Theatrical producer and director of the Art-Partner agency Leonid Roberman in an interview with the publication 7days.ru talked about working with the legendary theater and film actress Natalia Gundareva. During the creation of the play “What an idiotic life” Roberman decided that the fees for him and the three artists of the production – Dzhigarkhanyan, Garkalin and Gundareva – would be equal. According to the “father of the entreprise”, Armen Borisovich and Valery Borisovich agreed with the size of the fees. Gundareva, having started rehearsing, refused to discuss the working conditions, arguing that they would always have time to agree.
However, on the eve of the performance, Roberman faced the realities of interacting with the stars: the actress clearly outlined her rules of work.
A couple of days before the production, the producer approached Gundareva with the intention to discuss the final working conditions, and unexpectedly for himself heard a harsh statement from her:
«Why discuss something? So, this is how: you will pay me that much, I will live this way, fly such and such flights. If something doesn’t suit you, you can replace me».
Naturally, there was no time to look for another actress, moreover, no one could replace Gundarev. According to Roberman, this situation has become an important business lesson for him: you need to negotiate «on the shore»… By the way, the producer does not agree that the actress had a difficult character. He is sure that an artist of this magnitude had the right to whims:
“It was by looking at Gundareva that I understood why a star needs expensive cars, good hotels – first of all, to create and maintain a“ legend ”. If the viewer saw Gundareva getting out of the old Zhiguli, the aura of glory would be destroyed. And the stars should always remain celestials … “.
