Garik Kharlamov
Photo: Boris KUDRYAVOV
Vitya, a forty-year-old loser, lives with his beautiful wife Varya and, unfortunately, his parents. If you cannot expect any special problems from your father-in-law, then your mother-in-law, Olga Nikolaevna, turns poor Victor’s life into a small hell, constantly whipping him and mocking him. One day a fight occurs, after which a miracle occurs: Vitya and Olga Nikolaevna change bodies. Now they are running around the city, trying to understand what happened and how to get everything back. And as a result, of course, they will begin to understand each other better…
The main roles in the comedy “Mother-in-law” were played by Larisa Guzeeva and the great Russian comedian (this, in general, is not a joke) Igor Yuryevich Kharlamov. We spoke with him about the film.
– Tell people who don’t know anything about the movie “Mother-in-Law” why they should watch this movie.
– Well, the word “must”, of course, is too harsh: the viewer has no such obligation. But firstly, it’s a comedy, and secondly, it’s New Year’s. It seems to me that on the eve of the holiday, people will want to see something friendly and cheerful to capture the New Year’s mood. In addition, there is both comedy and drama, you will be able to cry and laugh: the entire spectrum of emotions that we want to get from a film will be received. Also, you can come and watch this film with the whole family… Well, and one more thing: for the first time our duet with Larisa Guzeeva appears on the screen. It seems to me that “Mother-in-Law” has the longest promotional campaign in history: I started promoting the film on my social networks about five years ago, without even imagining that Larisa and I would act together.
– In terms of?
– Well, I started making videos with clips from the program “Let’s Get Married.” (Kharlamov was ironic there with Guzeeva, with Roza Syabitova and with the guests, editing his statements from beginning to end with fragments from various films and video clips. And at one point he suggested that he could present the program “Let’s Get Divorced” under the pseudonym by Guzey Larisov. – Ed.) Almost my entire Instagram* was based on this. These videos have always received the most views. Larisa even thought that he hated her, although there were no insults directed at her. And I never felt any personal hostility towards her: we didn’t even know each other at the time!
– He hasn’t acted in movies for nine years. In her opinion, has she not forgotten the acting profession during the time she worked as a television presenter?
– I don’t think so, not at all. Absolutely. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle. If you learn and then you haven’t skated for 20 years, you’ll still sit down, do a couple of laps, and remember everything.
– What else did you do in “Mother-in-Law”, besides playing the main role?
– I participated in writing the script, even directing some scenes. I rewrote some things correctly during filming. And a group represented by Azamat Musagaliev and I, called “Bathing a Monkey in Warm Water”, participated in creating a song for the film.
– For most of “Mother-in-Law,” you play an old woman in Garik Kharlamov’s body. What was the most difficult part for you in this process?
– Larisa herself helped me. We came up with a life hack. If I had questions about how a woman should behave in a particular episode, what gesture to make, etc., Larisa and I would go to a separate room before the take, and she would act out the scene as I would have played it in front of her. the camera. And I played my episodes. She watched what I did and I watched what she did. We tried to cover ourselves with it and then we entered the frame.
– Mother-in-law tells your unemployed hero that if she were in her place, she would find a job in a day. Let’s imagine that you find yourself in this situation: no Comedy Club, no filming and only one day to find a job. What would you do?
– It seems to me that if you are really in trouble, then you can find a job. At the very least I would work as a loader. First as a porter, then moving up the career ladder – and would have become a senior porter…
– You once said that you don’t feel like a professional actor. More than 15 years have passed since the release of “The Best Picture” and you have already starred in a large number of projects. Why aren’t you a professional?
– Well, I don’t have a diploma. I didn’t receive the proper education…
– Tatyana Peltzer, Oksana Akinshina and Tatyana Drubich, for example, did not receive it either. And Sergei Bodrov did not have a diploma. At the same time, no one made any claims against them in terms of professionalism.
– Well, no, without education I still can’t call myself an actor. This is a separate, serious and highly respected profession. Yes, I will call him an artist, but this is a broader concept. An artist can sing songs, act in movies, and voice cartoons; This, by the way, is what I love to do: after “Mother-in-Law”, “The Canterville Ghost” will be released (a British cartoon in which Garik voices a ghost, originally voiced by Stephen Fry. – Ed.), then “The Fab Five” about dogs… At some point I realized that within the Comedy Club I was getting a little squeezed, I wanted to try myself somewhere else. Well, I try myself as a co-author of scripts, as a musical composer and I act in films… Yes, I am an artist. And this is a wonderful word and profession.
* Belongs to the Meta corporation, recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation, its work is prohibited in Russia.
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