With whom did the star of the film "June 31" find her happiness? Natalya Trubnikova: The only love of Princess Melisenta

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On July 17, the ballet soloist, actress Natalia Trubnikova turns 66. Her film career lasted only 18 years, she has not appeared on screens for more than 25 years, but she is probably still remembered by millions of viewers in the form of Princess Melisenta from the musical film "June 31". Trubnikova was called one of the most beautiful and mysterious Soviet actresses, she was admired by thousands of fans, among whom were very influential men. However, the actress did not want to use their location to achieve her own goals, otherwise her career would have been much more successful. And her heart was devoted to one person all her life.

Natalia dreamed of ballet since kindergarten, since she first saw the performance of Maya Plisetskaya. Since childhood, she studied in a ballet circle, and then entered the choreographic school at the Bolshoi Theater. While still a student, she began performing on the stage of this theater and hoped to stay there. It was a real tragedy for Natalia when, after graduating from college, she was invited not to the Bolshoi Theater, but to the Moscow Academic Musical Theater. K. Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Later, she never tired of thanking fate for this, because if she got to the Bolshoi Theater, she might never have met her future husband, Anatoly Kulakov.

Anatoly Kulakov made his film debut at the age of 10 - he played the main role in the children's film "Sombrero", and it became the first and only one in his filmography. His parents were against him continuing to act in films. However, he himself never dreamed of an acting career - by that time Kulakov had graduated from the first class of the ballet school at the Bolshoi Theater, and after completing his studies he performed in Igor Moiseyev's choreographic concert ensemble "Young Ballet" and danced leading roles at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater them. K. Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko.

They met when they were paired in one of the performances. When Kulakov carried Trubnikova across the stage in outstretched arms, she realized that she could trust him as a partner. With this support, their romance began. Later, the artist said: "". Natalia conquered him with her beauty, modesty and good manners. She was not yet the star of "June 31" then - their acquaintance took place long before that. Trubnikova married Kulakov at the age of 20, and played Princess Melisent at 23.

An iconic and fateful role

Prior to that, she starred in a movie only once, first hitting the set thanks to Mark Zakharov, who was looking for a dancer for an episode in his film "12 Chairs". After that, Trubnikova dreamed of continuing her film career, often went to auditions, but did not receive roles. And then Leonid Kvinikhidze offered her the main role in "June 31"! There were many dance numbers in the film, and the director wanted them to be performed not by actors, but by professional ballet dancers. In addition to Trubnikova, the roles were given to the soloists of the Bolshoi Theater Lyudmila Vlasova and Alexander Godunov.

But even after the release of the film "June 31" on the screens, the life of Trubnikova and Kulakov did not change at all, because "June 31" was shown on TV only once, on December 31, on New Year's Eve, 1979, and in the pre-holiday bustle, many viewers simply missed the premiere. And when the film was supposed to be repeated, it was unexpectedly taken off the air. The reason was that Trubnikova's partner on the set, ballet dancer Alexander Godunov, did not return to the USSR from a tour with the Bolshoi Theater in the United States. After that, the film was immediately sent to the shelf, where it lay for 7 years! For Trubnikova, this was a real tragedy, because this was her first major role in a movie. Anatoly then supported her very much, and only thanks to her husband she was able to survive this difficult period.

After filming the film "June 31" Natalia Trubnikova was no longer invited to the main roles. After several high-profile escapes of ballet dancers, there was an unspoken ban on filming "ballet" in the cinema. The directors were afraid to offer the role of Trubnikova, because now she was considered potentially unreliable. The actress said: "".

A pair of "unreliable"

Years later, the actress admitted that she could have saved her film career by agreeing to the unequivocal proposals of some directors to show her favor. But Trubnikova did not want to go to success at such a price - there was only one man in her life, and she was not ready to sacrifice her family for a career. Until the mid-1990s. the actress continued from time to time to act in subtle episodes in the cinema, and after 1994 she disappeared from the screens.

Anatoly Kulakov, too, was not allowed to travel abroad for many years, and did not receive the main roles either. This happened due to the fact that his colleague, while touring in Mexico, asked for political asylum and did not return to the USSR. Kulakov lived with him in the same hotel room, and after that he also came under suspicion as unreliable. For a month he was summoned for interrogation, and all this time he continued to repeat that he knew nothing about his colleague's plans. Because of this incident, Kulakov remained restricted to travel abroad for 17 years!

When Natalya Trubnikova was going to marry Anatoly Kulakov, many acquaintances dissuaded her from this step. She said: "".

45 years hand in hand

Moscow Academic Musical Theater. K. Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko Trubnikova gave 44 years of her life. She danced more than 30 solo and lead roles on its stage, first performing as a classical ballerina, and then moving on to acting parts. Later Natalya graduated from the ballet department of GITIS with a degree in ballet directing and tried her hand at being a stage director. In 1990, together with her husband, she founded the Russian Academy of Models, which became one of the best modeling schools. In addition, Anatoly Kulakov supervised the choreographic training of the participants in the first Moscow Beauty competition in 1988, as the chief choreographer of the Fashion House on Arbat.

Ballet has become for them both a work of life, and a great happiness, and a great test. They were not filmed in films, they were not allowed out of the country, but they went through all life's difficulties together. Together they went through all the tests, and this only made them closer to each other. Natalia Trubnikova and Anatoly Kulakov have been married for almost 45 years.

In an artistic environment, such strong marriages are rare. According to them, they were never hindered by the fact that they not only lived, but also worked together - there was no competition between them, no struggle for primacy and supremacy, no creative jealousy. The artist is grateful to his wife for making him more restrained and tolerant, for always looking for something that they could do together.

This film had a very difficult fate, but it still found its audience, albeit many years later: Why was the song "World without a beloved" from the movie "June 31" banned from performing on stage?.