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Zaitseva starts with a summarized portrayal of Oleg Menshikov - who has gained a reputation of a very reserved actor, avoiding interviews and public appearances.

I.Z.: Once Oleg Menshikov asked a famous director Peter Fomenko if he really made an impression of an insolent person. The answer was, "No, Oleg, you don't make an impression of an insolent person. You simply impress."

Oleg is shown in the foyer of the Mossovet Theatre. It's 2 a.m., but Menshikov plays the piano and sings one of old Soviet songs (which he obviously likes). [Just fancy his poor admirers freezing near the back entrance while Oleg Evgenyevich enjoys singing! Well, I just imagined… - Irene]

The next shot. Oleg Evgenyevich plays football with his friends, which he usually does twice a week.

…Irina Zaitseva meets him at the door of his flat, they make themselves comfortable at the kitchen table (during the program they change location - it's the kitchen, the living-room and… the roof) and the interview begins…


I.Z.: Do you really deny yourself nothing?
O.M.: No, of course, I deny myself some things, like all common people do. I deny myself many things.

I.Z.: What exactly?
O.M.: What? (Smiles) Well… Pleasures… they are… It's a nice but dangerous thing.

I.Z.: Mmm… Interesting. And if to point out the pleasures, let's say, one, two, three and so on…
O.M.: Just number them right away?

I.Z.: Yeah. I am not asking you to give me a long list…
O.M.: Well, you know… I like… I find a great pleasure in… Let's call it "communicating". I like companies very much, I really do. I like it when new people appear in a company… Well, I don't know, I probably like rehearsing… No, speaking about rehearsing, I don't really like it that much. I like the process of creating, the very first stage, when you just start creating something and see sparkles in the eyes of those around you. I hope, mine also sparkle somehow at the moment. Well, what are we talking about?… It is a pleasure for me to meet new people.

I.Z.: So I can say, you are getting pleasure now, right?
O.M.: Certainly. (Both laugh) It's always… You know, the secret of an interview is that it's interesting for both.

I.Z.: No, the audience is interested too… Those who will watch us on TV.
O.M.: Those who will watch - I don't care much if they do or not. If they want, they will watch, if they don't, they'll switch a channel. It's interesting when not only you learn things about me, but I also learn something about you.

I.Z.: Yeah… So we can do it this way: I ask you a question - you ask me in return… (laughs) It'll be zest of the program.
O.M.: Sure, but you're more of a stranger for me, than I am for you.

I.Z.: (laughing) Well, you are not an open book for me either.
O.M.: I mean, you know me at least by some of my films.

I.Z.: Yes, by the films… and by the interviews too, because I've read them and laughed a lot because all of them begin in the same way, "Menshikov is the most reserved actor in Russia, but only for us he made an exception…" (Both laugh out loud)
O.M.: When they tell me at some press-conference: you never give interviews - and there are about 15 microphones in front of me, I say - well, and what am I doing now then? Somebody said, I don't know why, that I am reserved; somebody said once that I didn't give any interviews… But I do, and I am quite open! I can't be open to everyone. Can you? You can't. Nobody can. There might be such happy people (laughing) who can do that, - but I am not one of them, I am not that happy, - those who are open to everyone and everything and in spite of everything.

On the screen - Oleg Menshikov directing actors onstage. Irina Zaitseva comments, "Those who know the actor well - his friends and colleagues - admit there might be people whom Menshikov can't work with, or those he can't accept, but there are people who don't accept him either. It is difficult and at the same time easy to work with him. He's reserved in showing his feelings, but he's kind, ready to help and even shy. However, few people are aware of such features of his character. As for our program, we decided to start from the very beginning. His mother gave us a photo-album 'Our Child'."

(Both in the living-room)

I.Z.: So, "Our Child"…
O.M.: Yes, "Our Child"…

I.Z.: Not our child - they'll get us wrong (laughing)… The child is you… Did you look through these photos long ago?
O.M.: Yes, very long.
(Looking at the photos) Here is Oleg as a small child, Oleg with his parents. He jokes, "My mother's a doctor, my father's a military engineer, and I'm, their son, a flighty one."

I.Z.: Did your parents punish you when you were a child?
O.M.: In any case, I don't remember. But they must have punished me - all children get punished sometimes.

I.Z.: You know, if parents whip, a child probably remembers it.
O.M.: No, no. This never happened.

I.Z.: And where are the school photos?
O.M.: There are none here.

I.Z.: Didn't you go to school?
O.M.: (jokingly) I'll tell you a secret: I didn't! (Laughs) Of course, I did.

I.Z.: Did you shirk school?
O.M.: No, we didn't. Well, we cut some classes in high school, rogues. (Oleg points at a photo of him playing the violin) And this is me in a musical school. The only school photo I can find now…

I.Z.: So do you play the violin either?
O.M.: Yes. I played the violin in the first place, I learned to play the violin.
And by the way, teachers had high hopes for him. But as Menshikov himself admits he would have never become a musician - wouldn't have had enough patience. Although later, at 16, he chose another path, no less difficult. He decided to be an actor. He was at once admitted to the drama school and got his first role at the age of 19 - in the film "I Wait And Hope", then "Kinfolk", "The Pokrovskie Gate" and others followed. The main thing is that all these are brilliant works. Menshikov himself explains such success in a simple way - he never hurries. But if he feels a role, he's sure he'll do his best.

I.Z.: Do you know yourself well?
O.M.: Well, of course, not… (thinking) You know, it's rather strange… It's a good question; although it's rather strange, I think, we know bad things about ourselves better than good ones. I can rather tell you something bad about myself than something good.

I.Z.: Are you touchy?
O.M.: I used to be. Very touchy. Extremely! Every little cause was enough. There are still some recurrences, but I suppress them. (Smiling) Peter Fomenko taught me one saying and I find it brilliant - "resentment is the destiny of parlourmaids". I don't mean that we're kings, but such behaviour is unworthy, I would say.

I.Z.: What would you never forgive?
O.M.: Before I used to answer this question categorically right away. There was a list of things I didn't really forgive. But as time goes by, I understand that… In any case, I try to forgive everything.

I.Z.: But do you forgive in your soul or keep communicating with this person? Or do you forgive but don't talk to him anymore?
O.M.: Yes, it happens this way sometimes. It depends on how bad the deed was.

I.Z.: Can you cook?
O.M.: No, absolutely not. You know, I like to go to restaurants very much. Maybe this statement is wrong, but I love to go to restaurants, I like restaurant food. At some point… I don't know how to put it… I began to eat little, well, not little, but I kind of calmed down about the food. I can't cook anything. Once it was total humiliation! (Laughs) I tried to cook something. I was so ashamed. I'd never felt anything like that in my life before! Nothing. Actually, I don't eat at home. Although I just love it when someone cooks appetizingly…

I.Z.: Oh, come to see me.
O.M.: You are a good cook, aren't you?

I.Z.: Yes. Well, can you do something about the house? Nail something?
O.M.: Nail!? I've never tried. I swear, I've never tried to do it. It's not because I… Well, I guess, if one day I have to, I'll do it. But I haven't tried. Never.

I.Z.: Well, what about changing a bulb?
O.M.: You know, well… We live at the time when there are people who can do it for us, so… I don't mean, I keep away from it, "oh, my God, it's the house work, I keep away from it!" Of course, I don't. But it so happened that there are people who can do things for me, when something happens. Of course, if I have to do everything myself in two years, I will. And I am sure I will do everything well.

I.Z.: Are you a complicated person?
O.M.: I guess so, I guess so. It's not that "oh, I am so complicated!" Every person is complicated. What's complicated about me - I think so, maybe it's just nothing serious - is that I can think one thing and at the same time do quite the opposite.
During our conversation we found out that Oleg Evgenyevich, being a film star, doesn't avoid such things as a market place.
O.M.: Why, of course! Certainly. I love to go to markets.
Sometimes he feels fits of the domesticities.
O.M.: You know, I have these fits sometimes. Really. I start… Although they happen quite rarely - once in half a year. Suddenly I feel this wild urge to buy something - some new furniture - to rearrange everything. But it ends up by one visit to a shop. I come there, look at things, and 10 minutes later this disappears unfortunately. But this wish to rearrange everything in the flat! (Laughs) I always want to move somewhere else; it's always something like that…

And this "something like that" happened straight away. Oleg Evgenyevich invited us to the roof of his house. He said, the view was fantastic there. And the hero's wish is our command.

I.Z.: And do you often walk on the roof like that?
O.M.: Well, as often as I buy new furniture… (Laughs) Sometimes.
Oleg Menshikov and Irina Zaitseva leave the flat and go up to the roof of the house. It looks like an old brick house in the centre of Moscow, surrounded by other old and quite shabby buildings.

I.Z.: Are you predictable?
O.M.: For myself I am. But people tell me that I'm absolutely unpredictable. I believe I behave according to my own logic but what is this logic like? (laughs)

I.Z.: To get carried away, to do something unpredictable. Do you like it?
O.M.: Wow, it's great!!

I.Z.: Even if it's completely stupid?
O.M.: Great!

I.Z.: Do you feel sorry afterwards?
O.M.: Never. I try not to feel sorry about anything, because it's one of the most senseless things to feel sorry about something you have already done.

Such walks on the roof are quite wholesome. Oleg Evgenyevich says, it's a chance to think something over, to reflect on something.

O.M.: Just imagine - the entire globe is only roofs. In summer, when the sky is clear and the sun begins to set, the view is so beautiful!

I.Z.: Do you write verses?
O.M.: No. I made some pitiful attempts when I was young, just because everyone wrote. Therefore, I tried too. I wrote some crap (laughs). And I gave up this idea. It's the same thing with drawing. I don't have any skill at all.

They see someone on another roof. Zaitseva, "Oh, look, we are not alone. There's another crazy person over there!" Menshikov flashes his torch in that direction and shouts, "HEY!!" Zaitseva (laughing), "Don't scare him."

Some fragments of the performance "Kitchen" are shown, then the interview continues in Oleg's kitchen.

O.M.: It's become a little boring for me to exist within my profession. Not because there's no material… one can find it if he wishes… There are good directors too. But… I can't explain it. Sometimes I think, "Why am I doing all this, what for?" But these are moments of weakness, I think. If I did it, then it was necessary for something. Some day I'll understand what for.

I.Z.: Many people say all has already been planned in heaven…
O.M.: But it doesn't mean we should be irresponsible because someone has already planned everything for us. We can change our fortune, I am sure of it. We are walking down the road, right? But the more honest, tragic it is, the more experience we have behind us, the wider this road is. It's us who create our destiny, biography… We can either avoid hardships or overcome them, climb these mountains. The more mountains are left behind, the wider the valley in front of us is…

I.Z.: Do excited female-fans bother you?
O.M.: They do and sometimes these are sad stories. Well, you know, it may be interesting for the first 3 months or the first year, and then there's no more interest… The main thing is that among load of letters, wishes to talk to me, to meet me there might be those who really need sincere and serious communication with me, but I can't recognize them unfortunately. Sometimes it turns into hysteria. I don't mean they tear my clothes apart; I don't walk in the streets so that they could do it (laughs).

I.Z.: But you go to the market place.
O.M.: (laughs) Yeah, but there are educated, intelligent people who work there. (Continues seriously) I am greatly thankful for such credit of trust - to love someone you've never met and hear what he tries to express. This is very nice.

I.Z.: They say if a person stands out among others, many enemies appear. Do you have any?
O.M.: At least I don't know them personally. But I believe there are many of those who are extremely allergic to me. But I leave it up to them to solve this problem - I can't help here.

I.Z.: But doesn't it distress sometimes?
O.M.: First it entertained me, now I don't care. Sometimes I just don't understand - why…

Having spent a day with Oleg, we concluded that he is a nice, thoughtful person to talk to. Even when he answered the simplest question he kind of looked inside of himself.

I.Z.: Are you satisfied with your life?
O.M.: You know, I am not… Well, I don't know how to say this.

I.Z.: Just say it as it is.
O.M.: I am thinking how to put it. I don't want to just blurt it out: "No, I am not satisfied with my life at all, it's all gone in vain."

I.Z.: (smiling) Well, your life is not finished yet.
O.M.: Yeah… (Thinking) For the time being… There are things I would just change. I don't mean I would act in a different way. I would not! But there is profession and another side of life that I know less, much less. And it upsets me very much.

I.Z.: And what is "another side of life"?
O.M.: It's the way I live. I'm the one who always says that you shouldn't separate life and profession, and now I am saying that I have a good command of my profession and I don't know what to do with my life. Maybe we lack something in our private life, and it's compensated by professional success. If you are lucky in work, then you're less happy in your private life. Maybe it's impossible to find a kind of balance between these two spheres. I don't know…

I.Z.: Maybe you should stop for a little while. To work things out in your private life and then go on?
O.M.: How to do this?

I.Z.: Just stop for a little while.
O.M.: If I felt something, I would pause, but… I have to understand what is going on and how. I don't feel upset that I have no family, but I have no idea why I don't have it. It doesn't press on me - I wouldn't call it 'loneliness' - but such state of things. I know what to do with my work and know what to expect; and in my private life I wait for something to happen, but it doesn't, and I don't know why.
And, of course, we had to ask Oleg Evgenyevich what kind a woman he fancied his darling to be.
O.M.: What kind of woman… I don't know. I just know that this meeting has to happen. And you realize this person is the most beautiful, the best, the most devoted and considerate.v
I.Z.: So she has to be absolutely perfect.
O.M.: Why, of course!

I.Z.: Devoted.
O.M.: Yes.

I.Z.: She should stand still and be afraid.
O.M.: Well, yes. (Laughs)

I.Z.: Fulfill your every wish, have patience. She should be patient.
O.M.: Yes, that's the way it is… She should have all these qualities!

I.Z.: Absolutely everything. A perfect one. There's no such person.
O.M.: There is!

I.Z.: No, there isn't.
O.M.: Well, the most important thing is that I will find these qualities in her. There may not be such qualities at all. But if I see them, that's important. They must seem to me to be there. That's the most important thing.

I.Z.: Oh, I see now.
O.M.: And do we see the real, existing things? Not at all! We hear things we want to hear; we see things we want to see. Maybe our thoughts are the only… No, we think things we want to think as well.

I.Z.: But some time later you start to see things clearly.
O.M.: Oh, that's the main thing! That's where it's important not to make a mistake!

I.Z.: Yes. OK, and what about you? Will you stay the way you are now?
O.M.: No. I will change with pleasure. However, it depends on how she'll change me. (Smiles)

The program ends with Oleg playing the piano and singing a romance in the foyer of the Mossovet Theatre.