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Interviews, however 15 minutes The famous actor talks not only about his most important role and how he chose the acting career, but also about his family, in which art has always had an important place.
“But the fact that we are all” from a garden “unites our family,” said V. Tomkus.
– Today is your anniversary. What will your celebration be like? What do you promise to do?
– On my jubilee birthday, as well as every birthday on July 29, if I could, it was not far or I was not filming, I found myself in the village of Šuminai, in our small house on the shore of Lake Baluošis, where in 1971-1972 . The film LRT Tadas Blinda was filmed in The village of Šuminai has become the most important place, as well as a true Homeland, for both me and our family: we have spent summers here for almost 50 years.
Our vacations this year will be similar to each year: the closest family and neighbors will meet. In general, I don’t invite anything to my birthday: those who come, those who remember, those who are close at the time … I celebrate my birthday that day, never before or after, at 7 p.m. At night I scream as loudly as I did at the time of my birth … (laughs). And the celebration begins …
Once upon a time, when I was celebrating my 40th birthday, the entire course of our old Conservatory (now LTMA) came, even with the second half. Many other actors came, my wife’s sisters and I, my Radviliškis Parents with a pot of homemade beer, harmonica and even a drum … We celebrated “Šumna” – we were young … Now everything is much calmer .. .
– Your wife L. Mulevičiūtė-Tomkienė is a well-known actress, and her daughter D.Tomkutė is a graphic artist. Is art a common theme for dinners, picnics and walks? Do your tastes coincide?
– How can so many flavors coincide in a family? (Laughter) For example, I like cheese and spice, I am a carnivore, my wife Lille is gentle, she can be grumpy. Well, my “girls”, daughter Dovilė and granddaughter Elenutė have their own personal tastes, which don’t always coincide with mine … I’m kidding. But the fact that we are all “from a garden” unites our family.
The fact that we are all “from a garden” unites our family.
After all, in the past and in the circle of my close friends, there were many famous artists. Now I have a brilliant memory of Vytautas Kalinauskas, Rimtautas Gibavičius, Stasys Krasauskas, with whom I had to shoot the first movie of my life: R.Vabalas “Steps at Night”. Previously, my wife Lile, who was returning home after the presentation, sat in the kitchen for a long time and discussed what the presentation was like. chebra played that grajino well, and who didn’t have much success that night …
My wife and I cook in a cauldron our whole lives, we work together at Kaunas Drama, the Vilnius National Theater and the Vaidila Theater. Then we understood each other in half a word. And it was necessary to talk after a tense performance, you can’t go home like this and go directly to bed. Our daughter Deauville had also spent the night at the theater since childhood, and there was not always a place to drop her off. He saw many performances, they often toured together, he was small and he starred in movies several times … So it was not surprising that when he was a teenager he began to feel dizzy in the theater and the desire to become an actress. However, then she was already studying at the M.K.Ciurlionis School of Art, she was very successful and after graduating she immediately entered the Art Institute (now VDA). Although her performance still runs through her, she communicates freely, holds events in multiple languages, presents exhibitions and artists – in a word, she doesn’t search a word in her pocket.
Photo from the Tomkai personal / family album in Palanga, 1968.
– You are a legendary actor in film and theater, from whose works and stories young people also learn. Can you tell us about the time when you decided to choose to act? How did you choose this profession?
– I spent my childhood in Radviliškis “on the railway”. I grew up with my 6 year old sister Nijole. Father Kazimieras Tomkus worked as a steam locomotive driver, later as a high-class locksmith in a steam locomotive depot, and his mother, Ona Tomkienė, was a homemaker. Our family had nothing to do with arts and theaters.
Our family had nothing to do with arts and theaters.
But he used to recite when he was a child, he had the courage and the volatile imagination, he gathered a group of neighbors ‘children and organized performances and traveled to the neighbors’ yards … Later, at school, this talent and passion did not pass. unnoticed: he was often the soul of various school events. Not only did I play, but I also dressed and grimaced at my classmates. After graduating from school, teachers began to encourage me to try to enter the Conservatory (now LMTA), where I, a boy from a provincial town, arrived with my adult outfit and my lush hair scrub, I managed to get in. ..
Apparently, fate determined that my friends and colleagues from the course became actors known for the rest of their lives Eugenija Pleškytė, Regina Paliukaitytė, Ferdinandas Jakšys, Romualdas Gudas, Alvyda Čepaitytė and other now well-known actors, directors and teachers … Also my wife Lilė – actress L. Mulevičiūtė-Tomkienė.
– What warmer memories have survived from the conservatory?
– Studies are one of the most expensive stages of life. How playful, insidious, fun! .. Our course was led by excellent teachers in various periods: Vladas Limantas, Aurelija Ragauskaitė, taught by Stefa Nosevičiūtė, Marija Rasteikaitė and many other famous actors. The most important thing that has survived is the friendship of the master class of our actors, which lasted a lifetime. Although we work in different theaters and cities, we were always connected during our friends’ anniversaries and our celebrations were very creative, creative and fun …
– What did you have to give up in the life of the theater?
– Hm … A difficult question … I probably had to give up a bigger family, a “normal” life, stability and peace. My wife and I burned with our work, our theater, it was our life and our faith. When I started filming actively, I had to travel a lot, maneuvering in every way through the tense repertoire of the theater and sometimes multiple movies at once. It used to be that I carried at least three different movie scripts in my suitcase at the same time. Clothes, keys and hotel rooms were mixed. It was often necessary to spend sleepless nights at airports …
– Without a doubt, all of Lithuania, even those who are not interested in cinema, will always know you as the hero of the cult movie “Tadas Blinda”. What are the characteristics of this character closest to you? What may have failed to transmit?
– “Tadas Blinda” is one of the almost 100 heroes in my cinema, but probably the most beloved and closest to my character and nature. I am grateful to fate and the filmmakers for joining us. He was young, a little over 30 years old, he didn’t know much, to ride a horse, shoot, fight … And near the field … Often the sides were wrong, and the butt, when he rode without a saddle, was kicked , and the teeth of the arm were broken, and from plowing on the palms it left blisters for a long time. I assumed this role with passion and great love, maybe that’s why he did it so well …
I assumed this role with passion and great love, maybe that’s why he did it so well …
It’s hard for me to judge for myself, but judging from the fact that the film will soon be 50 years old, and still often shown on LRT and popular with the audience, it can be assumed that T. Blinda’s character agreed with the concept of a Lithuanian hero. And considering that in those days the “hero” could only be positive in general, and even better, partisan … (laughs)
My T. Blinda is very human, passionate, idealistic … Unfortunately, like many “idealists” these days, she was not very successful … I considered myself an idealist all my life. The concept of honor and integrity was important to me. I did not dig a hole for anyone and I never had a double face. Although today it is called “diplomacy”.
Photo from personal album / Vytautas Tomkus. Tadas Blinda in the Goose Tavern, 1972
– In an interview, you said that you were happy to have had different roles, from comic to tragic. Later you mentioned that you like it when a director discovers something new in you. What other roles in theater and cinema are closest to you?
– Each role you create at that time is your favorite. After all, you can’t take work, pay attention to it, and time, delve into the hero character and think: well now I’m going to play bad here, suchaltūrinsiu… But not all films were equally strong, not all directors had a clear vision of their film. There was, sometimes I really heard, “Vytai, I know like in this or that movie.” But I never agreed with such rules of the game, I always tried to personalize my human heroes, humanize them, love them …
Of course, it is fun when the material is good, there is freedom for improvisation, there is where to manifest. I was often hampered by the roles of “bad boys,” once I had to play a repeat offender in the Alois Brenc movie “Being Unnecessary” (Riga, 1976).
The film was awarded at an international film festival and I received an award for best male role. Filming took a long time in a real prison in Riga. In his spare time, he had to communicate with officials and convicts. I have earned the trust and respect of the latter. Even the prisoners gave me a special handmade medallion, a cross, after watching the movie, saying: if you are attacked or find yourself in a difficult situation in life, show this medallion and no one will touch you, you will know that you are the owner … It was a very sensitive moment.
Each role you create at that time is your favorite.
And a few years later, in another movie, I had to play a top cop. After that I received criticism letters, how could you? We thought you were “ours”, you betrayed us … This is how cinema and life sometimes intertwine.
VIDEO: 10 + 1 themes on theater with Vytautas Tomkus
– The first film in which you played the role was “Steps at Night” (dir. Raimondas Vabalas) (1962). How did you feel the first time you were standing in front of the camera and not in front of the auditorium?
– Since in the conservatory and later in the theater, we were taught to gradually enter the role, to understand the character of the heroes, to discover their motivation, so we wanted to empathize and act in front of the cameras, even when They turned off the lights. Experienced colleagues joked about it, because when the camera turned, he was still acting more serious …
Little by little I understood the details of the cinema. It seems that the camera loved me. There really was no shortage of filming. Thanks to his work, he had to travel a lot, filming in almost all the major former allied film studios with the best-known directors and actors, including James Bond’s first daughter, Swedish actress Ursula Andress, and famous Italian actor Franco Nero. in director Bondaudonči’s film. “, That had to be filmed even in Mexico.
Photo from personal album / V.Tomkus and Ursula Andres (James Bond’s girlfriend) in the movie “Red Bells”
Life goes on, young and cool heroes have changed to older and more mature, and right now, I have to admit that I am a long way from cinema and theater. Yes, apparently, and it should be, we have to make way for young people …
But after the movie “Tad Blinda. Home Premiere”, to which we were invited with family and fellow actors from the first Tadas Blinda, I heard the response that “the new movie is very beautiful and perfectly filmed, but unfortunately there was no hero in it … “. I will not hide, he patted my heart (laughs).
The answers were written by his daughter D. Tomkutė
Šuminai, July 28, 2020
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