At the occasion of his coming to Locarno, Oleg Menshikov talks about the profession of an actor. The unforgettable interpreter of Andrei Tolstoy in The Barber of Siberia will appear on Wednesday in the Variety Master Class and will receive the Locarno Excellence Award. He speaks about theater, cinema and about his very personal way of approaching the question of the Big Why. Conversation.

– How are you going to approach the Master Class?
– It is my first Master Class. I had refused so far to take part in this kind of event but here it is different. As part of the Locarno Festival, there is a real atmosphere of work and of cinema. I too hope that this Class will be a moment of giving and receiving in a will because the profession of an actor is mainly about the dialogue, the contact with the audience.

– How do you define your profession?
– It is difficult to give a precise definition because actors are not born actors, they just become an actor and it requires time and a lot of practice. The most important thing for me is to succeed staying always sincere and trying to transmit this sincerity to the audience. Acting – in films or on stage – allows me to tell a truth that may be impossible for me to tell in real life. But, for all that, I don't give to this profession an exceptional connotation, as for me it is a profession just like any other profession that you have to carry on with application and passion.

– How do you prepare for a part, on stage and in films?
– As for me, there is no difference in my way of getting ready for a part, no matter for theater or for movies. Many actors have a different approach but for me it is the same thing. Only the lights and shades change: if you find oneself in front of an audience, you are in direct contact with the people. Or to submit to the technique, to the different takes, to be waiting. But personally it is not difficult for me to pass from a film to stage.

– What about the difference of sensations?
– There is a very important rule on stage: time passing on stage and in the theater's room is the same, you can't cheat over the emotions of the audience. In the movies, it is possible to repeat, to start all over again before it is definitively fixed. Everything is less "immediate" but on the other side the spectator can watch the film again and again, rerun it, it is quite fascinating.

– After your successes on stage, was it easy to act in movies?
– I used to act on stage and in movies in the same way. So I did not have the shock of the transition from theater to films. Everything happened quite naturally.

– What is the last film in your career that gave to you pleasure?
– Burnt by the Sun by Nikita Mikhalkov. He had succeeded creating a very nice atmosphere on the set, everything was happening easily and lightly. At once he had put everybody at ease.

– How did you meet Nikita Mikhalkov?
– A long time ago, I was then a third year student at the High school of Theatrical Studies. He chose me to act in a minor part in one of his films "Kinfolk".

– Did you still enjoy acting after all these years, in films and on stage?
– I always enjoy a lot and in any case I can't do anything else (as a profession). But I have understood that there were things more important in life than playing a part. More and more I want to understand what is happening in the word around me. Acting is one of the ways of achieving this purpose, of understanding the Big Why but it is not the one and only.