Natalya Krasko: “At 21, I loved a 40-year-old man: If I had known that I would meet Ivan Ivanovich, I would have turned gray with horror:”.

The wedding of 84-year-old actor Ivan Krasko and his lover, 24-year-old Natalya Shevel, caused a stormy public outcry. The Internet is still savoring the details of the personal life of an unusual couple, and journalists are going to great lengths to increase the circulation of their publications and attract as many viewers as possible to their shows, often crossing all boundaries. ProPedia contacted Natalya Krasko and was surprised to learn that the girl was not at all ready for such press attention. We tried to listen to her story and dispel all the gossip and speculation around this extraordinary union in our exclusive interview.

We met 24-year-old Natalya Krasko for a photo shoot in VDNKh park in Moscow. This was a great success for us, because the actress and her husband, 84-year-old actor Ivan Krasko, live in St. Petersburg. The girl stayed in the capital for only one day - the purpose of visiting Belokamennaya was to film a television project. However, they greatly spoiled Natalya’s mood, so she greeted us with distrust and wariness.

“I didn’t expect such a stir around our wedding. Is it true. I knew that they would gossip and discuss me on the Internet, but for journalists to behave so brazenly and deceive...” Natasha sighs sadly.

Without going into details, let's outline the situation: Natalya Krasko was offered to take part in a program dedicated to the anniversary of her husband Ivan Ivanovich. The girl came to Moscow to film, but it turned out that the main theme of the TV show was her unequal marriage, and, according to Krasko, no one tried to understand the true reasons for such an unusual union. Basically, only insults, accusations of thirst for fame and money, and even not the most pleasant medical diagnoses were thrown at Natasha... ProPedia tried to look at the creative couple with different eyes and listened carefully to the St. Petersburg woman in love.

ProPedia: Natalya, how has your life changed after your wedding?

Natalya Krasko: Not at all in the same direction as we would like (smiles sadly) . Within one day, the whole of Moscow found out my phone number. Journalists from, it seems, all existing publications, both St. Petersburg and Moscow, began calling me. I turned off the phone, blocked incoming calls, because it was impossible to handle calls - the same questions were asked, as if they were being selected, stupid, base.

“Everyone was interested in at what moment “feelings flared up,” whether we had sex, whether it would be ... After the first wedding night, they already called me with the question: “How did it all go for you?” For me this is beyond the bounds of decency."

In the end, Ivan Ivanovich and I hired a director who is now organizing our interviews. Otherwise, I think I would go crazy. But the worst thing is that mostly journalists are trying to dig up a sensation, something like that. For this reason they resort to deception, call my relatives and try to hit me harder.

ProPedia: Can’t you just refuse to give an interview?

N.K.: It’s difficult to refuse when pressured for pity. Intellectually, I seem to understand this, but Ivan Ivanovich and I are such people - too kind. When they cry in front of us, get on their knees, start begging...

ProPedia: Are you kidding?!

N.K.: I'm absolutely serious! This makes it even sadder. More than once I have heard phrases from some journalists: “We will be kicked out of work if you don’t give us an interview...”, “The editor is a beast, I’ll get laid off if I don’t do a story with you...”, “We feel uncomfortable with you.” ask, we understand everything, but for God’s sake, we implore you, answer a couple of questions! This won’t last long.” And stuff like that.

“Ivan Ivanovich knows what an interview is and understands that in a crisis, a journalist’s dismissal is possible if he does not provide material to the editorial office. That's why he meets the reporters halfway. But not always those who are actually facing layoffs.”

My husband and I even started having disagreements. He could give someone consent to an interview and then forget about it. But people come, insist on a meeting, say that he promised... And this is already a matter of honor for him - once he promised, it means he cannot refuse.

ProPedia: In the wake of your sudden popularity, have you found any new “old” acquaintances?

Н. К.: Да, стали появляться люди, с которым я общалась лет 10-12 назад. Звонят, предлагают встретиться. Возводят меня в статус «лучшей подруги», хотя мы таковыми и не являлись никогда. Да, мы, может, и гуляли в одной компании когда-то, но наше общение прекращалось в основном из-за их предательств. Теперь же я слышу от таких «друзей» вопросы: «А почему нас на свадьбу не позвала? Почему на телевидение не пригласила? Мы что, не друзья больше?» К сожалению, со мной действительно многие хотят общаться из-за выгоды. Мало кто поддерживает.

ProPedia: К слову, о пиаре и выгоде. В СМИ тебя обвиняют в том, что ты вышла замуж не по любви...

N.K.: Yes, everyone is sure that I got married just for the sake of PR. But not everyone knows that Ivan Ivanovich does not help me in any way in my work, in my acting career. Now my former classmate and I (Natalya Krasko graduated from the Faculty of Philology, Journalism and Acting at the St. Petersburg Institute of Humanitarian Education, where Ivan Krasko taught - approx. ProPedia) are creating our own theater, constantly rehearsing, thinking through the repertoire. And all on their own, without anyone’s help.

“If anyone thinks that after our wedding and the scandal that was inflated from it, I was bombarded with offers from directors and producers, then no, I will dissuade you. No new projects have appeared, and I don’t expect them. I have a place to work. Of course, if I’m offered to star in a film, I’ll agree, but only if I like the script.”

After marriage, I did not become a baroness or a countess, I did not have a lot of jewelry or a couple of apartments. My husband’s financial situation is normal; Ivan Ivanovich earns like all other people. We have enough.

ProPedia: Then what is the feeling between you?

N.K.: This is not love in the usual philistine sense. There is no unbridled passion, gasps, sighs, exciting hugs under the moon. Maybe there is no name for this feeling. Or maybe this is a different shade of love, which is characterized by mercy, respect, sympathy, empathy, the desire to help and support, the desire to sacrifice oneself for the sake of another...

“I understood that bad rumors would spread about me: when such an unequal union arises, no one believes in the sincerity of feelings. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I admire my husband’s genius. It’s easier to call me a predator or a girl of easy virtue who covets... But what? It’s most interesting to find out.”

On the ill-fated filming of a TV show, a sexologist tried to prove to me that the normal age difference between a man and a woman is ten years. More than ten is a deviation from the norm, deviation. Listen, well then my whole life is a complete deviation (laughs). I cannot exist within limits, within limits, I cannot stand restrictions. And I'm glad I live this way.

ProPedia: Then why did you and Ivan Ivanovich limit yourself to traditional social frameworks and register your marriage?

N.K.: When Ivan and I realized that we wanted to be together, he told me that he had never had a mistress. He always treated women with great respect. And since we already live in the same apartment, since we feel good together, then it is a matter of honor for him to marry me and elevate me to the official status of his wife.

“I saw a more philosophical meaning in our marriage. Ivan Ivanovich has a son, Andrei, who became a wonderful actor. However, I will say right away that my husband did not help him along this path. And you understand how wonderful it turns out - two talented people grew up independently in the Krasko family.”

For me, this is like a sign from above, like a blessing - I have no right to disgrace this surname: I have to prove to everyone that I am worthy to bear it. Must move forward, work, develop and not give up. So that after time, someone would say that in this Krasko family, three people have already achieved their goals and become someone in this life.

ProPedia: Did you know from childhood that you would become an actress?

N.K.: Despite the fact that from an early age I was called a talented child, I was always skeptical about this and did not like it when people told me that. Because I understood that this was not the limit of my capabilities. In the ninth grade, I enrolled in the theater group of the Danko children's and youth club, which taught clay modeling, drawing, table tennis and even breakdancing.

“Among other things, there was the Willie Winky puppet theater, in which I began to study. We went to various competitions, competitions, and concerts. Puppet theater is great, but after five years I wanted to try myself in dramatic art.”

I dreamed of going to a theater institute, but my mother and I couldn’t afford it. In Sevastopol, where I was born and lived throughout my childhood, there was no such institution. And acting training in other cities was very expensive. As a result, I gave up my dream and went to study to become a preschool teacher in the correspondence department, and got married.

ProPedia: How did you end up in St. Petersburg?

N.K.: My first husband always wanted to leave the country to earn money, because normal work was difficult in Sevastopol. As a result, we moved to St. Petersburg, where his father lived with his second wife, and at first my husband and I spent the night with them. Then we both found jobs and moved into a rented apartment. I worked in an amusement park as a ticket attendant on children's rides, and at the same time paid for my education. It was just the last course.

At a winter fair I accidentally met an actor who portrayed Santa Claus. I jokingly wished him snow for the New Year and to enroll in the theater. But that year she did not qualify. The second time I entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Humanitarian Education on the course of Ivan Ivanovich Krasko. There I met him.

ProPedia: What happened to your first husband?

N.K.: We divorced him long before I met Ivan Ivanovich. My first husband was a good man, I could have started a family with him, built a relationship... But I realized that there was no need. I was only 20 years old, and I already spent all my time in the kitchen, washing pots. Roma, my ex-husband, did not give me the opportunity to develop. When I told him: “Darling, I want to go to theater school,” the first thing he answered was: “I have no money.” It all came down to everyday life. For me, our relationship had reached a dead end, and I had to leave.

ProPedia: Where did you go after the divorce? As far as I remember correctly, you came to St. Petersburg with Roman, you rented an apartment with him, you didn’t have your own living space...

N.K.: I met a man who loved me, and I loved him. Everything was great with us, although he was older than me: Oleg was 40 years old, and I was 21 years old...

“Then it seemed to me that the difference of almost twenty years was a nightmare (laughs) . It seems to me that if I had found out then that in the future I would marry Ivan Ivanovich, I probably would have turned grey. At that time, I had not yet formed the concept of “freedom.”

And so I went to Oleg. We had a lot in common - he is also a man of art, he graduated from the conservatory. He provided for me for about 4 years, but then we ran out of money. I couldn’t work because studying at a theater university took up all my time - from morning to night. He tried to earn money as best he could, but eventually returned to his family.

ProPedia: Was he married?

N.K.: No, he was divorced when he met me. He just, apparently, missed his children, his wife... Although I never interfered with his communication with his family. After our separation, I went to live with friends and was free for four months.

Then I got to know Ivan Ivanovich better. He was lonely, I was lonely - we realized that we needed each other. Oddly enough, my husband is the only person who really needs my life. With me, he straightened his shoulders, began to laugh more often, smile, and attend various events. His friends told me that before me, Ivan was more withdrawn and did not like to leave the house. And now the desire to live, create, work, rejoice, and work has awakened in him.

ProPedia: How do you spend time together with your husband? What do you do?

N.K.: If I see the premiere of a good film in the cinema, then I and Ivan Ivanovich go to the cinema. Of course, we visit the theater and watch new performances. In general, we both usually disappear at rehearsals, constantly at work.

“And on the weekends we just joke and laugh. We have our own wave, our own humor, not everyone will understand. We are even thinking about publishing the book “The Laughter of a Happy Cynic.” We joke around a lot, inventing new words, since both are philologists by education. It’s impossible to imagine our life without humor .”

We can also philosophize and talk about serious topics... But, you know, as Oleg Yankovsky’s hero said in Mark Zakharov’s film “Baron Munchausen”: “I understand what your problem is - you are too serious. All the stupid things in the world happen with this kind of facial expression. Smile, gentlemen, smile!” That's how Ivan Ivanovich and I are. We laugh, joke, smile.

ProPedia: Do you always address Ivan Ivanovich as “you”?

N.K.: No (smiles). At home, of course, I call him Vanya. If I want to give a more serious tone to the conversation, I say “Ivan!” And if I’m angry, I address him by his patronymic name, or call him Evan Evanovich, with an “e.”

He calls me Natalya Alexandrovna only in the theater circle. At home I am Gulya, Goose for him. This is how he addresses both his children and grandchildren, so for me this is a kind of sign that I am part of his family.