MOSCOW, September 12, Anastasia Silkina. One of the main characters of the New Season online cinema festival in Sochi is Yuri Stoyanov. Participation in «Vampires of the Middle Zone» claims to be equal in importance in his creative biography with the legendary «Town», and a new series «Trepachi» is already on the way. About the dream role, the art of humor and future projects — in an interview.
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Humor in Russia: women take revenge
— In the center of the plot of “Trepachey” (online cinema PREMIER), which will premiere on September 21, is a Soviet writing artist and a modern stand-up comedian. Yuri Nikolaevich, how are these two activities similar?
—They are similar in the goals they set for themselves and in what they present to the audience. But there is an incredible difference between them. Some made people laugh in conditions of unfreedom — due to their skill, professionalism, and experience. And others were brought up in a completely different time. The way we joke, the language of humor has changed. Who should you give preference to? The truth is somewhere in the middle.
When it was impossible, people activated the art of hint, image, and talent. Paradoxically, in times that are now called “unfreedom,” outstanding works of art appeared. This applies not only to satire, but also to painting and drama commissioned by kings, general secretaries—whoever. It's an eternal paradox: «can» doesn't always mean it will be good.
— Your hero says: “Old people cannot joke in a new way, and young people have never learned.” Do you personally agree with this?
— I don’t agree. I am a very active viewer of stand-up, especially female stand-up. I believe that this, if you like, is revenge for the fact that for many years women worked very little in humor. They brought a lot of warmth, a feminine understanding of the world and the funny, what is good and what is bad. This angle turned out to be amazing.
— What about men in humor?
— Male stand-up has become a little bronzed, a little covered in banknotes and moved to very expensive cars. There was narcissism there. And the girls declare themselves and try very hard.
New work with Kalyuzhny: what is the series “Trepachi” about
— Again we see you in a duet with Gleb Kalyuzhny. Is it a coincidence or did you decide to rely on your teamwork in the TV series “Vampires of the Middle Band”?
— It’s normal to act with people you like and with whom you had success. They were looking for a young artist here, and I recommended Gleb.
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— We can’t escape the comparison of your characters in “Trepach” and “Vampires…”: in both series, this is a somewhat grumpy elderly man…
— What to do is sign of age. I think that in my life there will be many more series with the role of kind, but somehow extravagant, slightly grouchy and, in general, not bad people. (Laughs.)
— In your opinion, do Svyatoslav Vernidubovich and Vyacheslav Sokolov have something in common?
— What they have in common is that I embody them, because ultimately, when you play, you pull out something very important of yourself. If it’s not about you at least to some extent, if you don’t find something that rhymes, then the role won’t work out.
— What rhymes with these characters?
—They are different. Svyatoslav Vernidubovich is a uniting, protective, very caring and active person. And Vyacheslav is fixated on himself, his failures, lost out of time, absolutely passive.
— Filming of the series “The Artist” recently completed, everyone is waiting for the continuation of “Vampires…” —in such a busy schedule, is there any time left for personal projects in the style of the “100yan” program?
— Yes, on the Rossiya channel there will be something between a sitcom and a sketch, where in the center there are two characters — an amazing actress and me.
— The actress, by chance, will not be from a female stand-up?
— It will be a very famous dramatic and film actress. I can’t name her yet.
— At what stage is the project?
— Filming should begin this fall — in the near future.
Humor then: about working in “Gorodok” with Ilya Oleinikov
— What’s more difficult: making a person laugh or making someone empathize to the point of tears?
“It’s really difficult to do both.” But I’ll share an observation: what an artist values most in his role and in the audience’s reaction is that he was able to make people laugh. This can be more difficult. Life is structured in such a way that they know how to upset us, but they don’t really succeed in making us happy. The genre of laughter is difficult — it’s easy to slip into vulgarity.
— How did it happen that they chose him?
— It seems to me that I am not the artist whom the audience should really love. I never thought that I was a comedian until the time I met Ilya Oleinikov.
The ability to make people laugh was there, but it was within the acting profession. I am not a humorist, not a satirist. I’m not a pop artist, but a dramatic one, who suddenly started to succeed. And I really liked it. 
This past I will never be shy, because it gave me recognition and love from people. This is some kind of miracle — I can’t explain it any other way.
— Do you have a dream role?
— Every time I watch a great film or a wonderful play in which I did not star or act, I see in it the role of my dreams, played by someone, but not me. There is probably something infantile in this. But I never asked for a role, I didn’t come with offers to any channels or platforms, so there’s no point in saying that I want to play King Lear.
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— What if some director reads our conversation and decides: indeed, he is needed!
— I understand at what age and in whatever form I exist, I must soberly assess my capabilities. I can only think of what I would like to play about.
Probably, I would like something that is not expected. For example, in the action of a person who, in his old age, developed the skills to restore justice by force — even the ability to shoot and fight.
I would also be very interested in starring in a war film. Something that I didn’t go through in my acting biography.
And yet I am a hostage to the genre, to my past. Thank you for creating video services in which I am in demand. But big cinema is still wary of me.