Rafayel Kotanjyan: “I do not play; I live in the character” (video)
“Once my mother, a resident of Leninakan, comes to Yerevan to be admitted to a medical institution and meets my father, who was born in Kars. I was born in Tbilisi, where my father was sent to work. Maybe if we didn’t move to Yerevan, if I didn’t attend the school after Mayakovski and didn’t meet the teacher of the Russian language, who had dreamt about the actor’s profession but for some reason had chosen pedagogy, and who awakened my love to the stage, I would probably listen to my father and become an engineer,” says Rafayel Kotanjyan, People’s Artist of the Republic of Armenia. He was a student of high-level filmmaking when he was shot in Gayda’s “Diamond hand” film. A small scene but warm memories. “I don’t play, - says Rafayel Kotanjyan, - I enter and live in the character.” He has never had lack of characters both in the theater and in films. He has been shot in different film studios, in the best films of the best directors. “There were many happy days in the theater, - he says.- I played the best characters in Dramatic Theatre. There were performances that were played 300-500 times. In a theatre, you have an opportunity to refine the character, but in films you play and that’s it; at best, you can choose the best take from a couple of takes.” “Happiness is a good family and a favorite job. In this respect, I am a happy person. Today is Rafael Kotanjian's jubilee.
