(The editor’s note: This interview was originally published on October 18, 2024. For his work in “Aor“Yura Borisov is now nominated for an Oscar For best actors, one of six nominations to film.)
Casting is Sean Baker’s great skill. He throws all his own films and goes through the world and is looking for talent to fill his stories. On His Palme d’Or Winner “Anora,” Baker had characters in mind before he stopped writing the script. He offered the role of Anora to Mikey Madison and the Russian muscle Igor to Yura Borisov, who waited a few six months before They got to read the last script.
Baker saw the Russian actor for the first time in “Compartment number 6” and “Petrov’s flu.” “These movies played at Cannes the year that I had” Red Rocket “there,” Baker said at Telluride. He called Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen and asked him what it was like to work with Borisov. “He said,“ He’s the best guy in the world. ”
One year after Cannes called Baker Borisov. The actor, in turn, recommended Mark Eydelshteyn to Baker and told him that he knew a young Russian actor who would be incredible for Ivan, the spoiled scion of a Russian oligarch who had fun in New York. “I understand that Sean needs some super -spoken Russian guy,” Borisov said in Toronto. “That guy has to translate lines himself, and (I knew) that guy could improvise, because it is very improvised in Sean’s movies, and I know the guy must be open to everything.”
Certainly, Baker was enough for Eydelshteyn, who sent in a naked audition band. The rest is history.
While Ivan is the flasher part, Igor sneaks on you in “Anora.” He is a quiet Russian who works for a Posse of Armenian tough guys working for Ivan’s father. When Ivan impulsively marries sex workers Anora in Las Vegas, Ivan’s parents send their strong men to have the marriage revoked. When they show up in Ivan’s house, devastation follows. He takes off as the wind, leaves his new bride behind, kicks and screams as she tries to escape.
The masterful “home invasion” scene has become the main topic of discussion about “Anora.” “It was long, about seven or eight days,” Borisov said. “It looks like improvisation in real life, but when we shoot we did it carefully, because there are lots of safety and camera points; If we broke something we can do it once or twice, no more. And everyone has to understand what he will do, and we do it very slowly and a little faster, a little faster, without punching. ”
Madison did not withdraw his violence. At one point, she scraped Borisov’s face with her porcelain nails. “Yes, I like it,” he said, “for first and foremost it’s fun. Secondly, it’s easier to play for me if they really beat me and I really feel it and play it, and thirdly it is absolute love. ”
Borisov was impressed by Madison’s ability to deliver its performance on a penny. “She didn’t need time for a tour,” he said. “She is very calm and she said,” Yes, I’m ready. “And” Camera, action! “, She has gone quiet and needs a second to turn it on. And I need some time to prepare and will think about the next scene and think about what do I have to do? Maybe I have no one Sleep today to do this better. Mikey doesn’t have to
Eventually, Igor manages to attach Anora to his body to the couch. As the film progresses, the audience begins to realize that through the exact Mise-en-Scène, that Igor is trying to protect and support Anora, that he feels for her, sympathizes with her. At one point, he is in danger of telling Ivan’s parents that they owe her an excuse for how she has been treated. Is Anora aware of her feelings? And how is she doing?
“When Anora first meets him, he mainly holds her hostage,” Madison said in Telluride. “And so through the 48-hour period, it is completely overwhelming and heartbreaking. I remember during the filming, I would look over and Yura when Igor stares at me, and I would feel a certain way, but you push aside and continue with what Anora has to do and all these moments. And then I would definitely feel it. But she has more important things to handle. “
Borisov translated the script itself with a translator. Fortunately, most of his achievements are without words. He understood that the audience is trying to find out what is happening in his head. “My goal was to give you room to think about this,” he said in Toronto. “That’s the most important thing. No answers. Just give you a few questions. “
We know that Igor is a violent guy who knows how to beat people. Is he also a killer? “No one knows,” Borisov said. “You can decide on that.” Borisov did no research on tough guys like him. “I can’t say it’s fiction because it’s real to me,” he said, “because Mikey is real, her character is real and she’s like a star in the middle of the movie. And Igor is like a planet around her. He wanted to save her, and he absolutely believed this, because he understands if he lost her, the two guys Toros and Garnick could do anything to her. He knows them and he knows their goal Did not know how, but he wants to help with her. ”
Borisov has been on “Anora” campaigns, from Cannes to Telluride to Toronto. It’s a whirlwind. He hopes something good will come out of this beloved movie, as it did with the Finnish Oscar post “Division number 6.” It has happened before.
A neon edition, “Anora” is in theaters now.
