When it comes to interviewing an actor, it is always interesting to look back at his career to understand the path he went through. Alexander Nikitin is a Latvian-born Russian actor whose long list of roles seems never ending. He is a hard-working and dedicated actor with whom I got an opportunity to have a few minutes, and for that I did not even have to cross oceans!

With the great support of Azerbaijani News Agency www.novosti.az, especially Gulnara Mamedzadeh, I am presenting to you an interview with Alexander Nikitin, who soon will be well known to the North American viewers as well.

Moscow wants to film a movie about the Russian Earl who traveled to America.

Actor Alexander Nikitin: “It could be interesting to make a joint project.”

Alexander Nikitin – well-known Ukrainian and Russian actor, earned his popularity after “Devil from Orli”, “Close School”, “Department”, “Lovechain” and other TV serials.  He has starred in more than 60 TV movies and was involved in international projects.

MOVIEMOVESME: You worked together with Polish, Ukrainian, China, Azerbaijani moviemakers. What is your attitude toward joint projects in movie making? Are there any obstacles, difficulties or advantages during the work with representatives of other culture?

Alexander Nikitin: Yes, I really have experience of working together with foreign filmmakers. They are “In Sorrow and in Joy” – Poland, 20 series “Gadfly” – China, invitation to play the role of the President of Azerbaijan Republic Heyday Aliyev in “The most ordinary Family name” – Azerbaijan. I also was filming in Ukraine. But this country is a second motherland for me, I lived there for a part of my life after Latvia, so I don’t consider this experience as foreign.

Of course work in other countries with people of different mentality and    culture is an excellent experience.

Especially when you work in different language field, as it was in China and Azerbaijan. This requires permanent improving of your actor skills.  Kind of tests for first course students: you try to understand and naturally react to the replica of partner, who speaks in different language, you don’t understand. As a result you always check if you could react in a right way and use all your potentiality.

The work in China on the “Gadfly” project was very interesting. Each group – Russian and China spoke their own language. We didn’t understand a word. Interpreters made situation more or less better. But we were absolutely in the material, and at least… we started to communicate with china film director without interpreter. He – on Chinese, I am on Russian, but we understood each other.  After all, interpreter felt, that we didn’t need him, and was very disappointed about that…

This experience demonstrates that the main difficulties in work with foreign teams – the language barriers. But even this is a temporary and conditional factor. The creativity is a very spiritual synergy, and such kind barriers and language disappear quite soon. You start to feel and understand your partners on intuition, intonation, under consciousness level.

MOVIEMOVESME: You’ve starred in more than 60 films. Most of them became quite popular and loved. You are well known and a promising actor. But now, you are going to try yourself as a film director. Is there any reason to change priorities?

Alexander Nikitin: Priorities never change, they are renewed. I’ll continue my career as an actor because I am keen of my profession: I’m totally drowned into the filming drive and fate of each new hero, I try to understand psychological, mental peculiar properties of individuals. It is vivid, deep, and attractive process. But at the same time, there is an understanding of improvement and development in the profession, aspiration to realize more important purposes of your life. But to do that, you should feel a special impulse, or fate tip…

And it happened. I’ve decided to try film direction when I got an interesting material – an article about a legendary figure, man of unique fate. And it is not unreal personage; it is a real man, who lived a life of unbelievable adventures. The story of his life shocked me, and the same time I was astonished: why I’d never heard about him, why no one had told about him? It could be fantastic film! The story tells about epic, historical events, full of adventures at two continents, and the main – it opens long and hard way to True.

I am not alone in my admiring of this person. But it has been that real push, which transforms you actor’s imagination into something more..into realizing of the creative conception of drama. It is not only birth of idea – it is start of concrete actions.

Why it is interesting to your audience? Because it is story of the life and adventures of the Russian aristocrat, with fate related to your continent! I’m sure this film will be interesting for American and Canadian audience, not only because of historical links, but also from the point of understanding of the different specific culture and spiritual values.

MOVIEMOVESME: Considering that the life and adventures of your hero related both continents, would you like to make this movie with joint team of Russian and American filmmakers?

Alexander Nikitin: It would be very interesting! We notice, that the western cinematography has an interest for their own conception of the Russian literature and history recently. But, just joint process gives integrity of the understanding of the material and widening of the world view.  From other side, it could be a good contribution for the development of cultural issues between our two countries. Especially when the script itself is a basis for it, as this story is about a Russian aristocrat who visited America two hundred years ago.