During the whole week before the actor’s hundredth anniversary – from July 18 to 23 – during the Radio Theater, productions in which Jānis Kubilis participated, as well as a conversation from the archives of Latvian Radio with the actor himself.
Erudite with posture
“When I came to the theater, Kubili was not yet 40 years old. I will not talk about Kubili as an actor, it has already been said so much, yes, an excellent actor, a fantastic person, smart, erudite, but I want to say that even then he was a fantastic erudite with a posture – both moral and physical. I thought, what sets him apart, why does everyone say – oh, well, Kubilis, yes… It really is a posture,” said Zemdega.
The actress emphasized that she has never seen Jānis Kubilis running, hurrying or being late – he has always walked very nobly, had a stately figure, and was always decently dressed.
“Then I have to wonder if it’s innate? Yes, definitely, but I think he’s built himself that way too, because you’ll have noticed that he’s very social, very kind, responsive, but there’s always some a border, some kind of wall that you can’t break through. He has a very high self-esteem, and he cares what people think of him. He doesn’t want to break this illusion,” assessed Zemdega.
Actor Jānis Kubilis (2018)
Photo: LETA, Paula Čurkste
30 years ago, there were many rumors, various guesses about why the actor left the theater in his prime, and no one will know the whole truth, but Zemdega thinks that it was partly because Kubilis wanted to be remembered by the audience and also by himself as his best version.
“He didn’t want to lower his bar even by a single millimeter.
I assume that he felt that he was unlikely to climb any higher up that mountain, and that he just didn’t want to stay at the top of the mountain. What else is left? You should get down,” said the actress.
Zemdega emphasized that when talking about Jānis Kubilis, it would be appropriate to say that he did not play his roles, but lived them.
“We have been partners a lot. With the same “Third name” there was a month or so when we drove around the countryside and played or lived. Then a different person is revealed, and I want to say that Kubili has an extraordinary sense of honor and duty and that his words match the deeds, which is not often at all,” she pointed out.
From the left: Jānis Siliņš, Māra Zemdega, Zigfrīds Muktupāvels, Uldis Anže, Uldis Dumpis
Photo: Ingvilda Strautmane / Latvian Radio
The good boy of Nereta
Uldis Dumpis met Jānis Kubuli a little later, but they both played together in plays quite a lot and lived together in the same theater for quite a long time.
“Kubilis, like many actors who have to play heroes, very, very happily came to life in those comic characters and in such, one could say in the theater jargon – character roles. There was also that carelessness and the fact that his eyes sparkled at all kinds of nonsense. Willingly or not such things already happen when playing comic roles. I remember “Skrandains and augstmani” where we played together, and there were always some little pranks,” said Dumpis.
He admitted that Kubilis played a lot of big and beautiful roles in the theater, but with great pleasure he also played characters that were perhaps not the noblest at all.
“Somehow the infamous play “See the Sea”, which was removed after about 10 performances. Kubilis played there, and I think he didn’t like the role from the beginning, but in the end he skill played him. He was Lapiņš, who became Lapin in Siberia. There was that famous saying: “Look, well, stupid, don’t know Gulbeni anymore! Be Lapins, stay Lapins!” He played it with great pleasure. Also, I remember with what joy he played Fitchure in “Lilioma”. Great, right?
So I say, that poor Neret boy that was there, you can’t get away from it, it was already down there, although he always walked very smartly dressed, with slippers and all, and indeed I never saw him run either, ” assessed Dampis.
From the left: Edmunds Freibergs, Jānis Siliņš, Jānis Kubilis and Uldis Dumpis at the presentation of the certificate of appreciation of the Ministry of Culture for significant achievements in Latvian cultural life (2018).
Photo: LETA, Paula Čurkste
Closed, but with live eyes
Uldis Anže, on the other hand, entered the theater when Kubilis was brooding or had already made the decision to leave.
“It was really a great honor and happiness for me to come to Riga from Gulbene, after graduating from Gulbene 1st secondary school, to enter the Latvian National Theater in the first year and play Jäfry, the butler of Jānis Kubilis, a black butler, with such greats as Jānis Kubilis, Alfred Jaunušans, Kārlis Sebris, Velta Līne and Elsa Radziņa.
First impressions of Jānis Kubilis? Well, very closed, very reserved, he didn’t bother with advice, but a very gallant, polite and wonderful partner with lively eyes,” recalled Anže.
Those were the first impressions that remained in his memory of Jānis Kubili even after 30 years, but also that small, short moment, playing together with Kubili, has clearly left an impression.
“Every person I have met, with whom Jānis Kubilis has also met, gives us something. Also on stage, they are wonderful moments and each time different. I flipped through Lilija Dzenes book about Jānis Kubilis, and I was very happy to see there something very close to me as well, which somewhat dispels my ideas about Jānis Kubilis as unshakable, with a straight back, correct. Once, while trying to [Alfreda Amtmaņa] In one of Briedīša’s Soviet plays, where he and Jaunušanas had to play two fascists, during one of the dress rehearsals, Freddy made fun of him, and both of them allegedly started laughing. A lot of actors have this virus of laughter, not all of them, but I’m happy because I also have this virus very much,” said Anže.
Those, in his opinion, are the sweetest and liveliest moments on stage and in rehearsals, when something unplanned and unfake happens, and even experienced actors suddenly laugh or silently shed a tear.
2023-07-17 10:04:15
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