"Now I am going through a very difficult period." Antonina Khyzhniak - about what keeps her awake at night and why her first-grader son has not been to school for a single day

Actress Antonina Khyzhniak (Motria from the folk series Catching Kaidash) recently publicly admitted that she had broken up with actor Oleksandr Bodnar (star of the TV series The Trail). The couple was together for more than three years.

In a conversation with OBOZ.UA, the actress said that she is going through a difficult time. We met Tonia Khyzhniak at the pre-premiere screening of the Ukrainian film Robbery in Ukrainian, which is already successfully running in Ukrainian cinemas.

- Tonia, what is your response to the accusations that are sometimes heard in the space that some of life's joys, such as going to the cinema, are not in time now?

- Just today, my director friend and brother and I came to the cinema to be happy for our colleagues, to watch their work. In my opinion, some ordinary and simple joys of life should be present in the life of each of us, because otherwise we can very easily turn into biomass that wants nothing and, accordingly, cannot do anything. It is very easy to fall into depression and despondency. Then you will have to save yourself. However, when I talk about the joys of life, I mean simple things. Without any overkill with lavish celebrations like we saw at the wedding of the former prosecutor and SBI employee.

Now is the time when it is the personal responsibility of each of us to take care of our mental and moral state. Otherwise, it may happen that one of your dearest people will need help, and you will be lying in tears because you were afraid to go to the movies or to an exhibition with your child. You need to appreciate every moment of your life, but again, I emphasize: within reason.

- You are currently touring a lot in Ukraine with the play Basic Instinct, where you play with Taras Tsymbaliuk, Natalia Denysenko, Anna Salivanchuk and other colleagues. How has the audience changed during the war?

- We offer the audience a philosophical parable. It is about the value of life, about the fact that it is fleeting and people greatly underestimate the gift they have received. And very often it happens that in order to start appreciating it, they lose everything. And only then does something dawn on them. I cannot compare how the audience reacted to this play before and now, because this production was made during the war. But I want to say that the audience is very grateful. This is a supportive story, a kind of therapy. We have full halls.

- Where do you find joy in difficult times?

- Right now I am going through a very difficult period of my life. And at the moment I am in therapy to get through this difficult period. My life belief and advice to everyone is that you can't let your state of mind go to waste. Sometimes something will catch you and pull you down. Every day it gets worse, and you think, "I'll get through it. Tomorrow I'll wake up and it will be easier, but it won't. Every day you need to somehow support yourself, look for your own supports.

Something helps everyone. For example, I love going to the countryside. Touring is also an inspiration, and I communicate a lot with colleagues and the audience. This is how I gain positive energy.

Sometimes I need to be in absolute silence, so sometimes I don't sleep at night - I'm looking for some kind of inspiration. Just yesterday I didn't go to bed until four in the morning. I caught a great wave of creative inspiration and recorded a song for my social media followers, posted it - people had a very good response. And I thought: I can collect donations this way. I write songs, and I get donations for the collection. And as a result, I raised 10 thousand hryvnias for the Come Back Alive Foundation for one performance. I try to motivate people as much as I can, and I'm always thinking about what else I can offer them in exchange for donations to the Armed Forces.

- How did your son, who, as you said in your interviews, was very attached to Oleksandr, react to the news that you and Bodnar are no longer together?

- He reacted like a child, asking questions. I had to look for the right words to understand him. Maksym is already six and goes to school. We sent him off in September with a big company. My parents, brother, grandmother - his great-grandmother - were there. Maksym has a very cool support group. For now, he is still studying online because the school does not have a bomb shelter. This is how all the schools and kindergartens in our town (I live near Kyiv) that are not equipped with shelters work. They promise that the children will go to school, but for now, that's the way it is.

Also, read on OBOZ.UA an interview with TV presenter and actress Lilia Rebryk about her relationship with her husband's parents, pregnancy give birth. at 42, and the country where she will give birth. 

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