90s HEARTTHROB

Twenty years ago there was a joke that went like this: "If I ever go to America, I'll be sure to go to Santa Barbara, because I know everyone there." That makes it all the nicer to know that our guests from overseas can now say the same about our city. At least Lane Davies, who played Mason Capwell in the famous 1990s soap opera Santa Barbara, can. The American actor, who is already visiting Baku and working here for the second time, says that the Azerbaijani capital and its residents have been a wonderful discovery and have become dear to him. An R+ correspondent interviewed Lane Davies about his current projects, about politics and the theatre, about what's most important life, and, of course, about Santa Barbara.

- What brings you to Baku?

- I was invited by Vahid Mustafayev to play a role in his new project, Bloody January, dedicated to the events of January 20, 1990. I'm also assisting the director of the film as an acting coach.

- Did you know anything about the events of January 20, 1990, in Azerbaijan before taking part in this project?

- Almost nothing. When they took place, I was travelling the world and was cut off from the news. Also, I think that the Western media did not cover these events all that widely.

- How did you imagine Azerbaijan before your first visit in 2012, and how has your view of Azerbaijan changed - if it has changed at all - since then?

- I have to admit that before my first visit, I knew almost nothing about Azerbaijan - that was, incidentally, one of the reasons that I agreed to come here. I think that the average American probably doesn'tknow enough about Azerbaijan to form a definite opinion.

- What things do you see Azerbaijanis and Americans as having in common?

- Many of the basic human values - love of family, love of one's country, etc. Besides that, there seems to be an optimistic attitude among the people in Azerbaijan, as in the US. That is not always the case in countries previously under the control of the former Soviet Union.

- What do you like most of all in Baku?

- Most of all the people themselves. As for the city, it's beautiful in many ways. I really like taking walks down a boulevard alongside the Caspian…

- Do you take an interest in politics? Do you agree with the opinion that the world is on the brink of a second Cold War?

- I don't think it is. I think there is too much money at risk, and money seems to be ruling the world right now.

- They say that you met Putin. Is that true?

- Yes (laughs).That happened during my second visit to Russia, in 1994. During a meeting in Saint Petersburg with AnatoliySobchak, there was a short, fair-haired man with a very peculiar expression - like he wasn't looking at anything in particular, but at the same time he saw everything and everyone. I thought that he worked for the KGB. It was Putin. As for Sobchak, he was, in my opinion, one of the smartest and most progressive people I've ever met. His loss was great for "Mother Russia."

- The character you played - Mason - is remembered by viewers as someone who was capable of truly loving. Do you believe in love yourself?

- I don't think I would have been able to play Mason properly if I didn't believe in love. I still do believe in it. But I am now more aware of the many forms it can take than I was as a younger man.

- Why do you think there was such great and deeply-felt love for Mason in the former Soviet Union?

- I don't really know, though I am glad that he was so popular.I suspect it had something to do with his sort of tragic romanticism. There was something in his nature that people identified with.

- Give us the turning points in your life.

- High school, university, training as an actor in New York, Santa Barbara (of course), the birth of my boys...

- What does being a father mean to you?

- My sons are the most important thing in my life… Even now, when they're 22 and 24. I think I've been a pretty good dad, as they seem to enjoy my company, and have both been successful so far.

- Did you have a happy childhood yourself? What did your parents do?

- I did have a happy childhood. I grew up in a small town in the South, with three brothers and parents who loved me. My mother stayed at home, and my father was in radio at first, and then changed to the insurance business. 

- If you hadn't become an actor, what would you have become?

- A psychologist or something in the advertising business… but probably a psychologist.

- Who's been the most unusual person to ask you for an autograph?

- A Russian general at a firing range near Blagoveshensk[a city in the Russian Far East].

- A lot has been said about this topic, but I'd still like to hear your opinion: how are theatre and film different?

- The interaction. There is a psychic connection and energy exchange between actors and audience in a theatre, that isn't present in the movies. The theatre is more exciting, in spite of the lack of special effects, because it is live--no second takes. The theatre can't compete with the movies in terms of budget, but they can compete for the audiences imagination.

- Can you describe Hollywood in one word?

- I'm afraid to even try. It depends on my mood…

- Have you fallen in love with your colleagues on the set and stage?

- Yes.

- What is the difference between tragedy and comedy?

In playing it--timing. In writing it--the consequences.

- What are your betenoires?

- Out of the truly important things - bigotry, prejudice, "us vs. them" psychology. Out of less important things - littering outside, when people through all kinds of junk out of the windows of their cars, for example.

- What is the greatest pleasure for you?

- Your child's laughter.

- What do you value in a woman more than anything else?

- A sense of humour. Intelligence would have to be in second place, because it would be impossible to live with an intelligent woman who didn't have a sense of humour.

- Do you agree that we, in Azerbaijan, for example, know a lot more about Western culture than people from the West itself?

- Emphatically, yes.Very few Americans take an active interest in other cultures. Most think that if they've been to Europe, they're well-traveled. The fastest way to change this is through films like Bloody January.The more good films there are about Azerbaijan, the more the world will find out about it, and the faster that will happen.