Dreams about the future
Alexey was born in 1961 in the Ukrainian capital. Almost immediately after his birth, he and his family moved to a picturesque corner, a historical heritage of Kyiv, the Rusanovka massif. He lived there with his parents almost until he came of age.
While still in high school, he thought about choosing a future profession. Like most of his peers, he participated in stage productions. The biography of actor Alexei Gorbunov includes the fact that after graduating from school he did not enter the Kyiv Theater Institute, although he really dreamed of it. Postponing the attempt until next year, Alexey does not want to do anything else. They take him to the Lesya Ukrainka Theater with pleasure.
Famous actor Alexey Gorbunov: Where are the PR members imprisoned? Plant at least ten
November 21, 2020, 11:45
This material is also available in Ukrainian
Photo: Alexander Medvedev / NV
Alexey Gorbunov: The last year and a half has completely changed my impression of Ukrainian boys and girls
Photo: Alexander Medvedev / NV
Author: Olga Dukhnich
Over a cup of coffee, the eminent actor talks about the radicalization of Ukrainian society, explains who is to blame for this, and offers his recipe for saving the state
In one of them, after almost three months of negotiations, the famous Ukrainian actor and now musician Alexey Gorbunov agrees to have lunch and talk with NV. "AT 15.00. Today,” he suddenly sends an SMS in the morning, and I understand that I can’t be late.
Winding through the halls of the restaurant, the waiter accompanies me to where Gorbunov is sitting. He clearly has a business meeting. "5 more minutes! Please, take the guest to the next room, I’ll come out,” the actor quickly reacts. Later I find out that Deja Vu is one of Gorbunov’s favorite meeting places in Kyiv, and he has a long-term friendship with the restaurant owners.
“I’m a complex and nervous person, so let’s get straight to the point and, please, fewer photographs,” Gorbunov declares, appearing exactly five minutes later.
Quickly sitting down at the table, he nods to the photographer: “Begin!” But he indignantly rejects the offer of lunch: “What lunch? There’s a war in the country, and I’m going to pose here with food?!”
Alexey Gorbunov is not only an Honored Artist of Ukraine, who has played bright and memorable roles in more than a hundred feature films of Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian production, his human destiny and acting life are a snapshot of the processes that have taken place in the country over the past 30 years. In high school, having become interested in the profession of an actor, he was not immediately able to enter the Kiev Theater Institute named after Karpenko-Kary and for some time worked at the Russian Drama Theater named after Lesya Ukrainka as an auxiliary worker.
5 questions to Alexey Gorbunov:
— Your greatest failure?
— I don’t know, I can’t answer such serious questions quickly.
— What is your greatest achievement?
- My two daughters.
— What do you use to get around the city?
— I have a Mitsubishi Pajero car.
— The last book that made an impression on you?
— I’ve been reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez all my life, and of the latter, of course, Sergei Loiko’s Airport and Vladimir Sorokin’s Telluria.
-Who would you shake hands with?
- I know exactly who I would give it to - the military, doctors - people who give hope and faith in the future.
At the theater, the enthusiastic young man caught the eye of the Ukrainian actor Kostya Stepankov, who in the 1960s–80s was considered a celebrity, acted a lot and taught at the institute. With his help, Gorbunov entered university, and after graduating, he almost immediately became in demand in cinema and theater.
However, everything did not always go smoothly: during the crisis years for the country in the 90s, the actor rooked for several years in his own car - he worked as a taxi driver so that he had enough for food and cigarettes. At the same time, Gorbunov tried to run discos in Kyiv, was a DJ on the radio, and even created the musical group Pilot’s Sadness.
The Russian TV series Countess de Monsoreau, popular in the late 90s, based on the work of Alexandre Dumas, brought him back to the profession: Gorbunov got the role of the smart and evil jester Chico. The next 12 years of work in Russian cinema - filming in the films Country of the Deaf, Hipsters, the TV series Kamenskaya and Bourgeois's Birthday - brought recognition and fame to the actor. And for his role as Juror No. 9 in Sergei Mikhalkov’s acclaimed film 12, Gorbunov was awarded the All-Russian Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor.
After the events of Maidan in 2014, the actor, on principle, does not act in Russian films, and with the outbreak of military events in Ukraine, he increasingly acts as a volunteer, musician and simply the lead singer of the group Pilot’s Sadness. He spent most of 2014 in the ATO zone, performing songs by Vladimir Vysotsky, Bulat Okudzhava and Viktor Tsoi to the Ukrainian military. He also played the role of an experienced Afghan warrior in the new Ukrainian film Guard about the events of the last year and a half.
Instead of lunch, we order coffee - strong, the same as the upcoming conversation, and without milk.
“The last year and a half has completely changed my impression of Ukrainian boys and girls,” Gorbunov admits after a few minutes of conversation. “I see many there, on the front line.”
He says that he could never have thought that young guys from the era of consumption and comfort, putting aside their gadgets and university studies, would go to defend their homeland. “I think it’s the same with actors, only they have an even greater responsibility - to play a “cyborg” or an “atoshnik” without being a military man,” Gorbunov says about the film Guard. “They know that they will be judged by their peers, who are fighting. When we filmed Guards, I saw how the young actors were worried, like girls, pulling heavy machine guns in the cold. For them it was their own war and overcoming.”
“This generation has proven its self-sufficiency faster than us, older guys with experience,” the actor gives his verdict.
IN WAR AS IN WAR: Alexey Gorbunov played in Guard, the first TV series about the war in Donbass. In the photo - filming
— Well, is this young generation ready to go into politics?
“If not them, then I simply don’t believe in anything,” Gorbunov responds emotionally. “I only have hope in the young: this country needs 30-year-old prosecutors, judges, investigators, like this new police.” I want the same prosecutors, with normal human faces. Have you seen the face of the country's chief prosecutor?! I once came home not very sober, turned on the TV and thought that it was Viktor Pshonka [Prosecutor General of Ukraine under Viktor Yanukovych]. What is the difference between them?
Taking a sip of coffee, the actor admits that for him, like for most Ukrainians, the war did not end and was not limited only to the ATO zone. He complains bitterly and angrily about the situation in peaceful cities, where the expected changes after the Maidan have not occurred.
This country needs 30-year-old prosecutors, judges and investigators
“The worst thing is that nothing changes. The status of an ATO participant using fake documents is obtained by some scoundrels from military ranks who have never been to the front line. Near my house, while the war is going on, the prosecutor is building a five-story castle, covering my territory with a roof. I can’t wrap my head around this, but what about the guy who returned from near Ilovaisk?! Yes, he will simply aim his gun at this roof! - Gorbunov continues his emotional monologue, moving the cup further away. It's difficult to stop him. And, probably, it’s not worth it.
— Where are the imprisoned members of the Party of Regions? At least one. Is it really impossible to prove that they stole? Put at least ten people in prison so that the country can at least breathe out. In order for people to have at least some sense of justice, even a small one, but instead the regionals are again on billboards all over the country. How can I explain this to a kid without a leg in the hospital?
Having calmed down a little, Gorbunov notes that it is unlikely that such thoughts occur to him alone, and the state, which does nothing, is itself to blame for the radicalization and growing aggression of society.
—What are the military talking to you about? - I ask to relieve some tension.
Gorbunov takes a deep breath and suddenly smiles as he exhales:
“Soldiers love to listen to songs, like all young people, about love, about friendship,” the actor answers. In the repertoire of his group Sadness of the Pilot there are practically no songs of his own, but there are a lot of original songs from past years, and there are also Ukrainian folk songs.
— Is a new Ukrainian military song appearing? After all, there was a painful period when officers even tried to remake Oleg Gazmanov’s song of the Lord in the Ukrainian way, I wonder.
— There was a request for the present, and not for Gazmanov. We sang Vysotsky and Okudzhava all our lives, and suddenly they acquired a meaning that they had never had before. The same Tsoi that the street kids sang in the 90s is now painfully relevant. “Everything that is real today takes on a new meaning,” says the actor.
But Gorbunov speaks cautiously about future prospects in cinema, explaining that he has taken a break. In addition to the group’s concerts, he has two more current projects - working with director Yuri Odinoky on a one-man show based on the play by the great absurdist Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, as well as dubbing the audio version of Sergei Loiko’s book Airport. The full recording will be ready at the end of November.
— Well, would you like to star in the planned film Cyborgs? - I ask.
— These are very distant plans, but I would rather produce such a film. I know exactly what kind of directors are needed, I am convinced that many roles should be played by real fighters,” Gorbunov answers.
It is felt that time is pressing for him, and he is impatiently interested:
- Listen, do you still have many questions?
“Then the last one,” I reassure, “do you think it is possible to make a film about the current war, which will become understandable on both front lines, to those residents of the eastern regions of Ukraine who are fighting on the opposite side today?”
“Yes, it’s probably possible, but certainly not now,” the actor answers after a pause.
He immediately begins to tell that he himself comes from the suburbs of Lugansk and tries to understand the residents there. “There is no black and white picture here, many of them came out to defend their homes, their city according to their own concepts in the same way,” says Gorbunov. “We have been living with each other in an information vacuum for many years - this is a disaster.”
He continues to talk about what this most honest film about the war will be. Perhaps it will already be shot by the next generation of young directors, perhaps even the director will be from Donetsk, and maybe he will even be more objective than the director from Kiev.
“And this moment will become a unifying moment for all of us,” Gorbunov continues to dream.
One feels that the actor is ready to talk a lot and for a long time on this topic, but he has a concert in an hour. Already rising from the table, he continues to say:
- You see, art can do a lot now. Our politicians are so poor, they don’t understand the power of cinema, music, theater. Now is the time for art, it can truly unite people and give at least some hope,” Gorbunov says in parting. He shakes my hand and quickly walks out of the hall.
The material was published in NV No. 42 dated November 13, 2015
From study to work - one step
There he worked as an auxiliary worker. He installed lighting installations and helped in the costume department. Friendliness led him to meet Ada Rogovtseva. The actress was so fascinated by the young man that she introduced him to her husband, teacher and actor Konstantin Stepankov. He, in turn, gave instructions to the future artist.
Stepankov took Gorbunov to his course at the Karpenko-Kary Institute, which Alexey graduated from in 1984. A few months before this, Alexey Gorbunov appeared as an actor with a small appearance in “Petrov and Vasechkin’s Vacation.” Directors willingly gave him secondary roles, seeing his creative potential. Getting a diploma was the last thing to do. Gorbunov felt like a star with all his might, realizing at the same time that his status would have to be constantly proven. After the morning presentation of the certificate, actor Alexey Gorbunov went straight to the set; On this day, filming of “Unmarked Cargo” started.
And Russia is closer to me...
The year of graduation from the institute was marked by joining the troupe of the Dovzhenko Theater. Gorbunov would work there for eleven years. In 1985, he was called up for military service, and then returned to his profession. Until the end of the 80s, he periodically appeared on television and actively acted in films. However, most of the films released with his participation collect neutral responses from viewers.
In the first half of the 90s, the crisis in Russia affected neighboring countries. Film production was frozen. Actor Alexey Gorbunov was looking for income, working part-time, in particular, as a taxi driver. I had to be content with infrequent appearances on the screen, agreeing to what was offered. Using his skills, he was a disco host and a DJ on local radio stations. Director Vladimir Popkov helped correct the situation, who in 1997 offered Gorbunov the role of the merry jester Chico in the launching TV series “Countess de Monsoreau.” Since about this time, Alexey has been filming more often in Russia than in his homeland.
Personal life of Yuri Gorbunov
After graduating from the Kyiv Theater Yuri worked for 5 years at the Ivano-Frankivsk Drama Theater. It was then that he met his future wife Lyudmila.
Lyudmila was a ballet dancer in the troupe, married, and raised a daughter. And also 10 years older than the young artist.
But all this did not become an obstacle - for the sake of Yuri, Lyudmila divorced, took her daughter with her and soon moved to Kyiv. As a result, the couple dated for another three years before Lyudmila received an official proposal from Yura. After the wedding, the wife took the surname Gorbunov, and Yuri officially adopted his daughter Ksenia.
“Two years have passed and we have tuned in to each other. It was not a lightning strike - feelings accumulated gradually, drop by drop. A cup of coffee at the theater buffet, joint rehearsals, performances, trips, tours...
One day, while walking in the park, we sat down on a bench near the monument to Adam Mickiewicz - and suddenly kissed. At that moment, I realized that I love this woman and will fight for her to the end,” Yuri once admitted, recalling his courtship.
After the move, Lyudmila became a housewife, leaving theater and dancing, which, according to Gorbunov, suited him quite well. Their marriage existed for almost 15 years in peace and harmony, until it suddenly cracked.
In 2011, adopted daughter Ksenia gave birth to a daughter, Polina, so the young artist suddenly became a grandfather. But they never happened to have their own children.
The best films, the best TV series
The historical costume “Countess de Monsoreau” was shown in a number of countries. Actor Alexey Gorbunov receives an invitation from Ukrainian television to become the host of the “Night Alarm Clock” show. In 1998, he starred with Valery Todorovsky in “Country of the Deaf,” where he got the role of a food supplier. Over the next few years, Gorbunov became a frequent guest on Russian TV series: “Birthday of the Bourgeois”, “Kamenskaya”, “Turkish March”. In 2002, he took part in the Austrian comedy drama “Blue Moon”, and then starred in the historical action film “Breed”.
Modern period
In 2005, Philip Yankovsky invited the actor to “State Councilor,” and two years later Nikita Mikhalkov directed the film “12.” Actor Alexey Gorbunov, whose filmography includes works of different genres, tries on many images during his career, from dramatic to comedic. He manages to masterfully transform himself into salesmen, cleaners, jurors, bikers, commanders-in-chief of the Air Force, and security officers. In 2008, he appears in “Inhabited Island” and “Hipsters”, in 2010 - in the military “Edge” and the teenage hit “Children under 16...”.
In 2012, the actor went to Odessa, where he gave a master class at the film festival. In 2013, Gorbunov, together with other Russian actors, starred in the foreign thriller “Mobius”. He also gets the role of Moriarty in the modern domestic version of “Sherlock Holmes”.
Movies and music
The young artist was incredibly lucky: his debut role turned out to be the main one. In the detective story “Unmarked Cargo” directed by Vladimir Popkov, Alexey Gorbunov played customs officer Evgeniy Stenko. It is noteworthy that Oleg Menshikov was previously approved for this role, but the famous actor had to abandon filming due to his busy work schedule. Alexey considers the director his godfather in cinema. Popkov was able to discern the potential in the performer and cast him in the main role without auditioning.
Alexey Gorbunov in the film “Cargo without markings”
The first big work was followed by smaller roles in 2 children's serial films: “Makar the Pathfinder” and the famous “Petrov and Vasechkin’s Vacation.” But soon the actor had to pause his career for 2 years, as he was called up for military service.
The next major project in the career of the aspiring artist was the detective story “Start the Investigation,” where Gorbunov tried on a police uniform. The main cast of the film featured masters of Soviet cinema - Bogdan Stupka and Armen Dzhigarkhanyan. In 1988, the guy starred in the historical film “Stone Soul”. His partner in the shot was the young Marina Mogilevskaya.
Alexey Gorbunov in the detective story “Start the Investigation”
Then came the “dashing 90s”, and a crisis began at the Alexander Dovzhenko film studio, where Alexey Gorbunov worked. Despite the fact that the actor took on any role, he was paid practically no money. Therefore, in his youth he had to earn extra money as a private driver in order to be able to feed his family. However, during these years Alexey expanded the range of his role. In addition to law enforcement officers, he successfully mastered the images of a revolutionary (“The Pit”), a security officer (“Hunger-33”), and a surveillance agent (“Crime with Many Unknowns”).
This situation lasted for 7 years, until Vladimir Popkov, who had already discovered the artist’s talent once, invited Alexey to play the role of a jester named Chico in his historical serial film “The Countess de Monsoreau.” From that moment, the creative biography of Alexei Gorbunov rushed upward, the artist began acting mainly in Russian-made films. One of the first such films in the artist’s repertoire is Valery Todorovsky’s drama “Country of the Deaf,” in which Gorbunov played the role of a supplier of goods.
Alexey Gorbunov in the film “Countess de Monsoreau”
At the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, Alexey Gorbunov took part in the filming of 3 action-packed TV series with a criminal slant: “Kamenskaya”, “Turetsky’s March” and “Bourgeois’s Birthday”. All these projects were popular with viewers, as they responded to the adventurous spirit of the bygone era.
The actor did not have to wait long for his next leading role. In 2001, with the participation of Alexei Gorbunov, the detective series “Trace of the Werewolf” was released, in which the artist appeared in his usual role - a police captain. His methods of fighting crime are far from legal, but this leads the investigation to solving the case. Valery Barinov, Georgy Drozd and others also shone on the screen.
Alexey Gorbunov in the series “Trace of the Werewolf”
In 2003, Alexey appeared in several projects at once, in which he was involved in the foreground. These series included “Station”, “Lines of Fate” and “The Best City on Earth”.
In 2005, Alexey Gorbunov starred for the first time with director Nikita Mikhalkov in the film adaptation of Boris Akunin’s detective novel “State Councilor”. The collaboration turns out to be fruitful, and 2 years later Nikita Sergeevich again invites the artist to take part in the filming of the remake of the 1957 courtroom film drama “Twelve Angry Men,” the debut work of Hollywood director Sidney Lumet.
For the role of the 9th juror, the director of the cemetery, Alexey Gorbunov, as part of the entire “jury trial” of the film “12”, was awarded the “Golden Eagle” in the category “For Best Actor”.
Alexey Gorbunov in the film “12”
Among the man’s next works, viewers remember the musical “Hipsters” by Valery Todorovsky, in which Alexey Gorbunov played the role of a former saxophonist, the dramatic thriller “The One Who Turns Out the Lights,” as well as the blockbuster by Fyodor Bondarchuk “Inhabited Island,” based on the novel of the same name by the brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky.
In 2009, Alexey Gorbunov played in Garik Sukachev’s debut film “House of the Sun”, where he played the role of an artist nicknamed Korean.
The artist works closely with the foreign film industry: in 2013, he starred in the French action-packed film “Mobius” by Eric Rochan, where the main roles were played by world cinema stars Jean Dujardin and Tim Roth.
Also in 2013, viewers saw their favorite actor in the series “Sherlock Holmes” Andrei Kavun, in which Alexey Gorbunov played Professor Moriarty. In the project he appeared in the company of famous colleagues Igor Petrenko, Andrey Panin, Ingeborga Dapkunaite and Mikhail Boyarsky.
Alexey Gorbunov in the series "Sherlock Holmes"
In addition to working in films, the artist over the years hosted the nightly music television show “Night Alarm Clock” and the entertainment program “Miracle People.” Gorbunov also worked on the radio: he was a DJ on the Crimean “Radio Dzhankoy” and the capital’s radio stations Nostalgie and “Continent”.
During his acting career, Gorbunov collaborated with the Film Actor Studio Theatre, the private M. Nestantiner Chamber Theater and the Kyiv National Theater of Russian Drama named after Lesya Ukrainka. Alexey appeared in performances of Oleg Menshikov’s enterprise “Theatrical Partnership 814”. Later in an interview, the actor admitted that he considered working on the radio to be his favorite thing in life; he appeared in films and on the theater stage because of the need to earn money.
Alexey Gorbunov in the TV series “Leningrad 46”
Alexey Gorbunov is the organizer and frontman, who performs music in the genre of art songs. Fans of the singer claim that he is a talented performer who sings with his voice and soul. According to the artist, he gets no less pleasure from concerts, and sometimes even more, than from playing on stage or on a film set.
Fron Alexey Gorbunov
In December 2014, reports appeared in the press that Alexey Gorbunov decided to interrupt cooperation with Russian cinema and refuse to participate in Russian films due to his political views. Information about the actor’s visit to a Dnepropetrovsk hospital to support wounded soldiers of the Ukrainian army caused a flurry of controversial discussions in the media. Gorbunov openly stated that he helps the Ukrainian army financially and is proud of his Ukrainian citizenship.
In 2020, Alexey Gorbunov took part in the filming of the series “Guard”, glorifying the Ukrainian military - participants in hostilities in the ATO zone. The film was released in Ukraine and Poland in May 2015, but due to a conflict between copyright holders, only 4 episodes were filmed instead of the planned 12.
Alexey Gorbunov on the set of the series “Guard”
In February 2020, the Russian erotic thriller “Locust,” filmed in 2013 by Egor Baranov, was released on television. The premiere of the 4-episode film in Ukraine and Russia took place in November 2020. Filming of the project took place in Moscow and Odessa. Alexey Gorbunov appeared in it as the hero Kavtorang.
In 2020, the actor starred in 2 videos – “Stolny Grad” and “Odinak”. TV viewers were also able to appreciate his work in the sports film “Rule of Combat” and the detective story “Loner.”
Interesting Facts
Alexey Gorbunov used to do voice acting for films. Cinema is not his only activity. The actor performs as a soloist of the group “Pilot’s Sadness”. As a guest star, he participated in the “Theatrical Partnership” enterprises staged by Oleg Menshikov.
The latter spoke warmly of Gorbunov. He calls him an easy-going and slightly naive person. Each of his on-screen images is the experience of his past years. At the same time, one can feel the ease with which he gets to work. And, of course, one cannot fail to note his natural talent, charisma and high professionalism.
The political crisis in Ukraine did not spare the actor. According to press reports, he refused to appear in Russian projects. In 2014, Gorbunov began filming the Ukrainian military drama “Guard,” and a little earlier the production of the domestic series “Leningrad-46” was completed.
