They say he has a magic touch. As soon as he has acted in a film, it goes straight to Cannes. Forget Cannes. Films with Menshikov and the actor himself receive almost everything from Oscar to major national awards. But this is… not the most important thing.
He drives "Volkswagen", wears Armani, among drinks he prefers "Crystal"; but this is, of course, not that important either.
It is always hard to discuss the real important things. Nevertheless, it's tempting to ask about them. Especially taking into account the fact that he gives interviews very rarely.


I just live

- You are always surrounded with some mystery - no one knows anything, journalists can't get in touch with you, you don't answer the phone…
- This is not mystery. You would not answer the phone either. It keeps ringing nonstop. And 13 calls out of 15 are absolutely irrelevant. They either wheeze or say nonsense. It is impossible to run to the phone only to hear music they'll turn on for you over there.

- So, you have to hide all the time?
- It is natural - the more popular you become, the higher the wall you build around yourself is. That's the profession. Although, in my opinion, it is simply selfishness - for some reason people think they have right to force their way into your life. They don't have such right! In this sense, fame is not good at all.

- Haven't you hired a bodyguard yet?
- No, it hasn't come to this extend yet. Although sometimes I have to "guard" myself.

- But isn't there still anything pleasant in the fame? Female fans, excitement…
- It is only the beginning when you want to have affairs all the time, live to the fullest… I can't say I led such life, but there was something. One has to outgrow it. It is a sort of vanity inoculation. First, you go and see - whether they recognize you or not. And when they start to recognize you, you get used to it very quickly. Sometimes it is a bit pleasant. I would buy things in shops without having to queue up. But it's not the most pleasant thing. The best thing is when people come up to you in the street and say some good words - not hysterical and exalted, but clever, honest, quiet - real words. After that, you go your way in a totally different mood.

- You almost never attend festival, you "stood up" even Cannes earlier this year. You seem to be beyond all that…
- That's a myth invented by journalists: Menshikov doesn't like festivals. I don't attend them not because they are bad, but because… well, I lead another life. I didn't come to Sotchi because there were no my films in the contest. I didn't go to Cannes this year… because I was there before (laughs). Because Cannes is a madhouse! On the day of the premiere cameras followed me right from my suite - how I put on my tuxedo, left the hotel; then they overtook our car and met us near the palace… You have a strict schedule: half an hour for this TV channel and half an hour for that one. 15-20 interviews a day. And it's impossible to say something new, because all the questions are the same. It is boring to death.

- Especially if you can't stand journalists.
- That's another myth. I have never avoided journalists on purpose. I gave interviews. But very often I read in papers things I had never said or even thought about. And I thought - do I need it at all?

- Still, isn't it coquetry? You said yourself, "That's the profession". Aren't you trying to attract attention by keeping silence?
- No. If my aim were to become more famous, then it could be that way. But work for me is… how can I say that, - it is not the foremost. And this is the reason of everything.

- What is the foremost then?
- A hard question. It may seem weird and incomprehensible, but it is my life. All sides of it. After all, I was born for some purpose. And this purpose certainly wasn't to become an actor. Yes, I chose this profession, I love it. But nothing more. I guess it is hard to believe an actor who is saying things like that, but that's what I think.

- The more famous an actor is, the harder it is to believe such words.
- On the other hand, Depardieu, for example, who came to "Kinotavr" with his own frozen chickens. I think if you asked him about it, he would hardly say that the profession meant everything for him and he couldn't imagine himself without it. In my opinion, if you can't imagine yourself without something, it's slavery. Then you are a slave of your profession. And it means that the counting point gets shifted - while counting you don't start with yourself.


I just fly

- You acted in one film and then in three films at once! And not just any films, but films by Balayan, Mikhalkov and Kozakov. Actually, that's when you became famous. Was it luck?
- Fortuitousness. But it was also luck, I guess. Balayan helped to a director who was shooting my first film. Then we got to know each other, and later I played in "Flights…". Nikita Sergeevich was looking for an actor for "Kinfolk" among students. I came to the tests with Nonna Mordyukova and he took me. Then Kozakov saw me in "Kinfolk". That's how it all happened.

- Now you choose - directors, fees, terms under which you'll act. Are you fastidious?
- I… it depends… maybe I am not… Yes, I am fastidious, of course. I love comfort - I just can't help it - and I don't hide it. But if I have to, like in Bodrov's "Prisoner Of The Mountains" when we spent a month in Dagestan, I get used to it, what else can I do?

- You act rather infrequently, and it is surprising. It can be several years between your films. And now you haven't acted for a year.
- They invite me all the time. I can't complain that in my - huh-huh! - "artistic destiny" I had few offers. But the fact that I act rarely is not a principle either. I would act more often with pleasure. But I don't like the things they offer me. There are people who can't live without work. I don't feel this need for acting all the time. And I don't suffer because of it. I believe, it's better to stay silent for some time, but say a better thing afterwards. Or like this: "If you can live without acting, don't act!" That means - act only when you feel you must do it.

- It all seems to be rather reasonable. Still I have this feeling that you somehow calculated the right way to choose films and to behave with the audience.
- No calculation (laughs).

- No promptings either?
- Never. Actually, I have never even tried to do something like that. I just behave the way I think is right every minute of my life. Call it intuition.

- I know you don't like to rehearse. What is the most pleasant thing in your work for you?
- It's hard to describe. But there are moments when you feel you got it. Not just got into the role, but there is some connection between you and someone else. It lasts only a few seconds and can happen only once during the whole shooting of a film. This is euphoria - you are alone and you are just flying…

- Do you like to watch yourself on the screen?
- I don't watch at all. No, I am mentally normal person. I watched "Prisoner Of The Mountains" at the festival. But I watched it from the wings… I can't watch with the audience. It's somehow…

- Something "mental"?
- (Laughing) I guess, there is something…

- Actors' superstitions are there too, of course, aren't they?
- Nooo. "The one who believes in signs doesn't believe in God". There was something of the kind, but it was all gone after a number of years. For example, if an ashtray was in a wrong place in the make-up room, I rushed to move it. But now it all sounds very silly.

- Do you watch your films over again?
- I used to think I would. But now when my old films are on TV, I don't watch them. Actually, it's not the film itself that is precious for me; it's the period of my life. I'd rather meet those I acted with and talk to them…

- One can sense a personality in your characters - your personality. Aren't you afraid to repeat yourself, aren't you afraid of cliches?
- Not at all. Because even if you want to, it is impossible to repeat yourself. On the other hand, that's me all the time. Remember the eternal dispute about art: what's more important - 'what' or 'how'? For me 'who' is the most important thing. If it's Brando, I don't care what he does and how he does that. Or Depardieu. Or Coppola. The fact that it is done by genius is enough. So what if he repeats something?

- You didn't name any our actor. Not to offend someone?
- No, why: Smoktunovsky, Borisov, passed away, sadly. Among living ones - take, for instance, Petrenko! There are young too. To name them is really hard - you can forget someone. And to offend… I think no one will be offended if I say that Vasilyev is one of the greatest directors nowadays.

- Do you feel colleagues' envy?
- I don't feel it, but I assume it exists.
- You don't act at the moment, and what about the theatre? They said about "Hamlet"…
- "Hamlet" was hanging by a thread for a year and a half. But unfortunately, in the end, this thread got torn. Now I have another theatre project.
- Is it a secret? You don't want to put an evil eye on it, do you?
- We've discussed it already, I am not superstitious! It's just that there is nothing to talk about yet. Or it could be like: I have these plans, I have those plans - is it interesting to anyone at all?


Just - think yourselves!

- You keep silence, and it so happens that your "plans" are made up by other people. There are always lots of rumours around you. I wonder what was the most ridiculous rumour you heard about yourself?
- Well, about Spielberg, I guess. They didn't just say I was acting in his film - they even made up the title of that film - "Jurassic Park 2" - and my fee - $7,5 million. It was a nice rumour!

- But it didn't just appear from nowhere. Not long ago you said on TV that Spielberg and you didn't reach an agreement…
- But they cut out everything! I was explaining that it was true - one director connected with Spielberg's company was looking for actors for his film. We didn't reach an agreement. And what came of it? Hello to your profession again! Ooh, I'd play a journalist!!

- No, seriously, didn't they invite you to act in Hollywood after the Oscars?
- Why, they did! To the real Hollywood motion picture - by "Columbia Pictures". But I refused. Why? I didn't like the script.

- And you can live without acting for a year or two, without earning money?
- What? (Laughs.) Where do you get money? Thank God, my fees are enough for me so far. And I earn money from my profession only.

- No. That's not what I wanted to ask. What do you do?
- Oooh! Many things. I live. I think, there are things you can't talk about - otherwise they somehow lose sensuality.

- But everybody does something in his spare time - reads books, goes for a walk.
- I enjoy everything. Everything that fits my mood at the moment. I love friends. They say, there should be just one true friend. Why? Or: after you are 30, there are no new friends in your life. There are new friends! And I also like lying with a book on the sofa. And walking along the night Moscow. Unfortunately, now it is rather dangerous. It's a pity - you can't go for a walk at night at your best age - you can't be sure whether you'll return home…

- Do you idle away your time?
- And this is wonderful!

- Aren't you afraid to become very lazy?
- Mmmm! Idling and laziness are two different things.

- You make an impression of a person who doesn't care about anything and is pleased with everything. You have no problems!
- I believe a man has no right to burden others with his problems. It is as improper as discussing your diseases with other people. Sometimes you can let yourself do such weakness with close people, but it is not good anyway. This is yours. And you should solve everything yourself, my dear!

- But is there anything that can infuriate you? There are things that irritate you.
- I used to be hot-tempered. Now I am not. And irritating things… I guess, platitude is irritating. Not even in some everyday sense. But when it is like - fake beauty, everything that is a fake, pretending to be a real thing. That's what infuriates me - I can't help myself. Lie. Disparity. For example, disparity between the level of a performance or a film and success it gains; or between a person and his fame…

- We've already talked so much about all the troubles the fame brings. Would you agree to have everything you have in reality but without your popularity?
- (Bursts into laughter.) I don't know if I can imagine it! Although I really think a person can be happy even in our profession, without being popular. If you are fully aware of what you are, if you value yourself, you can be happy even in a provincial drama theatre. Besides, we've already discussed that - work is not the most important thing in the world. It is just important to be worthy of the life you lead.

- Do you manage to value yourself and be self-sufficient?
- I guess. Those people who surround me are really enough for me; the air in the space I chose for myself is enough for me. I don't need more.

- Don't you need even family?
- What do you mean - a wife and children? No, I haven't come to that yet. Although I feel that it's somewhere close now. After all, my age…

- We were talking about the fact that work was not the most important thing. The most important is life. But there has to be something important in life, something the life is based on.
- If I say "yes", you'll ask "what?" And I'll have to formulate… Well, of course, there is. I am a normal person, after all. It's just… in my opinion, it should be so obvious for everybody that it's not necessary to talk about it… There are things - platitude or, for instance, love - that don't need to be explained, like "hello!".

- I guess, now it is the time when we discover obvious things all over again…
- Look, why should we discover something for someone? People are just lazy. Let them come to their senses. Let them discover themselves!