Actress Dina Korzun: “I Have Nothing to Talk About with Chulpan Khamatova”

А ведь когда-то Дина и Чулпан были подругами.

“We fought for our family against our own ego, against false notions of love, life.”

Together with her husband and three daughters, Dina Korzun returned to Moscow after 15 years of living in England and Switzerland. The press representative Eleonora Flerova had the opportunity to meet with the actress and talk about life.

I am working at the theater "Na Pokrovke," - Dina reported. - My play "How I Came to My Senses" is running there. I also play the role of a difficult woman in Viktor Rozov's play "Eternally Alive."

- Are you filming?

They send me scripts, but I don’t like them. I even agreed to shoot in the series "Peaky Blinders" with great reluctance because it has a lot of blood and violence... I prefer socially oriented films. My husband lives between two countries, he has a lot of work, and he provides well for the family.

- How did you meet Louis?

At the Moscow Art Theater School, which I graduated from, Tabakov recruited the first foreign course. My future husband was studying at New York University at that time, and when he saw the announcement about the recruitment, he came for an interview. And Tabakov took him. In February 1995, we met at a party. I didn’t want to go there. I had a small child and my second husband Alexey Zuyev. Alexey and I had a wonderful relationship, which we have maintained to this day; he raised my son from my first marriage, and we lived happily.

- So, Louis took you away from Alexey?

Louis and I were friends at first. We struggled to talk to each other, but we understood each other with our hearts and souls, like the closest people. I had never experienced such emotional closeness with anyone. Six months later, he left, and we corresponded. A year later, we met and realized that we had to be together. Many years have passed, and we are still together and love each other.

- Does the difference in upbringing and mentality interfere?

We fought for our family against our own egos, against false notions of love, life... We were both prickly, but the flow of life made us softer. Now we are smooth. I am very headstrong, and there is nothing good about it. But I have learned and am learning to hear and listen, to understand, to accept another person's point of view. My husband has tolerated all of this, forgave me, and allowed me to grow alongside him. Only thanks to Louis's inner spiritual strength has our family survived.

- There is an opinion that Russian women are the most patient and caring, so it is easy to be with them. In your case with Louis, did he show patience?

Women all over the world want to take more than to give, and I am no exception. If there is a man who is internally stronger than the woman, then long and happy relationships result. Louis can say: "Dina, let’s sit down and discuss: I didn’t like how you acted, how you communicated..." He knows how to explain it in such a way that I catch myself thinking: "He is right, I could have been softer, kinder, wiser." Next to Louis, I learned to apologize. For me, family is the greatest value. I have pushed my career to the background.

- Weren’t you afraid to marry a foreigner?

When we decided to live together, the sacrifices and efforts came from him. He closed all his projects abroad and moved to Moscow. I was filming a lot and performing on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. We - I, my son, my mother, and Louis - began living in my two-room apartment, which the theater provided. With Louis, I felt easier, calmer, and more secure. He offered his shoulder. The first years were very difficult for Louis in Moscow, but he endured.

- So, were you the breadwinner?

The film "The Country of the Deaf" had just come out, and I was invited to a big project "Women’s Novel" in St. Petersburg, while Louis stayed in Moscow and took care of my son. Then he found a job in Moscow. Louis speaks Russian beautifully.

- So why did you all move to London?

We spent the first 10 years of our marriage in Moscow. Louis said he wanted his own children and wanted them to be born in Europe. I went along with it, and we moved. In London, we had two girls. Life in England turned out to be very difficult for me. I was alone, without nannies, raising two girls while performing at the National Theatre. That’s why we returned to Russia.

- Returning is always difficult...

Yes. I was somewhat forgotten as an actress - a holy place is never empty. No theater took me into their troupe! So, Louis and I created a one-man show "How I Came to My Senses," which was performed at the "Praktika" theater and is now running at Pokrovka. Louis lives between two countries. He is working on theater and music projects. He earns to support all of us. He also writes music and plays.

- What is it like to live apart?

The main thing is to set priorities correctly. For my husband and me, our family and our children come first.

- What is your relationship with Chulpan Khamatova?

We haven’t communicated since 2017. We have nothing to talk about - we have become so different. We were never friends. I love the film "The Country of the Deaf" very much - everything came together in it, but I had no warm relationship with either Chulpan or Valery Todorovsky.

- The basis of this film is a real story from Renata Litvinova's student life, isn’t it?

Renata's story "To Have and To Belong" was bought by Todorovsky, and he rewrote almost everything. He left only the framework. I worked very carefully with a sign language teacher, who taught me the gestures of the deaf-mute. Working with Todorovsky was not difficult, but communicating outside the set was hard. I am not his actress, but he chose me from a huge number of candidates. Valery now lives in America, and it is unlikely that he will return to Russia.