Svetlana Kamynina: “I do not consider every man as a potential husband”

Svetlana Kamynina's childhood and family

Sveta was born in Chelyabinsk.
Her parents were far from art. Mom worked as a teacher, and father worked as a bank employee. The girl was well-fed and did not have an artistic appearance at all. From the age of thirteen, Sveta earned money by giving paid English lessons, and from time to time the girl cleaned the art workshop. Growing up, she began working as a waitress. After ninth grade, Kamynina went on a diet, wanting to lose significant weight, and she succeeded. She entered the banking school, after which she was accepted immediately into the third year of the financial and economic institute.

Actress Svetlana Kamynina in childhood

The girl dreamed of becoming an actress, but continued to receive an economic education. After receiving her diploma, she worked in a bank for three years. During this time, Svetlana was finally convinced that she did not like this job. In an effort to become an actress and fulfill her childhood dream, in 1999 she began studying at the International Slavic Institute in the acting department. In her group, the girl was the oldest, so she always played adult women.

Biography

Born on January 25, 1979 in Druzhkovka, Donetsk region, she lived in Chelyabinsk from the age of six months. Kamynina’s father is a bank employee, her mother is a mathematics teacher at school. From an early age, parents raised independence in the girl. From the age of 13, Svetlana supported herself: she taught English to children, worked in an advertisement newspaper, as a waitress in a cafe on Pushkin Square, and as a cleaner for a glass artist. After the 9th grade I went to study at the Moscow Banking School at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and after that I immediately entered the third year at the All-Russian Correspondence Financial Economics Institute in the evening department. At the same time, since childhood I dreamed of becoming an actress. After graduating from the institute and working for three years in a bank, she realized that this job was not for her and in 1999 she entered the acting department of the International Slavic Institute.

The first roles of Svetlana Kamynina, the beginning of her filmography

The aspiring actress worked for two years at the Youth Theater in the city of Tsaritsino, where she played unremarkable roles. In 2006, she was accepted into the troupe of the Praktika theater.

At the same time, Svetlana acted in films, although the roles were small. So in 2005 she appeared in the films “Airport”, “Boomer”, “Balzac’s Age”. The actress recalls that the age from twenty to thirty passed as if she was writing a draft. The actress thought that something was about to happen that would give her the opportunity to develop in her profession. In the end, Svetlana lost heart.

The role in “Boomer”, where the actress played a heroine named Lenka, restored her self-confidence. It was after this role that she was recommended to Alexei Popogrebsky, who was just looking for actors for the film “Simple Things”. Kamynina was offered the role of Katya Maslova. Despite the fact that the actress was only twenty-six, she had to play a mature woman who had a seventeen-year-old daughter. Svetlana performed the role so well that a year later the actress was nominated for the Nika Award. Despite this, Kamynina continued to remain unknown to the general public. She was still invited to minor roles. She played a similar role in the television series “Love as Love”, “Kadetstvo”, “Hour of Volkov-3”, “Churchill”.

Looking at Svetlana, her French colleagues were surprised that this type of actress remained unclaimed in Russia for a long time. They compared her to Fani Ardant.

In the theater, things were not as bad as in the cinema. In “Practice”, Svetlana almost immediately after joining received a role in the production of “Merchants”, “This Child”, which was directed by Joël Pomerat. For this director, the actress was involved in another play, which he staged in 2010, called “Pinocchio.” At the Meyerhold Center, the actress played in a production called “Dad Leaves, Mom Lies, Grandma Dies.”

Svetlana Kamynina: “I do not consider every man as a potential husband”

— Svetlana, you started filming “Interns” soon after you received a nomination for “Nika” for your role in “Simple Things” by Popogrebsky. Were you afraid to accept a role in a comedy series after such serious work? - Well, what are you talking about! At that time, any job was a joy for me. We have a very dependent profession. The dentist will always have a job, because people’s teeth constantly deteriorate. But here you can be a good artist, but sit without roles. Therefore, any work is good and interesting, and I agreed to filming, of course, without hesitation. Plus, at that time, I still didn’t understand very well what it meant to act in a series. This is already an experience - we have filmed 180 episodes and will continue to work. Plus, comedy cinema is quite a serious matter. Making a good comedy is not easy. And I really love comedies. — Was there something that captivated you about the character itself? Maybe some character traits? — Anastasia Konstantinovna Kisegach is a rare woman, I think. I really liked her strong-willed qualities, which in ordinary life are more characteristic of men. Professional activity always leaves its mark on a person. My character is no exception. Remember the heroine of Vera Alentova from “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears,” when she became the director of the plant. In what voice did she give orders? Likewise, Chief Physician Kisegach is a very versatile character. — Could you imagine that it would be she who would make you so popular? - Of course not. I don’t know any actors who think about success at the very beginning when working on a role. And I was even more pleased when they later gave me an award, the Golden Rhinoceros award for best actress in the series. - Nevertheless, even after such success, you admit that on the street you still manage to “encrypt” - no one will know. - Yes. My hair color and my heroine’s are different, and I would like to hope that in life without makeup I don’t look 40 years old, but still look like I’m 34. I can’t say that crowds of people follow me. I calmly appear in public places, and then in Moscow there is such a concentration of star people that everyone is already very loyal to this.

With Ivan Okhlobystin on the set of “Interns”.
Still from the series. - For many it is a surprise that you are ten years younger than your heroine... - Sometimes this really surprises people. But I’m glad that I was able to portray myself on screen as a woman over forty. This probably indicates my professional work. I’ve had age roles since college, when I was in theater school. I was actually the oldest on the course, and the roles of mothers have been well known to me since then. Unconventional appearance, low voice - all this greatly contributed to this. Then I’m not Thumbelina in general. (Laughs.) - Let's then add a few more accurate facts from your biography to your age. I read that you were born on January 25, but your parents somehow managed not to name you Tatyana. - Grandma was against it! (Laughs.) My name was Tatyana Sergeevna, and I also have a middle name - Sergeevna. And the grandmother, for reasons of superstition, told the parents: “If you name your granddaughter Tatyana Sergeevna, she will repeat my fate, and I don’t want to wish that on my child.” And she dissuaded them. In the end, my aunt, whose name is also Sveta, named me. Mom and Dad resisted, my mother still wanted to call me Sophia, but in the end my parents still leaned towards this option. — Further, different sources indicate three different places of your birth: Chelyabinsk, Moscow and the village of Druzhkovka in the Donetsk region. What is right? - Last thing. Only this is not a village, but a settlement, about 1200 people live there. My parents met in Chelyabinsk, and my mother was registered there. But when she became pregnant, she went to give birth to her mother, who at that time lived in Druzhkovka, Donetsk region. I was born, but they refused to register me there, saying that the child needed to be registered at the mother’s place of registration. And only six months later, when she flew back to Chelyabinsk with me, they registered me there. So the city of Chelyabinsk is written in my passport. — Your dad worked in a bank, but at the same time you started earning money on your own early. That is, your parents immediately taught you that you need to achieve everything in life yourself? “And I am very grateful to them for that.” Whatever one may say, I had to change many professions. So the opportunity to make money on occasion by doing something with my own hands does not scare me at all. — At one time you even taught English to children. How is your language now? — My English has been good since school. My mother was a computer science teacher, and children of teachers are in special demand at school. I remember we had a teacher, Nelly Lvovna, and she didn’t let me down. One way or another, I always spoke foreign. Of course, I once spoke the language more fluently, but now it’s more at the everyday level. But if I work out a little, I’ll restore it again. - And not so long ago you took an acting course in Belgium - and you also had to master French. — I tried to learn French so often, but then I stopped. It takes practice. You need to talk constantly. But I understand him a little bit. I really remembered something in Belgium. These were not courses, but a theater laboratory. In Moscow, at the Praktika Theater, I was lucky enough to participate in productions by the French director Joel Pomre. And last year he invited me to come to his theater laboratory, such an acting training. I arrived and had a wonderful three weeks. — When you entered the theater school, were you confident of success? - I walked at random. I just wanted to try it. There was nothing further than this thought in my head. If I started to think: what if it doesn’t work out... Fear would have completely shackled me and prevented me from doing anything. I reasoned like this: it will work out, it will work out, if it doesn’t work out, oh well. Happened. — Did you prepare with the teacher? - Yes. I first went to VGIK for preparatory courses, and then I found a teacher, she came up with a program for me, and we studied with her. — You were probably an open child as a child, and not a quiet and shy one? — I’ve never been shy! I was not at all afraid of strangers, I made contact very quickly, and loved to be the center of attention. My mother told me that she even had to hold my hand, otherwise I would already run to greet someone. I remember I was three years old and my mother and I were riding on a bus. I sat on the seat like a fidget. She says: “Sveta, what is it?” And I chose the most handsome young man and made eyes at him. (Laughs.) At three years old! That's where the acting talent comes in. But I never participated in any clubs, everything made itself felt. — You often travel to exotic countries. Do you feel like a person of the world? — If you know the basics of English, it seems to me that you won’t be lost in any country in the world, honestly. But in general, I don’t travel that often and I still dream of visiting a lot of places. I can’t tell you how much I want to go to South America! But I'm afraid to go there alone. A white tourist in Brazil or Venezuela is dangerous. Maybe, if it works out, I’ll go to Peru or Chile with someone. I haven’t been everywhere in Asia either, only in India, China and the Seychelles. So I decided to check if there is such a paradise there as depicted in the picture. It turned out to be paradise. I took photographs, which were then safely stolen from me along with my phone, and when I showed them to my friends, they asked me: “Why are you showing us some postcards from the Internet?” And these were real photographs. Just like in the advertisement: white sand, turquoise sea and blue sky.

“I’m just enjoying the freedom for now.
I have time to try something, see something, go somewhere, learn something.” Photo: Gennady Avramenko. — Did you manage to relax somewhere this summer? “I was just now in the Vladimir region, we were doing a performance there in the village of Ulovo on the Nerl River. And there I probably rested for a week in tents: the beauty, the fields, the smell of hay - you’re amazed. Such were the tourist conditions we had there. By the way, I don’t like to feel like a tourist in any country, to walk along beaten paths. I usually come and see where the locals eat and where they go. - And who is your parrot, which you recently received for your birthday, staying with at this time? “I’m renting it out to friends for a while, but now I need to take it back.” A parrot is wonderful, he is good. But the need to constantly be at home with him is not for me, I love freedom. Having a pet is a big responsibility. Zhorik, of course, is a unique bird, but we cannot yet find a common language. You have to give it back in a good way, of course. — Svetlana, the question of your personal life still remains relevant for you. You said that you have already relaxed and are not thinking about marriage, because anyway, nothing will change. But, say, when communicating with men, do you do this somehow selectively? - No, I do not consider every man I meet as a potential husband. I'm just enjoying the freedom. All my friends who have husbands and children tell me: “Sveta, you don’t understand - enjoy yourself while you’re alone. Then, when it all comes, you will forget about yourself for several years.” And now there is still time to try something, see something, go somewhere, learn something. In general, you can devote time to yourself. - And how do you, being your own boss, manage your free time? — I like to go to some exhibitions, to the cinema. I especially like to watch films without dubbing, with subtitles. I meet with friends, read a book. Everything is like people. — And also, watch your figure very closely. Do you make a lot of effort to eat right? — To be honest, I’ve even stopped eating fish now, just fruits and vegetables. And when you get used to eating little by little, when you overeat, you immediately feel like there’s a stone in your stomach. —Have you even done yoga before? - Not now. — Don’t you play at the Praktika theater anymore? — I don’t play, but now I have a play that will be shown at the Meyerhold Center, called “Dad leaves, mom lies, grandmother dies.” Again, I'm playing mom. This is a very interesting experimental production. The actors are talking on stage, but you can't hear them. The text is read by three actors who are outside the scenery. So far I have only one performance, but I hope there will be more. — And if you choose between theater and TV series: what is more work for you, and what is relaxation? — I don’t have any preferences, I love both theater and cinema. I think that an actor in the theater must have a job. This is useful and important training. — Your colleagues from “Interns” Vadim Demchog and Ivan Okhlobystin often make fun of each other behind the scenes. How is your relationship with Ivan, your direct partner in the story, off the set? — I have the warmest relationship with Ivan Ivanovich, I consider him practically my relative. Is it true. I love you very much, respect you, sometimes we talk about some difficult topics. I am very interested in the spiritual aspect of our lives, and Ivan tells me about this from his life perspective. He is a very wise man and I listen to his advice. — Working in this series, has it somehow changed your attitude towards doctors? - Only for even greater respect for them. It's hard work, absolutely. Healing, judging and teaching are the most serious activities. — How do doctors react to you when you come to see them? They don’t say: why did you laugh at our profession? - So far, God has had mercy on me, and I don’t go to them so often. Although here I made an appointment with one specialist... But they don’t even know everyone right away, so for them I’m an ordinary patient. And the fact that we laughed... No, I don’t think so. It seems to me that everything worked out very well for us.

Svetlana Kamynina in “Interns”

In 2008, Svetlana auditioned for the television series “Interns,” where she auditioned for the role of the head doctor of a hospital named Kisegach. She was approved for the role, although according to the script it was not planned that Kisegach would become one of the main characters. The project started in 2010. From the first episodes it became clear that the audience liked the head doctor of the hospital, played by Kamynina. Filming is not over yet. Several seasons have already been filmed.

Svetlana Kamynina and Ivan Okhlobystin in the TV series Interns

The heroine of Svetlana is a respected, intelligent woman doctor who has made a good career. She raised her son alone. Kisegach had a long affair with the head of the department, Dr. Bykov. In recent seasons they had a child together.

It is possible that in the next seasons of this television series there will be many more interesting situations and plots in which Kamynina will once again be able to show excellent acting. In the series “Interns,” Ivan Okhlobystin, Ilya Glinnikov, Kristina Asmus, Vadim Demchog and others also showed their talent.

Svetlana Kamynina today

In 2011, viewers saw the film “Deli Case No. 1.” Svetlana played Zara. In 2013, she starred as Olga in the film “Anyutino’s Happiness.” Kamynina has experience in voice acting. So, starting in 2010, she participated in the dubbing of such films as “Rabbit Hole”, “Jane Eyre” and “Gainsbourg. The love of a bully."

In 2011, the actress won the Golden Rhino Award for her performance in the television series Interns. Svetlana continues to work at the Praktika theater.

Creativity[edit | edit code]

Her teachers at the institute were Ivan Moskvin-Tarkhanov and Gennady Frolov. In student performances, she played not heroines, but their mothers, since she was the oldest in the year. After graduating from college, I couldn’t find a job for a long time and worked at a hotel reception.

In 2004, she began acting in episodic roles in films, her first role in the TV series “Airport”.

In 2005-2006, Kamynina played on the stage of the Moscow Regional Youth Theater. According to Svetlana, her first role in the theater, not counting roles in student productions, was the role of a hut on chicken legs in the Youth Theater: “I walked on stage in a three-dimensional frame, my face was not visible, only my legs with foam paws put on them stuck out, and said: “I haven’t been swept since the summer, I haven’t been heated since the fall...”

In 2006 she joined the Praktika theater troupe. In 2007, a global event took place for the actress - a meeting with the French director Joël Pomerat, who was directing the play “This Child.” The performance was remembered by the capital's theatergoers thanks to the bright, expressive role of Svetlana Kamynina in the play. In 2010, the director staged the play “Pinocchio” with the participation of Svetlana Kamynina on the stage of the Meyerhold Center.

In the summer of 2008 I went to the casting of “Interns”. At first, the role of the head physician in the series was a passing one, but there were more and more episodes with it.[4]

She worked at the Praktika theater. In 2020, she took part in the project of the NTV channel “KinoshoU”.

Roles in the theater[edit | edit code]

• Dad leaves, mom lies, grandma dies (Vs. Meyerhold Center)
• Merchants (Joel Pomerat) - voice acting (NET Festival 2007)
• This Child (Joel Pomerat) (Practice Theatre)
• Pinocchio (Joel Pomerat) (Praktika Theatre, on the stage of the Meyerhold Center)

Filmography[edit | edit code]

• 2005 - Airport - Alla
• 2005 - Balzac's age, or All men are... - Sveta
• 2005 - Boomer. Film two - Lenka
• 2006-2007 - Love is like love - Rita Zuikova
• 2006 - Kadetstvo - Yasha’s sister
• 2007 - Simple things - Katya
• 2007 - Personal life of Dr. Selivanova (patient)
• 2009 - Hour of Volkov 3 (episode 29 “Love to the grave”) - Lyuba
• 2010 - Moscow. Central district - 3 - Tamara Sokolova
• 2010 - And the day lasts longer than a century - Valentina Tereshkova
• 2010 - Churchill (episodes 17-18) - Lera, Magdanovsky’s youngest daughter
• 2010—2016 — Interns — chief physician Anastasia Konstantinovna Kisegach
• 2011 - Revelations - Raya, dance teacher
• 2011 - Deli Case No. 1 - Zara
• 2013 - Anyutino's happiness - Olga
• 2015 - Country OZ - the bard’s wife
• 2017 — — bard’s wife
• 2019—2020 — Fitness — owner of the SuperFit club

Voice acting[edit | edit code]

• 2010 - Gainsbourg. A Bully's Love - Juliet Greco
• 2010 - Rabbit Hole - Gaby
• 2011 - Jane Eyre - Miss Reed

Recognition[edit | edit code]

• Nominated for the Nika Award in 2007 for her supporting role as Katya in the film “Simple Things” by Alexei Popogrebsky.
• Winner of the Golden Rhinoceros award for the role of Anastasia Kisegach in the sitcom Interns on February 28, 2011

Personal life of Svetlana Kamynina

Kamynina, like many girls, dreamed of getting married, but life turned out differently. At first, the actress was very worried about this. A trip to India had a great influence on her; it changed her worldview. The actress has joined Eastern spiritual practices, she meditates and does not eat meat.

Svetlana is glad that she was able to work with the wonderful cast of the television series “Interns”. She considers her acquaintance and friendship with Ivan Okhlobystin especially important for herself. The actress claims that you can talk to this person on any topic, including spiritual and religious.