Oleg Menshikov. "Mysterious, unpredictable, doesn't give any interview." When asked, "What do you hate the most?", he answers, "Phone calls". He avoids strangers, never takes part in prestigious parties; he's reticent, inaccessible and arrogant.
Oh, come on! He is absolutely predictable! He affords himself a luxury to live the way it is interesting for him. He doesn't answer questions, caused by pure curiosity. He can't stand self-advertising (however, he became more tolerant towards advertising after the launch of his troupe "Theatrical Company 814"). If someone thrusts himself into his society with advice or gossip at the wrong time, he'll turn this person down without remorse.
And one more thing. He does not cringe before fans or try to win the strong's favour. He can't be tempted to do some pot-boiler (even a high-paid one). No one can persuade him to perform just to entertain the public.

- Do you have many close friends? - I ask him.
- Well, maybe two or three, - he laughs, - and maybe twenty.

- Is there a person you can share your hurt and sorrow with?
- I don't think so, - he shrugs his shoulders.

- What about your parents? - I prompt.
- Oh, no. They always take offence at me. They learn many things about me from other people. - He thinks a little, - Well, of course, I share more things with them than with any other people.

…I can easily predict that O.M. will never come onstage with un-learned lines, that any role of his will be perfect, that he won't spare his nerves during the 50th performance and will act as if it were a first night. He is one of those rare actors who don't accept simultaneous translation while acting in English or French ("The Barber Of Siberia", "East-West"). And playing Nizhinsky's insanity and suicide, he would jump out of the window situated on the second floor in the end of each performance. He wouldn't demand more comfortable conditions for himself doing cadet service among all the extras in Kostroma. He would calmly continue rehearsing when the group, taken captive in a Dagestan village, had neither hot food nor radio contact ("Prisoner Of The Mountains").
Oleg Menshikov's roles are lit up with the highest flights of acting inspiration (Caligula, Nizhinsky, Esenin, Mitya, Chatsky etc.); among his roles there were some insignificant ones, but none was a failure.
O.M. possesses innate magnetism, charm. When he asks for something (which happens in exceptional cases), he gets a refusal very rarely. He loves solitude, he can spend hours walking alone - in Moscow, Paris; but still…

- How do you celebrate your birthdays?
- I love revel when there are many guests, - he laughs. - Till 6 a.m.

He values relations he considers worthwhile; he is recklessly generous, when he wants to make a present or goes on the spree with his friends. His partners love him (especially the young ones); he doesn't conceal the secrets of his skill, sharing the invented with others. He is the leader by nature.

- Did you ever feel outcast in childhood or adolescence?
- Never.

- So, you ran the show at school, didn't you?
- Somehow it was like this… If there was a company, then it was me who gathered everyone.

However, if it is not his day, he can disappear in the crowd, hide in a corner with two or three friends; and you'll think he's the most humble actor you've ever met.
After "The Barber Of Siberia" premiere at the reception, held by Nikita Mikhalkov in the "Slavyanskaya" hotel, everyone kept asking, "Where is Menshikov?" They wanted to congratulate him. But no one could find the actor who had played Andrey Tolstoy. In the end of the evening, when I was walking downstairs, I saw him in the most distant corner, hidden behind other actors' backs; he didn't display any wish to break the fellow circuit and show up in the public.

- What do you think about the Internet?
- I don't know what it is. I don't think anything about it. Picture a child, brought to a resplendent hall, where everything is moving and gleaming…

- How did "Kitchen" appear? Do you like cooking?
- I never cook. I wanted to create a play together with Maxim Kurochkin. Although I agree with Strehler that the only creator in the theatre is a playwright. However, we created "Kitchen" all together. And the responsibility should be divided among all of us. But not equally.

- What do you do on the day of the performance? Try to get the right mood, stay out of touch with others?
- I try to have a good night's rest. I can communicate with others though.

- How do you ward off your fans?
- I used to try to avoid them. It's become easier now. I have guards, people who won't let them through.

- I always wonder - you smoke, drink, are believed to be gourmet and dandy. How can you manage to keep in shape and stay young? It is sport?
- Why, of course! I play tennis and soccer on a regular basis. You see, I try to keep the fasts, I like to starve sometimes. Everyone scares, "How can it be - to starve!? It's unbelievable!" But it is very easy for me. I just don't eat.

- One of our visitors, Oxana Chernova, has read somewhere that you can forgive even a betrayal and go on communicating with this person. She flatly disagrees. "How can you fill the emptiness in your soul, - she asks, - when close people betray you?" What can you answer?

O.M. doesn't say a word. I ask him several times, but he keeps silence.
Of course, it can't be that way. He may forgive, but he will never forget. And the further relations won't be the same as they were before the betrayal.

- OK, then a common question: what are your plans - on acting, directing - for the nearest future?
- I'd like to be an actor with a good director. I'll play Fandorin in a film based on Akunin.

- What about your company "814"?
- I am looking for something interesting, I read new plays.

- Nikita Mikhalkov said, he was going to shoot a sequel to "Burnt By The Sun". Will you be in it?
- I guess so. We met, he offered me a role. I asked him, "Nikita Sergeevich, don't you know they killed me?"

O.M. can be very mirthful, extremely happy among actors, close people. He can sing Soviet songs (or Vertinsky's romances - when he's in some special spirits) accompanying himself on the piano. With his friends he can dance to any music and have a ball. But he also can be gloomy, sharp and unsociable. Then there must be a serious reason for it. Then the world has deceived him once again. Nevertheless, he will forget about it soon. Following Pushkin's advice, he'll "open a bottle of champagne" and shake off the depression. To be tormented again by the crazy life called Art.