Secrets of Russian Playboy star

Anna Churina is a charming blonde. She is a young Russian film actress with a great shape. This April she posed for the Russian edition of Playboy to much acclaim. Anna Churina speaks with Pravda.ru about the secrets of her success:

Photo: Secrets of Russian Playboy star

Secrets of Russian Playboy star

Following a number of my interviews, I’ve read in the press that it’s a mystery of sorts how on earth I managed to act in so many movies despite my being so young. Nobody seems to take into consideration the fact that I’ve worked pretty hard before coming into the spotlight. I’ve been working a lot since my childhood. I went to numerous castings and auditions. Summing it all up, I believe I’ve got what I deserve.

There was a time in my life when I spent two long years taking auditions. Going to yet another audition, I’d have a feeling that things won’t work out for me again. Against all odds, I had to take those auditions anyway. Competing in the auditions became my job, or so it felt back then. Needless to say, you’re in luck when they choose you for a part. I’ve always greatly respected the hardworking people. Pretty often I saw aspiring actors simply drop out after showing up at the auditions a couple of times. In fact, I was cast in 20 projects. But I wasn’t always cast for lead roles. Sometimes I was employed for minor parts.

I wonder if you have your own recipe for success?

I don’t have any special recipe. A great desire to achieve something is all it takes. You know, a line of a popular Russian song goes: ‘You’re going to make it if you try hard enough.’ You need to work, there’s not much point in sitting around waiting for a stroke of luck. To be honest, there was a time in my life when I was confident that I’d never get married. I sincerely believed I wasn’t a marrying type. I’m not saying I had no admirers. There were admirers around, but I couldn’t care less for marriage, or so it seemed to me at that point. Sometimes I felt like giving up. And then I met Alexei. You just can’t forecast your own fate.

You were a diligent student in the institute of linguistics at the time. How did you become a model?

It was a happy accident. I was on my fourth year in the institute in the city of Nizhni Novgorod . I went to Moscow for my girlfriend’s birthday party. And we happened to attend a fashion model show organized by Elite Model Look. The representatives of a Western model agency took note of me at the show. A few weeks later, I received a work offer from France to model for an agency. Not unlike many other girls, I had to make my choice. There were no good prospects for me in Nizhni Novgorod. And I wanted to see the world and try my hand at something in this life. In short, I got a good opportunity to give it a try.

Did you take pleasure in modeling?

I wasn’t greatly disappointed at that business. Lots of girls daydream about becoming models. Well, I never even planned to being a model. There’s a good expression in English: I took advantage – I guess it’s a good mirror of the phase I was at the time. The whole experience was a chance to travel and make some money.

By and large, I enjoyed working for the modeling industry. At the end of the day, I got the opportunities, including the financial ones, to kick off my career when I arrived in Moscow and enrolled in a drama school. I had to pay for earning my degree in the second higher education, which is on a fee-paying basis in this country.

It’s really hard to make extra money if you study at an acting department and your day is normally filled with lectures and rehearsals. You have no day-offs at all. You have no chance to work on the side.

You’ve already worked as an actress at the time. Did you enroll in a drama school because you needed formal training to boost your acting career?

I don’t think so. In fact, I’ve been an actress since I was five. I danced and took part in amateur performance. I mean, acting has always been part of my life. It was just a hobby at the beginning, lateritreally got ahold onme. Besides,I joined a drama school while working as a model in Paris. I went to that school for about a year. I ended up in the motion-picture industry following a series of events in my life. I hadn’t been involved in the movies before. But I got under the spell of the movies the very moment I stepped inside.

What was your motivation when you decided to pose for Playboy?

It had no relation whatsoever with my modeling career. I got an offer to pose for Playboy as an actress. It may sound like a bit of self-flattery, but I was employed to pose for that magazine on the strength of my name in the movies. I wasn’t a supermodel for hire.

I agreed to pose because it was a new experience for me. Besides, a very good Italian photographer was in charge of photo sessions. I really liked a lot the pictures he took in the past. Posing for him was fun. But I wouldn’t say that it was my cup of tea. Probably I was too shy to bare it all for the job. Well, I gave it a try.

Would you like to try it again?

No, I wouldn’t. I think I’ll be able to put up with nudity if it’s written in a plot. I do realize nudity is part of my profession. But I’m unlikely to undress for the sake of an experiment.

What was the reaction of your loved ones to your Playboy sessions?

My husband took my posing job okay. Playboy is a magazine with a reputation. Being a woman, I find it quite attractive too. I mean I buy it to get aesthetic pleasure out looking at the beautiful photographs. I don’t see Playboy as something vulgar. My parents were little shocked, though. My mom liked the pictures, and my dad liked them too. He said: ‘You look beautiful. But I feel like hitting you with my belt, you know that?’ My dad has a quirky sense of humor.

Speaking of love scenes in the movies, does your husband feel jealous of your partners on the set?

No, he doesn’t show any sings of jealousy in the open. He does understand that it’s just acting. Besides, he’s an actor too.

Do you feel jealous of him?

Well, maybe I’m slightly jealous deep down inside (laughs). I believe jealousy is normal. The point is that jealousy shouldn’t grow into a pathological feeling. I hope it won’t happen in our case.

Did you ever fall for any of your partners on the set?

As for romantic relationships, I met my husband on the set of Male Season (Russian TV series- eds.) Eventually, we got married. I’m an expectant mother now. All in all, there’s some magic on the set. It feels like you exist here and now and in some other dimension at the same time. The set has an impact on the people who are part of it. The people become more open-hearted.

What are you planning to do after giving birth to your child?

I’m going to take a short maternity leave. Afterwards, I hope to take part in several projects. Getting back to normal after childbirth is my most immediate goal. I really don’t know how it’s going to be. They say breast-feeding is a very special state of mind.

Have you ever thought about becoming a pop artist?

No, I haven’t. It’s true that I love singing. But my I do my singing mostly for myself. My two younger sisters are now trying to get a pop music project off the ground. They want me to sing with them. I will probably sing with them a couple of songs as a special guest. Again, pop music is not what suits me.

Is it fair to say that you made all of your dreams come true?

Some of my dreams came true, that’s correct. But one of my biggest dreams is yet to come true. I’ve always dreamed of buying a big house. My parents, my sisters and myself – we had to cram into a small apartment. I hope my family will live in a real big house someday.

Pravda.ru.

Translated by Guerman Grachev

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