The childhood of Alexander Pal
The future actor was born on December 16, 1988 in Chelyabinsk. The actor got such an atypical surname for a Russian ear thanks to his German roots: his paternal grandparents were Russified Germans, exiled to the Urals during the Stalinist repressions.
Parents of Alexander Pal
The actor’s childhood can hardly be called prosperous. The family, like many in those years, was low-income. His father died early, his mother had to raise her son alone, so Alexander was essentially raised on the street. He began to study poorly, although he was an excellent student until the 6th grade, became known as the main bully of the class (once, as Alexander admitted in an interview with Yuri Dudu, he showed his butt to the teacher), and had no special desires or aspirations other than to buy a car. “Many guys in my city lived and live exactly like the characters in the film “Everything at Once”: that is, there is an appearance of being busy, but there is no busyness,” Pahl later recalled.
Alexander Pal in his youth
Everything changed in 9th grade, when Alexander became seriously interested in literature. True, at first he read crime literature, for example, during class he secretly read the entire series of books “Thief in Law”, after which for some time he dreamed of becoming a prison watcher, but then he moved on to more serious works. Also, at the suggestion of his uncle, Sasha began attending a theater studio, however, he then decided that it was not suitable for him and soon quit. At the age of 17, Sasha went to visit his aunt, his father’s sister, in Germany for six months, thought about staying there for permanent residence, began to learn the language, but eventually returned to Russia.
After school, Alexander stood at the fork in three paths: he could go to study as a journalist, philologist or actor. As a result, the guy submitted documents to several acting schools (including in his native Chelyabinsk), including VGIK, “Pike”, “Sliver”, the Moscow Art Theater School and GITIS. Almost all universities in the capital rejected his candidacy after the second round. During the entrance exams at GITIS, in the third round, he showed a sketch, playing a dad who has been waiting for his little daughter for a very long time. Afterwards, Leonid Kheifets approached the young man and said that he was taking him to his course - he liked the individuality of the applicant.
Childhood
Popular actor Alexander Pal was born on December 16, 1988 in harsh Chelyabinsk. An unusual surname is not a pseudonym. The young man’s grandparents on his father’s side do not hide their German roots and the fact that during the Great Patriotic War they moved to live in the USSR, where they remained for permanent residence. Despite their German origin, they loved Russia with all their souls and instilled this love in their son and grandson.
Little Sasha grew up in a poor atmosphere. His parents received a small salary, so the future actor never knew expensive things and toys, since adults could not afford them. Pal spent most of his time outside, playing with the boys from his yard.
Alexander Pal
At school, Sasha did not strive to be the best and studied mediocrely. For a long time he was not interested in books and other cultural entertainment. Growing up in the harsh 90s, the guy believed that the biggest adventure of his life would be becoming a successful thief. But everything changed when, while studying in the 9th grade, Pahl and his parents went to visit his relatives in Germany.
There Alexander saw a completely different life, which he had never even suspected. After living in a foreign country for six months, the young man radically changed his opinion about the future.
He realized that it was time to grow up and from a naughty street child and future thief he could turn into an educated person, completely changing his life for the better.
The decision to become an actor came to Alexander unexpectedly. He decided not only to fill the gaps in his education by becoming seriously interested in cultural values and reading classical literature, but also seriously thought about who he wanted to be. It was in Germany that Pahl began to actively prepare for admission to a theater university, deciding to change his destiny and the life of his family for the better.
Popular actor Alexander Pal
And having returned to Russia, the young man realized that his former circle of friends had become uninteresting to him, since he had changed, but his peers remained the same. Therefore, a difficult period began for Alexander, when he had to make new acquaintances and start all over again at school, where they were already accustomed to a certain line of his behavior.
Interesting: Vladimir Mikhailov: biography
First roles
The teacher was loyal to the fact that his students acted in films. Moreover, Alexander had such an opportunity at the end of his studies. Assistant director Roman Karimov came to his graduation performance and invited the young man to audition for the comedy “Everything at Once.” Pal soon joined the cast of Nikita Ost, Yulia Khlynina and Anton Shurtsov. His character Dan, according to the actor, is a collective image: “I wasn’t such a simpleton, I was much bolder.” True, viewers saw the film only two years later, when they already knew Alexander as “that frostbitten gopnik from Gorko!”
“Everything at once”: Alexander Pal as Dan
Alexander auditioned for “Gorko!” Zhory Kryzhovnikov, because he liked the script. At first he liked another hero, but then he decided to play the brother of the main character - a bald gopnik. According to many viewers, Alexander's hero became the brightest accent of the film. Just think about the first scene with Valentina Mazunina, who played his girlfriend Ksenia, or the tattoo with three heroes (which, of course, was drawn by make-up artists).
Alexander Pal's tattoo in "Gorko!" - not real
After the premiere of the film, Alexander became popular. But he focused his attention on the theater and simply refused many scripts because he did not want to become a hostage to the image of a “repentant gopnik.” He enlisted in the Moscow Youth Theater, where he served from 2012 to 2013 (he was involved in the productions of “The Four-Legged Crow” and “The Lieutenant from the Island of Inishmore” based on Martin McDonagh), and also played in the video for the song “Sleep” by Vasily Zorky. Alexander Pal in the video “Sleep” In 2013, the actor moved to the theater. Vladimir Mayakovsky and two months later made his debut on this stage in the play “Berdichev” and immediately in a key role. Since the chronology of the play was extended over 30 years, Pahl had to reincarnate both as a beardless youth and as a man, wise with life experience, who returned to the city where he spent his childhood.
Photo from the play “Berdichev”
Despite his theatrical successes, the young actor left the theater in 2020. As he admitted in one of his interviews, although theater is a stronger acting school than cinema, it is much more exhausting - it is difficult to show such strong emotions when you have played the same role several dozen times. However, he did not give up the theater at all - he continued to play in the production of “Waiting for Godot” by the Open Stage project. The performance is quite innovative and risky for Alexander personally - in one of the scenes he was covered with cardboard pizza packaging and set on fire. Performance "Waiting for Godot". Trailer
Miley Cyrus (23) and Liam Hemsworth (26)
And here is another couple in which passions boil and then subside. The relationship between Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth began back in 2012, and it even came to an engagement, but then Miley dramatically changed her image - she cut off her long hair, got a lot of tattoos and began to behave as cheekily as possible at concerts, erasing the former “ Hannah” Montana ." Her lover did not like this, and the couple broke off the relationship. But in 2020, the romance resumed, and the ring given by Hemsworth almost immediately returned to Miley’s finger. Golden Globe party , where Liam passionately kissed his lover. And just a couple of days ago, rumors appeared in the media that Cyrus and Hemsworth finally got married! Well, if that's the case, we're very happy!
Career blossoming
2014 was marked for the guy with the release of the second part of “Bitter!”, as well as filming in the New Year’s film “Yolki 1914”. Together with Konstantin Khabensky and Vera Panfilova, Pal played in the short story “The Tsar’s Christmas Trees,” playing a soldier in the Tsar’s army collecting signatures for the revival of the tradition of New Year trees. Also this year, he was awarded the “Discovery of the Year” award by GQ magazine.
On the set of the film “Yolki 1914”
In addition, in 2014, Pahl began filming the youth tragicomedy “The Rag Union” (released in 2016). For the role, Alexander had to go to the gym for 2 months, and then intensively lose weight and learn parkour (in order to reliably develop into a “rag”). The work of the acting tandem (in addition to Alexander, the film starred Ivan Yankovsky, Pavel Chinarev and Vasily Butkevich) was highly praised at Kinotavr - all four received the prize in the category "Best Actor" - for the first time in history the award went to a group of actors.
Still from the film "The Rag Union"
In 2020, Alexander Pal worked on two films at once. In October, the premiere of the film Without Borders took place, in which he played the role of a witty customs officer. The film was directed by Karen Oganesyan, Rezo Gigienishvili and Roman Prygunov. The actor also appeared in the leading role in the comedy with elements of the horror film “The Guy from Our Cemetery,” where he played the role of a guy who is hired by his uncle, the owner of the cemetery, to work as a security guard. After this role, Alexander began to be compared with Sergei Bodrov Jr. - viewers saw in him the same openness and honesty as in the late actor.
Alexander Pal in the film “The Guy from Our Cemetery”
Filming in the film “Hardcore,” the feature-length debut of Ilya Naishuller, was an interesting experience, although Alexander’s role was small – one of the mercenaries with a flamethrower. “There haven’t been films like this for a long time, neither in Russia nor in the world,” he claims.
Alexander Pal in the movie "Hardcore"
Soon he worked with Naishuller again, and this time the collaboration became more intense. We are talking about filming in the video for the Leningrad group for the song “Voyage”. At first glance, it might seem that Pal’s hero is an ordinary bandit and debauchee, but by the end of this video, which resembles more a short film than a music video, viewers became acquainted with his tragic past. Alexander Pal in the “Leningrad” video In 2020, Pal appeared in the blockbuster “Icebreaker” together with Pyotr Fedorov, played a computer science teacher in the comedy “Good Boy” with Semyon Treskunov, and gave a gift to all St. Petersburg residents by starring in the short story “Morning” in the film anthology “Petersburg. Only for love".
“Good Boy”: Alexander Pal, Ieva Andreevaite and Mikhail Efremov
In 2020, the comedy series “You All Infuriate Me” was released, where Alexander Pal played one of the main roles - taxi driver Vova. The plot of the series revolves around the cynical journalist Sonya Bagretsova, her friend, the sociable manicurist Nelya, and their neighbors. Svetlana Khodchenkova, star of the Leningrad group video Yulia Topolnitskaya, Alexander Petrov and others took part in the filming.
Alexander Pal in the series “You All Infuriate Me”
Your boyfriend at the Berlinale
— Is Pal a real name or a pseudonym?
— Alexander Pal is a German surname, and, in fact, quite common. At one time, even under Catherine, many Germans were brought to the Urals. My dad is German. We tried to find out what “Pal” means. A palisade that is stuck into the ground. But it seems to me that this should be learned in Germany.
— Why didn’t you stay in Germany? I know that you lived there for some time.
“I wasn’t born there, and I didn’t live there.” I spent six months with my aunt, my father’s sister. But in order to stay there, the only option was for me to be adopted. I went there precisely because I thought I would stay. Because at that time I no longer had a father. I was 17 years old. I could, of course, start studying there, but I didn’t know the language well. And after the ninth grade I had thirteen C grades. Before the sixth grade, I was, however, an excellent student, but after the ninth grade it was like that. It was after the eleventh grade that I leveled off.
- Thirteen threes is what you need. Your on-screen image does not fit in with an excellent student.
- It's a pity! I wanted to mate with an excellent student. Because I was him. And when you talk about the screen image, do you mean that everywhere I don’t look like an excellent student?
— Yes, because it seems to me that one of the secrets of your popularity is that you are a folk type of artist, like, perhaps, Yuri Nikulin or Georgy Burkov. So, when you put on a uniform in the film “The Guy from Our Cemetery,” it somehow looks strange on you. Just like in the movie Without Borders. You're probably just like that...
- My boy.
- Yes. Maybe that's why you're so in demand. I also mean that we lack such an image in cinema. Have you been looking for this type, or have you been like this in life?
- No, I didn’t look for it. It just somehow happened that both the first and second roles were guys from the people.
— Do you mean the film “Bitter!” now?
- Yes. And then there was work in Roman Karimov’s film “Everything and at once.” "The Rag Union" was third. All the heroes are provincial guys, without any great ideals or any dizzying careers. I didn't do anything specifically for this. It just so happened.
— It was Kryzhovnikov who came up with the role of a hipster for you in the film “Gorko!” and invited you. Or did you “chemically” something there yourself?
— In “Gorko” everything turned out amazing, because I came to audition for the groom. I tried it. And the guys wanted to make a teaser, to show Timur Bekmambetov in what manner the film would be shot. And for him they asked me to play a gopnik who breaks into the wedding. And then I had a hipster hairstyle, which didn’t seem to match the image. In the end, we did so that after that the producers thought about me. Because initially this role was written for a thirty-year-old man who actually came out of prison and the term there “bitterly” brought great popularity. And even at that time I didn’t understand how much people loved the film. When everyone came up and congratulated us, our film, the director, the actors, I thought that this happens after every premiere. And then I came to my friends’ premieres, and they were somehow different. And I realized that there is not always such a rush.
— You want to say that, while studying acting, before the film “Bitter!” didn't go to film premieres?
- No, I didn’t go. I didn't have much experience going to premieres. Once, maximum, twice. When you visit friends for premieres, you usually leave straight away. And you don’t feel the popular excitement.
— In fact, the film “Bitter!” split everyone very much. I myself had a fight with several colleagues and friends because I liked him and they didn’t. Regarding your role, I later read that since childhood you really wanted to be a thief, such a thieve, to sit in prison...
- Yes, a thief in law. At one time, in ninth grade, just when I had thirteen C grades, I read all thirteen volumes of the book “I am a thief in law.” I read it for several months. The book was written by Evgeny Sukhov. Moreover, now I think that this is completely mediocre literature. But then I read avidly. I abandoned my studies. I had a romanticization of the criminal life. At the same time, I cannot say that I was involved in any criminal matters. I just went to boxing, I had no other big interests.
—Aren’t you afraid that you have a very bright acting role? After this, many actors become hostage to the image.
- Everyone asks this question. I just don’t know how to answer it. Because if I only used the image from “Bitter!” and speculated on this, I would have doubted it much earlier. And since it seems to me that the films “The Rag Union”, “Bitterly!”, and even “Everything at Once” have a certain common component, then the image of a man from the people is in everyone, but different. If in “Everything and at Once” my hero is an insecure loser, then in “Bitter!” completely the opposite type. He is self-confident, open, the sea is knee-deep. In “The Rag Union” he is a vulnerable man, he had a difficult childhood...
“He’s not just vulnerable, he’s completely unusual, a freak—not a freak.” Take, for example, the fact that he eats blue bugs.
“But blue bugs are not a very realistic thing.” This is closer to a metaphor, because there are no such beetles.
—What do you mean by “blue beetles”?
- I think it's about drugs. Because this guy had two brothers who got into heroin addiction and they died. And he himself was involved in drug trafficking. It says so when he is introduced. And during some difficult period, he apparently could not stand it, and these blue beetles became the personification of some kind of internal withdrawal into oneself.
-Did you really eat bugs?
- Yes, I have already been scolded for the way I answer this question (laughs). The bugs weren't real. But there was a real butterfly. Ate a butterfly.
— Are you one of those actors who can eat scorpions, butterflies, and cockroaches in a show?
- No. I wouldn't do it on purpose, just to amuse the crowd and see if I could eat a scorpion or something else. If it’s necessary for the role, and I understand that it’s justified, I can do it. Because my hero in “The Rag Union” is an original person, and, apparently, he had a poor childhood. He is ready to eat a frog when there is nothing else, and a grasshopper. There is nothing special about this, because as a child I myself sometimes ate ranetki, and plantain, and even leaves from trees.
— Did you just try it?
- You run from morning to evening on the street, you don’t want to go home, or there’s no one at home, and so you and your friends climbed a tree and gnawed leaves.
— You starred in Ilya Naishuller’s film “Hardcore.” It was presented at the Toronto Film Festival, which was an event in itself. It has not yet been seen in Russia.
“It seems to me that there was definitely no such movie.” And not even only in Russia, but, perhaps, at the global box office. I have never seen such special effects, drive, and dynamics anywhere else. The way the guys do tricks there...
- ...do you do your own stunts there?
— It’s not like I’m doing a trick there... Everything there is in motion, in dynamics. A stuntman had to do it for me, but I did everything myself. True, there was nothing dangerous. But what the main character, who has two cameras on his head, does...
— Is this the actor Sharlto Copley?
- No, we just see Sharlto. And the main character never appears in the film, except in the mirror. And the viewer sees everything from a first-person perspective. And what he does, it seems to me, is beyond the bounds of the possible. Because not every stuntman can do it. Hanging from a helicopter, for example, without any special insurance. And, of course, I think that a very large number of gamers—those who like to play computer games—will also go see this movie. Because director Ilya Naishuller loves it very much.
— Do you like computer games yourself?
- I can’t say that. I played quite a lot as a child. But this was a period when a computer appeared in the house - then all the children played. Sometimes once every two years I can play a game for a month, mainly Counterstrike. It's like nostalgia. I'm getting sucked in. And then it quickly becomes boring, that's all.
— You have experience working in films based on various short stories - “Christmas Trees,” for example, or “Wonderland,” which was released on New Year’s Eve. But in the film “Without Borders” you go beyond one short story and you, one might say, have the main role. In general, I don’t know how you appear at airports - the image of a border guard who detained a mediocre football player immediately appears. Do you like football yourself?
- Football - yes, I love it. I support Bayern. For the German national team. But when I lived in Germany, next to Bavaria, in Baden-Württenberg, I supported Russian football. It's a strange paradox.
- For which team?
- Just for the country. I don't have any favorite teams in Russia. But when I came to Germany, I told everyone that I was Russian. He even flaunted it. And when I live here, I say that, as a German, I love German football. When the Germans won the World Cup this year, I almost cried - I had been waiting for this moment for so long. Although, of course, if it was ’98 or ’96, or 2002, when I was really upset, cried for several hours when they lost... But at the same time, I can’t call myself a big fan.
— That is, when your hero - a border guard at the airport - in the film “Without Borders” says to his partner, they say, if you understood football, you would immediately find a boyfriend, do you say this with knowledge of the matter?
- Yes. But these were mainly childhood and adolescent reactions. Now I have a more relaxed attitude towards football.
- And you could, like your hero, stop the football player, not let him board the flight, or come home and sort things out with his girlfriend. Do you have such character traits?
- I'd like to think so. But what would it really be like? Because I think, in fact, the football player would have sent me long ago. And perhaps our dialogue did not work out much earlier. But I would like to think that I am still not indifferent to some human sorrows.
— There are people who believe that now our cinema needs such handsome actors-heroes as Vladimir Mashkov, or Danila Kozlovsky, or Evgeny Tsyganov. You are a completely different type - a guy from the people, and at the same time you are also very much in demand. There are many offers - they call me both for films and TV series.
- To each his own. Many people love Tsyganov, Mashkov, and Kozlovsky. It’s just that we now have a lot coming from Western culture - from Hollywood, where most films are based on the hero. That is, on a guy who is handsome and girls like him. But our heroes, Russians, take Tsyganov for example, are not only about face and beauty. All the same, they have some kind of meaning, unlike many Hollywood cardboard beauties. I may not be well versed in acting types and roles, but it seems to me that there is no definite answer as to what kind of hero is needed today. I think that if a person impresses with his charisma, then no matter who he is, he will be liked. He is handsome... Ugly... If something real comes from him that the audience accepts, then why does he have to be the archetype of Apollo?
The text is published in the author's edition and may differ from that published in the issue of RG.
Personal life of Alexander Pal
Almost nothing is known about the young man’s personal life. Despite the fact that on screen he plays relaxed and sociable guys, in life he is the complete opposite of his characters. Alexander is quite closed to journalists, and even more so when the topic comes to his relationships.
Alexander Pal and his ex-girlfriend Lisa Yankovskaya
It is known that he dated Elizaveta, the daughter of Oksana Fandera and Philip Yankovsky, for a long time. They were rumored to be together since 2012, but broke up in 2020.
Biography
Alexander Pal, whose creative biography began in 2012, is considered one of the most promising actors in Russia. He occupied a niche that is understandable to the Russian man in the street - a simple, slightly ridiculous, but direct and honest guy. Therefore, some directors believe that Pal and his classmate Alexander Petrov are the embodiment of Sergei Bodrov - the younger for the millennial generation.
Alexander Pal now
Alexander Pal is selective in his choice of roles, and yet his face appears more and more often on screens. So, in May 2019, the TNT channel premiered the inspiring series “Tolya the Robot,” where the actor got the main role - a disabled guy without arms and legs. Despite the disadvantage, his hero can give a hundred points ahead to many of those around him: having received bionic prostheses, he tries to make the lives of the people around him better.
Alexander Pal in the series “Tolya the Robot”
Together with Evgenia Gromova, the actor played in the drama “Loyalty”. Their characters are spouses with relationship problems. Also, in the near future, Pahl will appear on the big screens in the melodrama “Deeper.” Sergey Garmash and Alexander Pal in an advertisement for Post Bank Meanwhile, TV viewers criticized an advertisement for the Russian Post Bank with Alexander Pal and Sergey Garmash. Mainly because of the strange concept of the video: the actors utter only the sound “piu-dsch” in the frame - according to the creators, it is with this sound that the loan rate in the advertised bank drops.
Movies
The debut film “Everything at Once,” where the actor played the main role, due to the specific technical aspects of filming, was released after Pahl became famous. And his fame was brought to him by Zhora Kryzhovnikov’s painting “Bitter!”, which was awarded the Golden Eagle. Alexander's partners were Sergei Svetlakov, Elena Valyushkina, Yan Tsapnik and Valentina Mazunina, who played his lover.
In between, the actor appeared in Sergei Ursulyak’s dramatic project “Life and Fate” and the biopic “Gagarin. The first in space." Then the comedies “Yolki 1914” and “Without Borders” appeared. In the arthouse film “The Rag Union”, Alexander reincarnated as a member of the brotherhood of dreamers and hooligans. The work was awarded a prize at the Kinotavr festival.
The almanac “New Russians”, in which the young man had a chance to star, also received the same award. He got the leading roles in the funny thriller “The Guy from Our Cemetery” and the TV series “You’re All Infuriating Me.” In the latter, Pal played a taxi driver, and the plot revolved around the cynical journalist Sonya, played by Svetlana Khodchenkova.
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Alexander Pal and Irina Gorbacheva
In 2016, the series of entertainment projects was interrupted by “Icebreaker,” a disaster film about a scientific expedition vessel stuck in the ice of Antarctica, in which Pal acted as a rescue helicopter pilot.
From the category of projects that keep you in suspense are the psychological thriller “Raid” about the suicide of a policeman, and the fantastic action movie “Hardcore” about the love of a cyborg and an ordinary person.
Alexander was offered to star in “Kept Women” by Konstantin Bogomolov, with whom he rehearsed the play “Three Sisters.” They filmed the pilot episode, but the actor realized that the character, as they say, “didn’t lie down.” As a result, Pyotr Skvortsov got the role.
Carier start
At first, the actor actively tried to attend castings, so that instead of working as a security guard or waiter, he could earn extra money on the set of small projects. But, despite his active position, talent and desire to appear on TV screens at least in a minor role, he was very unlucky.
All the projects in which Alexander wanted to take part were either closed before filming began or the management team changed and the seemingly approved role turned out to be unnecessary. Instead of the unlucky actor, they took his classmate or another candidate, considering him more suitable.
Alexander Pal in the series “You All Infuriate Me”
Pal was involved in several performances at once:
Still from the film “Gorko 2”
Speaking in his corpse, Alexander Pal began to reveal himself as a gifted and very talented actor who has an amazing future ahead of him. In the theater he achieved enormous results and made his master proud.
In 2013, Pal went to work at the Moscow Academic Theater. Vladimir Mayakovsky, where he still performs. For Alexander, this work became the fulfillment of his dream. In the theater, he revealed himself as a creative person and began to get roles in the most successful performances. He was loved not only by the employees, but also by the audience, who began to visit the theater in order to see this particular actor on stage. And critics appreciated his talent and awarded him awards.
The beginning and development of an acting career
Alexander wanted to get a job on television and for this he regularly went to all kinds of castings and auditions. The young talent did not go unnoticed; starting in 2012, the actor was systematically invited to act in films. At the moment, he has played more than 20 roles in films of different genres, transforming into his characters with amazing skill, each time surprising directors and audiences with a new role. The first film with Pal’s participation was the film “Everything at Once,” where he made his debut with one of the main roles.
With each new work, Alexander became more and more famous to the general public. At the moment, his person is at the peak of popularity and the young man is not going to stop there, he continues to be active, trying on various images. He already has several well-deserved awards received at prestigious film festivals. He also played the main role in the video “Voyage” of the famous group “Leningrad”.
On the set of the film “Without Borders” (2015)
Family, children and wife of Alexander Pal
Sasha dated Elizaveta Yankovskaya for five years. They met even before Pahl gained popularity. His chosen one studied at the acting department of the Moscow Art Theater. After meeting the young man, the girl moved to the Russian Institute of Theater Arts in order to see her beloved man more often. Her brother Ivan studied at the same university in his third year. Lisa is the daughter of actress Oksana Fandera and director Philip Yankovsky. Her grandmother and grandfather were Soviet pop artists. She starred in the film “The Story of One Destination” by Avdotya Smirnova.
There are many explicit scenes in the film
In April 2020, the couple separated. In the summer of the same year, 23-year-old Elizaveta vacationed in Italy with producer Danila Ippolitov. In mid-2020, Sasha and Lisa were seen together again in a Moscow club, where the artist celebrated his birthday.
Alexander Pal: “I don’t work to have people point fingers at me”
When Zhora Kryzhovnikov’s comedy “Bitter!” was released, they started talking about an actor named Alexander Pal as the discovery of Russian cinema (and even awarded him the corresponding prizes). Two years have passed since then: viewers saw “Gorko!-2”, as well as Roman Karimov’s crime comedy “Everything at once” with Alexander in the title role. In addition, at Kinotavr 2014, in the short film competition, the main prize was given to the film “Accidentally” by the same Zhora Kryzhovnikov, who, without changing the winning cast, invited Pal to play one of the roles.
Perhaps the only side effect from participating in the above-mentioned projects for the actor was the entrenched role of a gopnik. Pal will part with him very soon. At the Kinotavr, which started over the weekend, two films with his participation will be shown at once: “The Guy from Our Cemetery” by Ilya and Anton Chizhikov, as well as “The Rag Union” by Mikhail Mestetsky. “Hardcore” by Ilya Naishuller is also preparing for release, and the sequel to “Love with an Accent” by Rezo Gigineishvili will be presented at the Moscow International Film Festival - and not without the participation of Alexander.
For now, the actor can still be seen in his usual role on the big screen: the anthology of short films “New Russians” is being released, which includes the film “Accidentally”. Pal also does not forget about the theater: “Berdichev” in “Mayakovka” and “Waiting for Godot”, shown on the stage of the recently closed “Workshop”. We learned from the actor what to expect from him in the near future.
After the release of “Bitter!” you are among the young and promising actors. Two years have passed. Do you feel that you are already starting to fall out of the ranks of the “young people”?
A tricky question: if I say “yes,” everyone will think that I’m no longer young; if I say “no,” they’ll decide that I’m trying to look younger. In the case of an actor, “young” is someone whom no one knows yet. About me a certain part of people with the release of “Bitter!” I found out, so I’m well-known, but still still young. I can’t define this boundary for myself; someone at 55 thinks that they are still young, and someone at 27 strokes their stomach and says that old age has come.
This and next year there will be many films with your participation: “Hardcore”, “The Guy from Our Cemetery”, “The Rag Union”, “Love with and without an accent”, “Wonderland”. How did it happen that there are so many projects at once? Honestly, I don't know. I didn't feel like I was working very hard. In “Love with and without an accent” I had four shooting days, in “Hardcore” I had only one, and work on “The Rag Union” ended a long time ago - at the same time as “Bitter!”
“When I received the GQ statuette, I wanted to come with it to the “Cinema in Details” broadcast and casually place it next to me on the chair.”
Are you happy with the roles you've been offered lately? For the most part, they offer not the best projects, and I think I’m not the only one. But sometimes there are indeed very interesting scenarios. Another question is whether I am satisfied with how I cope with these roles. Standing in front of the camera, it seems like it turned out well, but when I look at it on the screen, I think it could have been better. In general, I am a very self-critical person.
By what parameters do you distinguish a good script from a bad one? When you read a bad script, you feel like you've read it twenty times before. I've watched several new TV series lately; there, the dialogues of young people begin with approximately the same phrase: “So, look here, this is the topic...”. That's it for me. The viewer should supposedly stick to the screen and watch what their topic is. But the topic is actually not worth a damn.
Do you have a desire to edit bad scripts? When it’s very bad, it doesn’t occur. And if there is something good in the script, but it is written poorly, then you can sit down with the director and correct it together. Although it’s still not a fact that I will act in film after this. It happened that I made changes to the script for some time, tried it out for some more time, and then it didn’t work out.
Judging by the films that are coming out in the near future, from the image of the gopnik that was in “Bitter!” and in "Everything and at once", you left. What kind of gopniks are there? This is a type of people.
A type of people commonly called gopniks. Okay, name it.
Which director should offer you the role of a gopnik so that you agree to it again? I would take on the role of a gopnik if the story is written well. In "Bitter!" after all, it’s not just a gopnik; behind it lies a person with his passions, pain, love. And if there is the same character, but of a different type, then why not. And if the hero is written according to the Gopnik template, then it’s not interesting to play him.
Tell us about the films “The Rag Union” and “The Guy from Our Cemetery,” which were included in the Kinotavr competition. "The Rag Union" is a film about three friends who want to change the world. A very young guy joins this company, whom his friends use in every possible way: they cheat him for soda, then they even move to his dacha. Over time, the team begins to collapse. Everyone’s goals seem to be noble, but like a swan, a crayfish and a pike, they pull in different directions. One wants to change the world by getting involved in politics, the second is focused on art, and the third believes that the main thing is to improve and become stronger. And only the “little” person who joined this company can put it all together, but everything is finally destroyed by the girl who appears in their life.
Does the event take place today? Yes.
What about "The Boy From Our Graveyard"? There I guard the cemetery.
Genre : mysticism? There are doubts. Initially it was supposed to be a mystery, but when I came to the project, the script was slightly changed towards comedy. I haven’t seen the finished film yet, so I can’t fully determine the genre.
What do you think attracted the Kinotavr selectors to these films? Probably the fact that both films are directorial debuts. Plus, mysticism is a rather rare genre for our cinema.
By the way, why is it so rare? I'm generally new to the mystery genre, much less horror. Usually what happens on the screen does not cause fear and seems like heresy. The only exception is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
“The teacher from the studio, having learned about my plans to go to Moscow, called me to her and said: “Sash, well, I personally don’t see a spark of talent in you.”
What is special about working with debutant directors? They worry about what is happening every second. They waste a lot of time because they don’t understand how to organize the process, but in their eyes you can see the desire to do something that no one has done before. This is captivating. You feel that you are not burning in vain. Craftsmen directors take everything calmly, and when you see a cold nose, then everything falls down for you.
There is another project by a debutant director in which the role was originally written for you - “Glory” by Grigory Dobrygin. And here’s the question: why did he offer you the role of a provincial actor who one day woke up famous? I don’t think it’s because of any of my superpowers, it’s just that Grisha and I are friends.
You're not his only actor friend. This is true. It’s just that the idea for “Glory” was a co-author, and I like the direction in which the script is going. The answer is quite lengthy... I would highlight three main reasons why he called me. First of all, he is my friend.
Secondly, are you his friend? Yes. And thirdly, we have joint experience working in a video ( we are talking about Musi Totibadze’s video for the song “Radio.” -
Ed.
)
Based on your collaboration on the set of Radio, what can you say about Grigory Dobrygin as a director? The clip and the film are still two different things. He and I performed the same tasks, and he interacted with me more as an actor rather than as a director. But Grisha organizes the process coolly. I’m not sure that I could shoot a music video in one night, but, as you can see, he did.
There is one more work in your filmography - the short film “Accidentally”, which was included in the anthology “New Russians”. A year ago, the film received the main prize in the short film competition at Kinotavr. Didn't this surprise you? “Accidentally” and “Kinotavr” are, at first glance, two different universes. Why? This is a black comedy - an extremely rare genre in our country.
It turns out that Kinotavr gives out prizes for the rarity of the genre? Apart from the genre, I’m at my best there too! ( Laughter of a man at the next table.
- Ed.
) Even in a short film, something always tires: either understatement, or, conversely, the fact that everything is explained. And in the case of “Accidentally,” everything is correctly placed in its place. Although I have no idea why they give out prizes at Kinotavr.
But do they have any meaning for you? None at all. They don't give me money for this. If they had singled me out specifically and given me a prize for Best Supporting Actor, maybe the award would have some meaning. If I received a figurine, I would put it on the radiator at home next to the GQ prize (in 2014,
GQ magazine named Alexander “Discovery of the Year.” - Ed.)
When I received the GQ figurine, I wanted to come with it to the Kino in details” and casually put it on the chair next to you. But they didn’t let me - advertising.
You have told many times how your mother reacted to the film “Bitter!” Whose other opinion is important to you? My uncle. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have become an actor. He saw that I had a quirky character and suggested that I go to drama school. It was already the end of the school year, I came and saw five girls in the classroom standing in a circle and making noises at each other. One throws “and-and-and”, the second catches “a-a-a” and throws “y-y-y” to the third. And I’m a normal guy, I just came from a fight, I’m standing in a tight grip. In general, that theater season ended very quickly for me. In the fall I met a man from this studio, he promised that there would be boys in the club, and I returned. I studied for a year, I realized that the thing was interesting, but I had to quit the theater studio and prepare myself, until the path took me to the Chelyabinsk theater. The teacher from the studio, having learned about my plans to go to the capital, called me to her and said: “Sash, well, I personally don’t see a spark of talent in you. Katka could, but she’s already an adult. And where are you going?". At that time, my uncle was the only one who believed in me and, unlike others, did not insist that everything was bought in Moscow.
What does your uncle say about your roles? It’s still a surprise to him that the film “Bitter!” People liked it so much. He is an intellectual, he watches Antonioni, Bertolucci, Fellini, among Russians he loves early Mikhalkov, Zvyagintsev, Balabanov. Comedy is not his genre.
What are you watching yourself? Lately I've been re-watching Soviet cinema. I love the Coens very much, which I tell everyone about, and you might get the impression that I haven’t watched anything else. But they have exactly the kind of humor that I like; not a direct attempt to make the viewer laugh, but jokes that are spoken very seriously. There is also a favorite movie from childhood - “Terminator”. I cried at the end of the second part. I loved movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme. I remember in some movie he had sex with two blondes, and then I was very disappointed because I saw the superhero naked and lustful. But after two years he grew up sharply and realized that there was probably nothing wrong with it.
What about TV series? Never looked.
Even new ones? Among the new ones, I watched “House of Cards” and finished four more seasons of “Game of Thrones” in a week.
They probably offer you to star in TV series. How do you react to this? I react well, but I haven’t agreed yet.
Nevertheless, you starred in the pilot of the series “My Moscow” by Rezo Gigineishvili. If the project goes into production, will you participate in it? No, I already refused. A year has passed since the pilot was filmed, and the project has also had a new director.
“As a child, I loved movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme. I remember in some movie he had sex with two blondes, and then I was very disappointed because I saw the superhero naked and lustful.”
The profession of an actor implies recognition. And yes, good cinema does not give the degree of popularity that TV series do. But imagine that you’ve been filming for another ten to fifteen years, and people still don’t take autographs on the street. It's not a problem for me. I don’t work to have fingers pointed at me. This in itself is not a bad thing, but only if you are recognized as a character whom you want to approach and talk about life. After the release of “Brother,” Bodrov said that people wrote letters to him and asked him what to do in a given situation. This is what I understand.
Bodrov was generally a hero of his time. Yes, I agree, a rather strange example. If he hadn’t played in “Brother,” maybe there wouldn’t have been such a reaction. Autographs are just not the goal for me. You have your own life, a job that is interesting and enjoyable. And if they recognize you for work that doesn’t bring you pleasure, then this is not the best option.
You not only act a lot, but also manage to play in several plays. When you entered theater school, did you see your future on stage or in cinema? Cinema was some kind of unattainable thing for me. Living in Chelyabinsk, I had no idea how to get there. Subconsciously I counted on the theater, but, of course, I dreamed about cinema.
Now there is both. Do you feel the difference between the tasks you face on stage and on the set? There is always little time in front of the camera - you don’t have time to find something new. As a result, you slip into self-repetition, which is why over time some actors treat all roles as mechanical work. I haven’t figured out what to do with this yet. In the theater they let you try, but in the cinema you act out a take, after three days you realize that you could have done it differently and better, but nothing can be done.
Who goes to the theater today? The audiences in different theaters are completely different. Previously, the audience at Mayakovka applauded exactly the same moments, but now they think more about the performances and always react differently. I meet the best audience for myself at the play “Waiting for Godot.” You can find everyone there: women, grandmothers, theatergoers, critics. There is always a feeling of a “fresh” viewer.
Is there an audience that goes to your performances because the “Gopnik from Gorko!” is playing there? I didn’t notice the brothers who film two rows in the theater and at some point say: “Let’s pause the performance, I’ll go take a piss.” But I think there are still people who came to the theater after watching “Gorko!” After the play “Waiting for Godot,” a non-Russian-looking guy once called me over and said: “Well, sit here and take a photo with my lady!” I sit down and ask if I should hug the lady, the guy replies that there is no need to touch the lady. Then he clicks: “That’s it, free.” But this is an exception. Usually I don’t distinguish between people who came not to the performance, but to me. Only if girls...
And how do you distinguish them? From their looks and manners it is clear that they usually spend their free time not in the theater.
What performances do you go to as a spectator? When you make friends who are actors and friends who are directors, you mostly only go to see them. Or everyone around is gossiping about Bogomolov, saying that a pig’s head was planted at the theater or the performance was cancelled. Man is a social being, so sometimes I go to those performances that the old ladies in Kamergersky talk about. Once I came to the Moscow Art Theater like this, and my grandmother sitting next to me during the performance began to discuss that Bogomolov went against Tabakov and how it was even possible. At this moment, Bogomolov appears behind her, taps her on the shoulder and says: “Can you be quieter?”
If you go to a play where a friend is performing, and you don’t like what you see, can you come up later and say that somehow it’s not very good? Over time, you begin to understand that “not very” is not the answer. Here you need to correctly formulate what you didn’t like and suggest how it can be changed. Although in my first or second year I was categorical. In twenty minutes I saw all the mistakes and gave assessments from the series: “Well, how can you play like that?! So I would...” And then you start playing, you realize that this is not the easiest thing to do, and you treat everything more professionally. But I will never say that I liked it if it is not true.
Thank you for your help in organizing the shooting of the [tsurtsum] cafe, 4th Syromyatnichesky lane, 1/8, building 6.
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Alexander Pal
