June 2, 2000
Los Angeles, CA
Dear Krew,
I hope you all got a chance to see "Center
Stage" by now! I saw the movie at the premiere. Once. I’m gonna get
the tape – or the DVD, with the little something extra.
My favorite thing about making the movie was when I
was having a big scene – where you can really talk and try to get into
connection with actors because I didn’t have that many scenes with the
words. It was to experiment with real acting. In the salsa club, it was a
lot of moving and dancing but not that much with the words…so the most
satisfying moments were when I had a scene and had the connection with the
other actor. You’re really getting into the mood and you really feel
that this is the right, exactly right moment to say, and exactly the right
thing to think about…it was like magic. And I felt it for a couple of
seconds.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of pretty big
scenes that they cut off. There was even one serious scene which I liked a
lot. I didn’t really see it, but it felt really good. And Nick, the
director, was really happy about that. Really happy. It was such a waste.
It was a scene with Zoë because originally in the script she’s supposed
to have a brother. They completely cut the guy out. He was in the movie,
he was two months shooting with us there, then he’s coming and they just
cut him completely. He was there in the movie maybe for five seconds
somewhere in the beginning. Do you remember the guy who was looking in the
class? So he was there through whole the movie, they just completely cut
him off. He was on the boat but they really couldn’t cut that out.
Actually in that script he’s dying. I was kind of in charge getting him
into the limo company of my brother because he doesn’t have a job, so I
get him a job with my brother and now he’s driving this limo. He’s a
little bit crazy guy, he’s reckless – and so he died. And I’m coming
to Zoë – "Eva" – just to let her know that he’s dead. And
it was serious scene for me and it was actually well played too because
Zoë, she was good and I felt really on the money. And there was another
scene when I’m getting a phone call from my brother saying that he’s
dead – there was a whole different story. They couldn’t probably fit
it in the movie because it was already two hours.
Another fun night was the salsa club, it was so
good. It felt so right, it felt so free and so… it felt good. It was
half me and half "Sergei." It was funny. And there’s supposed
to be back flip – but they cut it out. We were shooting it for
half-hour, I was jumping like crazy with the whole dance because in that
scene you can probably see me for ten seconds. But it was a whole
two-minute dancing routine, and we were going through whole routine for
the whole two minutes and then on the end I had this back flip. Every time
I was going through for two minutes I was so tired – I was just dead.
And then I was barely making it and they said "We’re done"
like five or six times! They were trying to get the camera and the angle
– and then on the end they said, "Okay, you don’t have to do the
whole dance, just get some ten seconds before that and do the back
flip" – so I’ve done it. Actually there’s supposed be a dip,
she’s supposed to try to kiss me then I’m falling on the floor – and
I’m doing this hip-hop – and then I’m going for the back flip. It
was the coolest thing. They were happy with the shot – and I saw the
shot, it was pretty good. Then it didn’t make the movie. Such a waste.
What I learned the most from being there –
patience! I cannot say that I learned it completely because I was just
amazed at how slow the process was. It was killing me. I was shocked.
Nothing was so slow in my entire life. It’s not really a problem about
how long it takes, I can understand that it takes a long time, but nobody
seems to care about your schedule. If you think it through, if you’ll
think really what time you gotta be there, real time, you can make it
work. But I know exactly that they don’t need me there at nine. They say
nine and they have three scenes before me and you know it’s gonna be
five p.m., and you’re doing everything just to be just a little bit
late! If you’re running one hour late it’s not a problem, nobody even
notices you’re not there because there’s so many things going on and
so many people running around – it’s real hard to care about everybody’s
schedule. Probably for the leading roles they have special people who are
taking care of schedules, but it’s difficult because there’s so many
things going on. Especially in New York, those busy streets…
My first day on the movie was when we find out who
was cast in the ballets. And it was so funny because I was supposed to fly
from New York to L.A. on that very day because I had the Snapple clinic in
L.A. We’re supposed to finish the shoot like around five o’clock and I
had a plane at 6:30 out of JFK, which is almost impossible to catch. The
deal was that we’re shooting the scene – and it was just this little
thing and that’s it. They weren’t using me at all, just this little
thing – from the elevator to there, turn left – then you go. And there
was a lot of troubles trying to make those people let me go for the
weekend because it as Saturday and I was supposed to be on Sunday in LA
and go back Monday to shoot again.
So, it was the first day when I’m working with
Nick Hytner and the crew and everybody. Then we finish this thing, and
Nick is improvising a little – he’s the director, he goes improvising,
so you go there and you go there…okay, you check your schedule and now
you go. And I was stuck somewhere…I don’t know, I just went somewhere
and he said, "Oh, okay, you go here and now, you know what? Maureen
coming here and you gotta, you gotta talk to her right here…" And I’m
saying, like it’s not in the script and he says, "Yeah, yeah, I
know, we’re gonna make another scene from here, it looks good
here." So then I understand that I’m gonna be stuck here for two
hours and I have a plane to catch in like about an hour – I’m so
embarrassed because he’s asking me to do some more work and it’s the
first day and I’m supposed to say no to the director on the first day? I
was so embarrassed but I said, "I gotta fly, you know, I got a plane…"
and it was dead silence on the set and everybody looking: "Who he
thinks he is?" So they said, "Okay, take off!" And I barely
made my plane, but I did. Barely.
The other fun day was the sponge fight – that was
so much fun! It was really dangerous. I was pretty safe but the other
guys, Sascha and Shakiem, were all over the place because it was so
slippery on the ballet floor… they almost killed the shot because they
fell so bad and it was so funny! We were dying, but they didn’t put it
in. Actually this scene felt pretty good too, when I watched on screen it
felt really good, I was really happy.
But the scene where I’m saying, "I am your
slave…" You know what? That one felt pretty…pretty stupid. It was
funny, though, on the end – because actually it felt a little bit wrong
the way it was in the script, but finally, I was pretty happy. That was
actually one thing I was worrying about too much when I came to the
premiere because it just didn’t feel good. The whole idea of this little
scene – in class you gotta scream something out loud – it doesn’t
make any real sense, at least not for me. I don’t know how’s the
ballet classes in America goes, but in Russia you barely can whisper
something, you just gotta fly out of class, it was that strict. So then it
just didn’t make too much sense for me but it went well. It went okay.
I certainly liked the whole experience, if you throw
out all the downsides like just waiting around…but the whole thing, I
liked it a lot. And the idea of the movie and trying to create a character
and work on it. It wasn’t that big of a part to really work on it so I
was kind of suffering because of that…you really got the role but there’s
not that much to work on. And I wish I could put a little more on it, but
they didn’t need a little more, they need less. It’s not a lot of
pressure but it’s something to try, and there was some room to really
improvise a little because, as I noted from this movie, it’s all about
improvising. They’re not saying what to do at all, they just got you on
the set, they got you on the position and you gotta get with something…before
your lines, you gotta get some actions, you gotta get some energy going
and it’s all up to you. If you’re not making it, nobody else will make
it and everybody was pretty shy, you know? And you’re sitting, four
dancers and me and there’s no energy and everybody can feel it and
nobody knows what to do. And they’re saying "keep your energy
up" but what does it mean? To a dancer it means dance…but that’s
why it felt good because it’s something that you’re dealing with and
that’s great.
Of course, I would certainly want some more work. I’ve
had some auditions recently – nothing major, just some TV stuff. They’re
not giving answers right away so we’ll see what’s gonna happen with
schedules and stuff too. And I’m taking class now when I’m not that
busy.
Some people ask me about theater – I never really
thought of it because you’ve got to put a lot of time in it. It’s not
like one performance, you really got to work on the part because it’s a
live performance. You cannot just go and do it, you gotta really, really
get into it. Yes, certainly, it’s fun – I think it’s really
challenging because all my life I’m doing live performances and that’s
something I know a little bit how to deal with it. But that’s why I like
movies too, because there’s so many takes and there is so much room to
try to do something and there’s not that much stuff to memorize in one
scene. People have a lot more respect for movies than for theater, but the
work in theater is 100 times more and it’s like…I don’t know even
what to compare it with, but theater is so much more serious, so much more
challenging and so much more…two levels higher than the movies. Anybody
can shoot the movie, any first timer – like me or any ballet dancers –
anybody can and they can make it look good, but in theater – you just
cannot go and do it.
But I did go to the "Gladiator" premiere
here in L.A. – and I was actually impressed. I liked the movie a lot. I
actually love all the historical stuff, it’s great. And you really feel
like you’re there, you really feel that you know how was it at that
time. It’s an amazing film. It’s very good, although "You have to
win the crowd" – that’s a little bit more Americanized. I don’t
think they were caring about that, they were caring just to stay alive a
little bit longer. And I don’t think anybody cared about who was that
good that they can really care about audience stuff – you only care
about your opponent. You gotta be a hundred times better than he is so you’ll
get so relaxed and care about audience. But it’s entertaining!
Movie trailer prisoner '99~Ilia Kulik,
Iliushka
