The star of "Quartet I" Leonid Barats - 50: What men rarely talk about

July 18 marks the 50th anniversary of the famous actor, director and screenwriter, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Leonid Barats. He approached this milestone with considerable achievements: the performances of the comic theater "Quartet I" have been gathering full houses for almost 30 years, the films "Election Day", "Radio Day" and "What Men Talk About" have become real cinema hits, the actor has two grown daughters and one little son. But at the same time, he still admits in an interview that he feels like a small person, "who has not achieved anything and it is not clear why he is living." What men really do not talk about, and what an artist cannot forgive himself - further in the review.

Probably, a sense of humor was in his blood, because the hometown of Leonid Barats is Odessa. He was born into the family of journalist Grigory Barats and kindergarten methodologist Zoya Barats. He was named Leonid in honor of his great-grandfather, while initially they wanted to call him Alexei. He always liked the first version of the name much more, so his relatives call him Lesha, not Lenya.

His classmate was Rostislav Khait, together they studied in the school theater group and participated in performances, together they went to conquer Moscow. The period of doubts about the way forward was very short. Leonid Barats said: "". Surprisingly, both of them managed to enter the pop faculty of GITIS the first time.

The ideological inspirer of the "Quartet I"

In their first year, Barats and Khait met Alexander Demidov and Kamil Larin, and after graduating from the university in 1993 together they created the comic theater "Quartet I". In the same year, they released their debut performance "These are just cliches", which was a great success. And loud popularity came to them after the release of the play "Radio Day", the script for which was written by Leonid Barats. Probably, he made the most tangible contribution to the success of the collective, because it was with this production that the triumphal path of "Quartet I" began. After him came "Election Day", and both productions were filmed, after which the whole country learned about "Quartet I".

Leonid Barats fully realized himself both as an actor, and as a producer, and as a director of the film-play "Radio Day", and as a screenwriter of the films "What Men Talk About", "What Else Men Talk About", "Faster Than Rabbits", "Election Day-2", "Wonderland", "Loudspeaker", "Feedback" and the cartoon "Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf-4".

The members of Quartet I have been together for 28 years. Of course, they are connected not only by professional, but also by friendly relations, in which there is anything - and misunderstandings, and a clash of ambitions, and even fights. According to the artist, all this happens because there is no falsehood between them: "".

Feelings of guilt for divorce

In the films of Quartet I, the heroes often discuss the relationship between men and women, but behind the scenes the actors do not like to talk about this topic. Leonid Barats willingly talks about his creative life, but prefers to remain silent about his personal life. But this is exactly what he is often asked questions in the last 6 years, because in 2015 the actor divorced his wife, actress Anna Kasatkina, with whom he had been married for almost 25 years and raised two daughters, and went to another woman, Anna Moiseeva.

For many fans of the artist, this news came as a complete surprise, because with his wife they lived and worked together, she starred in the films "Quartet I", their family was called one of the strongest and most harmonious in the acting environment. The decision to divorce was given to the actor very difficult, and he is still weighed down by a sense of guilt that the separation happened because of him. In addition, the artist is worried about the fact that he made his daughters suffer - they were afraid that they could lose their father forever. Barats admits: "".

New darling - "phrase provider" for films

All this time, the actor with his new darling continues to have a long-distance relationship: Leonid lives in Moscow, Anna - in Kiev. At first, this only fueled his feelings, but later he began to think more and more often about family and living together, "". In October 2020, the actor became a father for the third time - he and Anna had a son, Mark.

The actor calls Anna a "supplier of phrases" for scripts for the films of "Quartet I", because Leonid recorded many of her words, and then they sounded from the screens: "I sit with such a face that you can't approach me", "Look at him, can I have something with him? " - so Anna reassured the chosen one when he arranged scenes of jealousy for her because she attended nightclubs without him. Her phrase was “overheard” in real life: “You have a life, and you live your life, and I live your life, you leave, and your life goes on, and mine ends”.

Middle age crisis

The heroes of Quartet films often talk about a midlife crisis. Apparently, Barats knows about him firsthand. It would seem that the artist has no reason to doubt himself and his abilities. But in one of the interviews he admitted: "".

Thanks to these doubts, many replicas from their films were born, which became aphorisms. And when the men of the Quartet speak, and when they are silent, in their heroes many viewers recognize themselves and their own experiences. This is probably why they have been so popular for many years.

True friendship without creative jealousy and competition in the acting environment is a rarity, but each rule has its exceptions: Movie stars who are friends not only on screen, but also in real life.