"We did not manage to live a family life." Darya Leheida talks about her husband in the Armed Forces and the topics she considers incorrect

The famous Ukrainian actress Darya Leheida, who practically never left the TV screens before the full-scale war (The Serf, The Worst Friend, Daughters and Mothers, There Were Two Sons, The Artist), has starred in a feature film for the first time - the tragicomedy The Easter Egg, which is already being shown in Ukrainian cinemas. We met the actress at the premiere of the film in Kyiv.

In an interview with OBOZ.UA, the actress spoke about her life during the war and her husband, the famous actor Dmytro Sova, who defended the country last fall.

- Is it true that The Easter Egg is your first film on the big screen?

- It's not my first feature film, but it was the first one to be released. Before that, I starred in the movie Our House on Fire directed by Olesya Biletska. It is also about the present, the beginning of the war. Now this movie is being edited, and soon we will see it too. "Krashenka" appeared earlier, and it turns out that this is my first appearance on the big screen.

-How many times have you seen the film, given that you traveled aroundUkrainewith pre-premierescreeningsbefore the movie was released in cinemas?

- I have already seen the movie four times, and each time it was exciting. I love this movie a priori and probably cannot be completely objective about it. But we receive extremely sincere and powerful feedback after the screening from viewers who watched the film with us in different cities of Ukraine. And in Kyiv, people came up to me after the movie in the same way. I didn't see any flattery or anything else. I think everyone was very sincere and really impressed by the movie in a good, kind, warm way.

- Tell us about your favorite moments in the movie. There are a lot of warm scenes.

- What I like about the movie is that it is very well built on interesting details, as you rightly noted, small but important. Sometimes they are intimate, tender, and touching. There are quite a few of them in this movie. We had a very sociable atmosphere on the set, and this was reflected in the film.

My favorite line is the stories of the main characters who are children. When my teenage son, like a real man, tries to calm his beloved down during missile attacks. And he does it in the only way available at the time - through dance. Or when she tells him that she has to leave Ukraine because her parents decided to do so for safety's sake, and after a heartbreaking goodbye, he shouts after her that the war will not last forever: "I know it will end soon!". Such scenes just break your heart. I also really like the moment when Stas Boklan's character desperately declares about the Russian occupiers that he will "wipe everyone off the face of this world." At this moment, I feel with all my heart how much I am hurt and bitter that our lives have been broken in such a way.

- It's not the first time you've played together with Stas Boklan, who plays the main role in this film. We met on the set of both The Serf and The Artist. What is Stanislav like off-screen, in real life?

- In The Easter Egg, he is very touching for me - the national hero Ivan Zabiyaka, who dreams of launching a missile at the Kremlin and ending the war. He is a collective image of fighters for justice who resist against all odds. And they are ready to make sacrificial acts for the sake of the future of their children, grandchildren and the whole country.

I really like Stas as a person. He is bright, kind and big-hearted. He's not a grump like the one in the movie (laughs). He loves his country, his family, and his acting very sincerely. I respect his position that he chose in communicating with journalists: not to give interviews and comments. And to be honest, I understand him to some extent. Sometimes there is indeed a problem with the competence of journalists: sometimes you watch a report or read an article and are surprised to find that the conversation was about something else entirely. This is how the desire to give interviews disappears. Plus, many of us want to protect everything related to family and personal life.

- How did you get the job at The Easter Egg?

- I saw a post on Facebook by casting director Olena Prylipko that auditions were underway. I immediately wrote to her, but she replied that I was not suitable for the role because I was too young. But a few days later I wrote again. She asked me to record my audition. And I was approved.

- I must say that in addition to your bright career in cinema, you have good roles in the capital's Franko Theater, which is experiencing an incredible heyday right now - tickets for performances cannot be purchased for several months in advance.

- I've always been very fond of the Franko Theater - it belongs to my heart. And I got there, I think, for a reason. This is my path, although it is quite difficult. I can't say that I have an amicable relationship with the theater. As an actress, I would like to develop, to play more often, to have more leading roles. I'm not saying that I don't have them, but I would like to have more. And I hope that everything will work out with my theater.

And if we talk about how much it is blossoming, this is undoubtedly true. Because we have extremely talented actors and incredibly wonderful directors. I think everyone has heard of The Witch of Konotop and other plays by Ivan Uryvsky. In fact, any other play by this director is no worse than The Witch of Konotop. It's just that this one caused such a boom, attracted attention. David Petrosyan's performances are something extraordinary. Dmitry Bogomazov is staging wonderful productions. The theater is reviving, it's about the present, it's modern. It's like a second wind is opening up. And God grant us a long life.

- Your path to acting, as you said in your interview, was not easy. You didn't enter the university the first time, and for several years you studied another profession. What advice would you give to people who have to start all over again because of the war? How not to lose hope that everything will be fine?

- I must say that my youthful experience and what many Ukrainians are going through now are very different. I am incompetent to give advice to those women who have lost their jobs, homes, or even their country for a while because they had to take their children to a safer place. The only thing I would like to say is that I am with these people with all my heart and all the pieces of my soul, and I think it is extremely important to support such Ukrainians. We are strong, persistent, and do not give up. We have a lot of inspiration to continue living in spite of this damn war. And supporting each other is the most important thing.

- At the presentation of The Easter Egg in Khmelnytsky, you met your husband, the popular actor Dmytro Sova, who went to the defense of the country at the end of last year and is now serving in the Khmelnytsky region. What was that meeting like?

- Unfortunately, we don't see each other very often now. And now he has been released from the service - we are very grateful for that. And such meetings are extremely important for each of us. You see how it happened: we got married and the war started. We have not been able to live a family life yet. But, you know, even though we are at a distance, we are actually close to each other. I feel his support, and I hope he does too. And we are doing everything we can to make this terrible time easier for each other.

- How did you take the news that first your father announced to the family his intention to go to defend the country, and then your husband?

- I won't reveal anything new here: every woman, of course, is afraid, worried, and cries first. And these are different stages of denial and then acceptance of the situation. We are only human beings. But, frankly, I didn't expect any other reaction from my dad. I knew he would do exactly what he did. It was clear on the first day of the war. Dmytro had to stay with us, although he wanted to leave right away. He and my dad had their own conversation about the responsibility he should take for my mom and me.

What else can I say? I can be afraid and worried as much as I want, but most of all I want to support and respect their choice. Because this choice is extremely important in today's realities. If it were not for these men-warriors, I don't know where we would be now. And what would have happened to our country. So, tears aside. If you fight, you will overcome.

- Have you developed any new rituals in your family during the full-scale war? For example, TV presenter Marichka Padalko, whose husband is also in the Armed Forces, told us in an interview that she, her husband and three children have started a rule: every day at a certain hour, the whole family goes on a videocalland talks about their day .

- We don't have this, because every day doesn't have a clear plan. Dad has flights at completely different times and days (he is a bomber pilot), and Dmytro serves in the same tactical aviation brigade in Starokonstantiniv. You can't schedule calls in advance. We talk to my dad whenever he has the opportunity to call me, and the same goes for Dmytro. My mom now lives in Yaremche. My grandmother stays in Odesa, my aunt in Moldova. We contact each other as soon as we have the opportunity.

How does my grandmother live in Odesa, which is constantly under fire? Like all Odessans, it's hard and scary. But she says it's where she belongs, she doesn't want to leave. I visited her recently, we haven't seen each other for over a year. On the first day I arrived, that terrible tragedy happened, when the Russians launched a missile strike that killed small children... My grandmother, like every Ukrainian now, lives her difficult life in this damn war that our "brotherly" people have arranged for us.

- What do your father and husband say about the timing of the end of the war?

- We don't talk about it. It seems to me that it is intolerant to ask people who are fighting so hard to win: when will the war end? By the way, this is what specialists who deal with the socialization of soldiers returning from the front to civilian life also say. There is no need to ask: "When will it be over?" "Can it be sooner?" Life is happening here and now. And if you give all your energy to waiting, will you have enough left to just live? And you have to live - in spite of everything. And victory will come. And perhaps it will not even come in the way we imagine. It may come quietly, like a miracle, which we are waiting for. In the meantime, we just need to bring this victory closer every day with our actions - to do what depends on each of us.

As for wondering when, what, how... To be honest, I stopped thinking about it probably a week after the start of the full-scale war. I felt that it was not for two or three weeks, as one famous "pilot" predicted. I just fought for every day with every fiber of my being - to be able to live and fight.

- Dasha, did you change your surname after your marriage?

- In my marriage certificate, I have a double surname - Leheida-Sova. But this document is the only one. Due to the outbreak of a full-scale war, I did not have time to submit documents to change the data in my passport and other documents. So for now, it's like this.

- How did the war change you and Dmytro?

- This is a difficult question for me. I don't even know how to answer it. It is very difficult for me to talk about myself, to analyze. It's probably better to ask people who see me from the outside. As for Dmitry, of course, he has changed. Like every man who defends the country. Oh, it's really so hard to talk about it... You know, at some point it seemed to me that he had somehow even faded away. Things like war change a lot. And not in a happy way. He doesn't laugh as much as he used to. And Dmytro is a very cheerful person by nature. He would like to run marathons, which he loves, travel a lot, as he used to do before - he misses these emotions. Warmth, love, communication, and everything that is associated with the simple word "live". Instead, our guys are forced to defend our land with blood and sweat. But life goes on, the only thing is, as I said, I want to see my husband more often.

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