotions. It seems to me that if you believe in reincarnation, then I am connected with this family. I don’t know if I was a family member or a cook, but I live all these events inside myself.

I love making jewelry from that time. For the musical “Count Orlov” I made all the brooches and pendants myself: I bought lace, stones … And with the permission of the costume designer Vyacheslav Okunev I entered the stage wearing them. I make up myself before the performance, it gives me the mood and transfers it to that time.

I love long dresses and feel comfortable in corsets. Frankly, one of Anna Karenina’s suits weighs more than 10 kilograms, but I feel more comfortable in it than in ripped jeans.

– Now my weight is 52 kilograms, and I keep it. Why a gym? It is not needed, physical activity is more than enough. Gaining extra pounds with my schedule is from the realm of fantasy. But, despite this, you have to follow a diet. I don’t eat any products with sugar, I don’t eat flour.

As a person prone to weight gain, I am already accustomed to eating restrictions. I remember that in my second year at the Shchukin Institute, I gained up to 62 kilograms. I just returned from my dad from America. And fast food made itself felt. In addition, I entered the theater early, at the age of 15, and at that time I was just having hormonal changes in my body. So, my artistic director, seeing me, instead of giving the roles to Assol and Natasha Rostova, put me on to play the Box from Dead Souls, other aunts and old women.

Then I cried, but now I’m even happy that it happened. It helped me in my profession: it expanded my acting range.

– By the age of 20, I won over excess weight and then promised myself never to get better again.

At home I cook soups and cereals. Frankly, I started to do this recently, since Artemy began to eat from the common table. Before that, the first two years of life together, only Stas cooked. From my words that I can actually cook borscht too, he brushed aside with a smile: “Don’t cheat.”

Now with the child on our table there are more simple dishes without spices – broths, cutlets. But then, such loads that we all have now can be sustained exclusively on a healthy diet.

In autumn I go to mesotherapy, I support my skin with vitamins. I love sports massage, but there is a sorely lack of time for it.

Well, if you have a free day off, then the three of us leave for our country house. My best vacation is to delve into flowers, breathe in the forest air and just take a walk … In the past few years, my husband and I have often traveled to the Far East. Were in China, Korea, Vietnam. This is interesting and plus a completely different culture.

So far, Artemy and I have only been out to Europe at sea. Long-distance flights with a child are scary, but we hope that he will grow up now and can already fly to Asia together.

Valeria Lanskaya at the Moscow Operetta Theater

Monte Cristo

November 9-11

Anna Karenina

November 13-25

Thank you for your help in organizing the filming of the educational city of professions for children “Kidburg”.