It is absolutely impossible to imagine such films as Operation Chinese Box, Isaev, or Nanking Landscape without Konstantin Lavronenko. But these roles might not have been, given the 20-year hiatus between his first student work in the film "Still Love, Still Hope", which went unnoticed, and star - in "Return".
Actor of a rare fate
Konstantin Lavronenko, whose filmography consists of paintings, where he has only the main roles, occupied the niche assigned to him and is good as a performer everywhere. Why did a handsome man with the characteristic appearance of a âreal manâ have to live to be 42 years old to break into the cinema, having immediately received international awards of the highest dignity? He is the only Russian actor to be awarded the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival "For Best Actor" (of the entire cinema community only Nikita Mikhalkov congratulated him). And why the novice director was not afraid to take on the main role, not only an artist unknown to anyone, but also a person who left the profession in general. And it's good that he came back ...
The triumph of justice
No one better than Konstantin Lavronenko would have played the Duke of Buckingham like that. Do you believe the performer that the love of the queen was for him the meaning of life. For 10 years, the actor starred in 25 films and today is one of the most removed and sought-after actors. Since 2009, he is an Honored Artist of Russia. In this case, we can talk about the triumph of justice, because not all actors seen by the viewer from a young age achieve such brilliant results by the age of 50.
An ordinary boy from an ordinary family
Konstantin Lavronenko was born in 1961 in Rostov-on-Don in an ordinary family (in the social sense) - father is a worker, mother is a librarian. But not all families have a truly warm relationship and understanding. And Lavronenkovâs house was also hospitable, therefore crowded and cheerful. The father, whom the boy was always proud of, was obviously a gifted person, as he always turned out to be in the center of attention of any company. And further in life, the actor was lucky with his family.
Good rear
Konstantin Lavronenko and his wife have been married for more than 20 years. In calm times, not all acting families can boast of this, and their marriage fell on troubled times, when almost all, with rare exceptions, representatives of the sphere of art and literature were doomed to lack of money. The marriage resisted. And, probably, this is not only the wifeâs merit. From childhood, Constantine had an example of human relations in the best sense of the word. In those days, the boy grew up playing football and boxing, and the fact that he decided to start practicing in a drama circle could be considered submissive to his beloved older sister Olga, who could not but be proud of his outstanding external data. But no. It turns out that the boy was very talented in imitating and copying popular actors, especially Raikin. Well, then who did not copy Raikin? But not everyone did it.
Multilateral giftedness
It has been repeatedly asserted that if a person is talented, then he is talented in everything. Let not in everything, but in many ways. So is Konstantin Lavronenko. Among other things, he learned to play the accordion and accordion perfectly. But this, so to speak, is a statement of facts from the side, under the motto âThere was a time ...â. And then, with a 14-year-old teenager, the future actor Konstantin Lavronenko, whose personal life is being studied quite closely now, rushed, like all teenagers, from side to side. And his parents reproached him for not completing anything and that, therefore, nothing good would come of him.
Act of a real man
A source of biographical data about this actor can serve as a letter written by Konstantin to himself at the turn of fate, at a time when it was especially difficult for him. And, although he calls himself there âa complete egoistâ and âcattle (born in the year of the Bull under the sign of Aries), the fact remains that he left the profession, he began to earn money for his family by carriage or just working as a driver. This is a manâs act, which not all individuals with a âfine mental organizationâ are capable of.
The first fateful meeting
And in his youth, everything seemed affordable and possible. Moreover, Konstantin Lavronenko was doomed to meet interesting people who play a decisive, positive role in his life. The first of these was Galina Ivanovna Zhigunova, the mother of the famous actor and director Sergei Zhigunov. Usually, mothers of handsome, talented boys are unable to notice the virtues of other males, intuitively perceiving them as rivals. But Galina Ivanovna, who herself studied at that time in the correspondence department of the Shchukin school, was able to assess the prospect of a gifted young Kostya. Infecting the students with her love for the acting profession, passing on to them the knowledge she had just gained, she was engaged in correcting the local dialect (the children suffered from all the flaws of the Rostov-Papa dialect), staging movements and ability to stay in public. Of course, Kostya stood out from everyone. And, having practiced in the drama club of the Rostselmash plant for a certain time, he, under the guidance of mentor Zhigunova, was going to Moscow.
First try
He was too young, and the first attempt failed. But he saw Moscow, plunged into this special acting atmosphere, âfell illâ with the profession and, returning home, entered the local theater school. Naturally, after the first year he was taken into the army. But even there he was introduced to his beloved business, as he served in the song and dance ensemble of the North Caucasus Military District. After the army, Konstantin Lavronenko, whose personal life is now connected with Moscow, entered the course of A.A. Popov in 1981 at the Moscow Art Theater School, which he graduated in 1985.
The beginning of an acting career
Further, too, everything went smoothly. Thanks to his possession of the button accordion, he receives a role on the stage of K.A. Raikinâs theater âSatyriconâ, where he met his future wife. In this theater, the actor worked for about a year. Subsequently, there were several more theatrical works, and even a tour as part of the Klimâs Workshop troupe abroad.
Leaving the profession
The roles were not fatal, the profession practically did not bring money at that time. There was no talk of cinema. Konstantin Lavronenko parted with acting, and devotes all his efforts to providing for the family in which his daughter was already growing up. At one time he was engaged in the restaurant business and rose to the post of director of a restaurant at the Moscow Art Theater. It would seem that life went a different way.
Productive collaboration
But in 2003, he meets with a talented and penniless director Andrei Zvyagintsev. They put on a film with a very modest budget and bring it to Cannes. Probably, such cases are said to be followed by the âburst bomb effectâ. Hall applauded standing 15 minutes. The painting received the main prize of the festival - the Golden Lion and 4 more honorary prizes. The total number of nominations and awards rolls over. Celebrations continued until 2005, with the Swedish Prize Golden Beetle being the last.
Finally noticed
And immediately a million questions arose about who this handsome man was and why he hadnât starred before. The film was called a breakthrough in Russian cinema, for the first time after Tarkovskyâs âIvanov childhoodâ. In 2007 in Cannes, the prize for the best male role was received by Konstantin Lavronenko, whose filmography by this time did not include a dozen films. Even if he stopped acting at that moment at all, he would forever remain in the history of world cinema. He received this prestigious award for the role of Alexander in the film of the same Andrei Zvyagintsev. Truly a happy duet.
In demand everywhere
Films with Konstantin Lavronenko from 2003 to 2007 are very diverse, if only because one of them, "Archangel", is of English production, and "Master" is Polish. The third film of this period is a very attractive domestic film novel called âNanjing Landscapeâ. Lavronenko, a peculiar discovery of Russian cinema, is unusually good in all roles, but his work with Sergei Ursulyak cannot be separately noted . He perfectly played both the criminal Chekan in âLiquidationâ and the red commander Blucher, who before the revolution rose to the rank of officer in the tsarist army, had many awards for heroism and personal courage.
Calm and appropriate
He was so good at representing the ranks of the senior officers of the new Russia that abroad he was considered a recruited âredâ Austrian count Ferdinand von Galen. Lavronenko perfectly conveyed this image. Films with Konstantin Lavronenkoâs participation are interesting to absolutely everyone, including the Czech âKainekâ, which has gathered an unprecedentedly large box office at home. The number of films and series with this extraordinary actor is approaching three dozen.
âBig ship - great sailingâ
Any role is within his power - he can play both comedic and even the role of a miserable person equally talented. But he is very handsome, and I want to believe that Konstantin Lavronenko will not become a hostage to his appearance. I want to believe that he will completely overcome the consequences of the terrible car accident in which he fell in the summer of 2012, and that human envy will not prevent him from delighting his fans with new masterpieces.