“For the sake of the role is ready to gain 20 kg”. The star of the TV series “Youth” – about his love for healthy lifestyle and soccer

In the text series “The Shape of Success” we talk about sports and healthy lifestyle with those who are passionate about their work and are truly successful in it. We believe that sport is not always about sacrifice. It can fit into your life in a way that makes it easier to achieve your goals.

Today, actor and star of the TV series “Youth” Vlad Kanopka told us about his lifestyle. He knows how to keep both body and head in tone. He knows how to work to exhaustion, but find time and energy for training. And most importantly – how not to quit what he started and achieve his goals.

Vlad Kanopka

theater and film actor

Tells why he left professional sports, but did not give up training.

About his hometown and moving to Moscow

I was born in Minsk, but when people ask me who you are by nationality, I say that I was born in the USSR. I moved to Moscow in 2005 when I entered VGIK to study acting. I was 17, a new life, movement, prospects. I like it here, but I often visit my hometown too. My mother stayed there, so I go once a month.

It’s great to go to Minsk for two or three days. It’s a very nice European city, the historical center has been restored. During the war Minsk, almost like Warsaw, was completely demolished. There are about five historical buildings left there, the rest are antique.

From Minsk you can get to Warsaw in six hours. For example, my friends and I drive to Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania) in two hours. I advise you to visit, everything is open now. I myself have traveled around 25-30 countries. I have such a vacation, it’s my hobby. I don’t spare any money for it.

About sports

In my youth I was professionally engaged in sports. At the age of five my parents gave me swimming lessons, but two years later I gave up. At the age of 15 I got a candidate master of sports in triathlon, which is running, swimming and cycling. Then I practiced a little more and gave up.

And before that I did pentathlon – that’s fencing, shooting, swimming, running and equestrian. But I was bad at shooting. I was nervous all the time, I was a teenager – I couldn’t concentrate. I wasn’t the best of the best, and I didn’t want to be average, the fees are small there. In general, I didn’t see myself as a sportsman, that’s why I enrolled in the acting program.

If acting career I would prefer professional sports, it would be soccer. I really like this sport, I support Barcelona. I dreamed of going to the stadium “Camp Nou” and even drove to it, but I never got there. I was an hour away from Barcelona, where Barça was playing against Bayern. All the seats were sold out, there were only 250 thousand rubles left. There is a crazy atmosphere there, a lot of bars. And even those who did not get to the stadium were also cheering. It was cool.

About stereotypes in sports

Any athletes are less erudite than, for example, engineers. That’s if you judge by the total amount of erudition in a certain sports environment. When you have two workouts a day, of course you’re going to spend more time on sports. The body gets tired.

About the workouts

I’m not an extreme athlete. I get my drive from novelty, knowledge, traveling. I’ve tried racing. It’s cool, but it’s not a permanent thing. I’ve never been into that kind of thing. I don’t even own a car. I don’t like to drive. I travel by foot or subway most of the time. It’s convenient. Skiing, snowboarding – not my thing either. I like the heat, so I’d like to try surfing. Meditation is cool too, calms the nervous system, but it’s boring.

I work out three times a week. Sport disciplines, and discipline is a cool thing for any kind of activity. For the last year and a half I’ve been working out at home, just for tone and energy. I do push-ups, pump my abs, I can go jogging outside, I have a bike in my apartment. I usually work out for about an hour. Before that I went to the gym, but there you work on mass and get very tired. You come home exhausted, you want to sleep, half the day is gone.

I’ve always been skinny, I’ve never been a fat pig. I’ve been skinny since I was a kid because I was a track and field athlete. Once I gained weight, I got to 89 kilos. Then I dried up to 84 kilos. Later I started filming for three months, then I abandoned everything and lost weight again to 77 kg.

My body gains mass very difficult. When I was a teenager, there was a period when I was chubby. Then my metabolism sped up, sports came into my life, and I lost weight. Now I just keep my tone, I don’t get fat. After 30, you need to maintain yourself especially.

About your daily routine and diet

I don’t like to sleep before dinner. I get up at 9:00-9:30. I sleep eight to nine hours, which is very important. If I don’t get enough sleep, my brain doesn’t work. When I have work, I make sure I take time to sleep. Without it, a long shooting project will not be able to cope.

I don’t often eat in cafes, I cook myself. It’s a pity to waste time and money. I always eat breakfast at home, I have no energy without it. I usually make oatmeal, add nuts and cheese. And when I get bored with porridge, I switch to eggs with bacon and bread.

Variety is important everywhere – both in training and in food there should be novelty. Everything sooner or later gets saturated, the brain gets used to everything.

If I travel to a meeting, I have lunch in the city, of course. And I make a light dinner – usually cottage cheese and a squirrel. On the set in general lafa, there is usually a classic movie fodder, several types of dishes – the first, second and salad. I used to drink coffee, but my nervous system reacts well to these stimulants, so I switched to green tea.

I try to eat right, but I also eat fast food. I do not limit myself in food, except that before filming sometimes go to rice with breast. I can afford to drink alcohol at the end of the week. But to drink wine in the middle of the week, to relax – there is no such thing. I have never wanted to smoke either.

I come from Belarus and I love potatoes. We have a huge number of fields, the agrarian sector is developed, so they grow a lot of potatoes. I like it in any form: mashed potatoes, baby potatoes, on the fire.

About acting and new projects

After “Youth” I don’t follow hockey. I watch only at the national team level. I didn’t want to continue playing after filming either, I like soccer better. Hockey is a cool story, but only for the series, no more. Before the first season (and the next ones, too) there were two or three months of training three times a week. They were held in Krasnogorsk in “Snezhkom”. None of the actors really knew how to skate, so during filming and on the ice, too, we continued to learn.

For three months, we so rolled up that it was already possible to stand on skates and think only about acting. All the hockey, of course, understudies did, but by the third season we were more or less on skates. Who did not know how to skate, were filmed only in close-ups, and on the general and medium already understudies performed.

For the sake of a role in the movie is ready to go to a lot. If the role worthwhile, I can gain weight, but no more than 20 kg. Ready to pierce the nose, learn to smoke.

Now I’m working on a project of his production Kapibara Production. It’s called Boanthropy. It’s a short meter, 18 minutes of story, a festival thing. The genre is social absurdity. A man turns into a cow under the pressure of society. I’m actually the producer and actor – the main role, I play a veterinarian. I really like the fact that actors can now be the creators of the process.

You don’t wait for anyone or anything. You take it and do what you like to do yourself.

The idea is mine, but I developed it with the guys, the partners. We just need to shoot a little bit more and then we’ll promote it. Filming yourself is a bit broader and more complicated, but it’s cool nonetheless.

About your personal life

For 33 years I’ve already had everything. I’m not afraid of anything in this respect. What will be, will be. And so, all is well on the personal front, regularly.

Everyone is polygamous – both men and women. It’s just a matter of degree – girls less, guys more. We are all polygamous by nature, but socially we are monogamous, that’s why conflicts arise on the contrast. You have to keep a balance.

I’m attracted to athletic girls. Gymnasts, swimmers, for example. But that’s not the main thing. A man’s charisma, charm, lively energy. Even if he’s ugly and has no figure.

I appreciate humor in a partner. It is an ability and a sign of developed intelligence, when you can create and put words into a structure that was not before you. There is a hypothesis that this is how a female can determine the intelligence of the male, good genes and that he will produce better offspring.

About goals in life and dreams

I do not rely on intuition. To achieve something, you need to slow down your emotional reaction and analyze the situation. Then think about what you need to do to make it not happen again and make it work. You may need the help of more experienced people. It’s important to take knowledge from those who can give it to you.

It’s hard to get aggressive. In my profession, I’m already very emotional, so I slow down in life. I’m not a robot. If I get excited, I try to think things through rationally. But it’s hard to get me so fired up, unless it’s necessary for the role.

Some irritants that make others sad, I usually do not hurt me. I’m stress-resistant, I have good brain chemistry. Thanks to my parents. I only need eight hours of sleep and breakfast to be active.

I’ve never been depressed. I know people who don’t release the joy hormone, it’s a glitch in their brain chemistry. I’ve never had that. Sometimes I get down, sure, but not for long. I pick myself up right away and move on. The brain responds to movement – walk, jog, dopamine release.

If you do nothing, it doesn’t get better. And if it doesn’t get better, what’s the point of being in this state? You have to get out of it.

I always go for novelty. When you unconsciously see a new stimulus, your mood rises immediately. When you move, try new things, your brain gives out positive energy. Books, pictures, movies are good distractions from problems. Alcohol is definitely not my thing, you wake up in the morning and it only gets worse.

How to stop spinning like a squirrel in a wheel? Give at least half an hour to new information, a new kind of activity. Start studying architecture, fine art, history, whatever you like. Everything is available now, wonderful free lectures, educational courses.

My dream is to shoot good projects and be a happy person. To do this, you need to fulfill all your needs. I’m 34 years old. This is the stage when everything works out. Certainly, you can do more, but what you have is what you have. There is time, you can achieve everything.