In the musical show “Ida”, which was staged this weekend in Bhima, Guy Demidov plays (alternating with Gal Goldstein) Moshe, the director of a government office in Zabar, to whom the heroine of the plot, the legendary prisoner of Zion Ida Nodel, comes to him to receive support for the association she founded. He also shares with Edi Alterman the role of activist Aliyah from Russia.
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Demidov, the son of the actors Israel and Svetlana Demidov, the “Queen Mother”, as he says, chose not to start his career at the Gesher Theater, of which his parents were one of the founders, but he prefers his own path, as part of the emerging Demidov empire that includes his older brother, Daniel (34), who plays at Meditek and his younger brother, Emanuel (26), who plays in the “Hebrew Theater”.
In “Ida” Demidov gets to work with Tsadi Zrafati, the man and the legend, the director of the play, which was woven and woven by Shai Lahav. “It’s crazy to see my side while working,” notes Demidov. “I had so much fun with him from the audition, that I didn’t want it to end and it continued in rehearsals. For me it is also an honor to play opposite a great actress like Gila Almagor, who plays the role of Ida Nodel. When she comes to me in the play as the director of the government office, I wonder who I am opposite” .
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From the dawn of time, the “sandwich son” of the Demidovs became aware of the complex reality involved in their occupation. “If on the one hand I saw my parents fulfill their destiny as actors, while they worked very hard, on the other hand there was really no money at home,” he says. “Maybe that’s why they didn’t push us to become actors, but they didn’t succeed.”
Where is the rebellion?
“Our rebellion is mainly about how to reach the destination. I want to achieve my goals purely on my own. If I could make the last name disappear, I would do it.”
Your brother, Daniel, brought back your Jewish surname, Halperin.
“I intend to go to the Ministry of the Interior and change to Gabriel Demidov-Halperin. Demidov is part of the incarnations of the family during the communist period and I will continue to keep this name that my father became so famous with, knowing that a complete renunciation of this name is only considered rebellious. I have no intention of cutting myself off from the tree “.
Gabriel?
“I was born in Guy, but when I was in the second grade I got very sick. So my father lost the token, when he realized that compared to his two other sons, named Daniel and Emmanuel, I lacked the ‘El’ in my name, which was an addition to the mess of being the sandwich son.”
According to him, he knew as a child that one day he would follow his parents into the theater, but when he enlisted, he preferred combat service in the Nahal, “where they balanced me after I arrived with very right-wing views.” When he was released, he flew to Germany, where he sold oil paintings in carts. “I said to myself, If you want to spend money with something that is actually a big bluff, then from the Germans,” recalled Demidov, who later traveled with friends to India and Nepal. “Maybe it will sound kitschy, but I went to India to discover myself. What came out of it, that I decided to exercise my abilities in the direction of acting.”
“Indeed, following Daniel, I went to study at the Yoram Levinstein studio,” he says. “In the studio it was difficult, but amazing, especially because I connected there with Rafi Niv, a director I believe in and participated in several plays he directed.”
Demidov, who is 1.92 m tall, but did not use it to develop a parallel career in basketball, emerged for Russian roles in the “Kings” and “Doubles” series. “You can’t hide the Russian in me,” comments the young actor, who in some of his photos looks as similar to his father as two drops of water. “But all in all, I feel Israeli in the most exaggerated way possible. I live and breathe this country, which burns me even more than the game. I hope I will be able to break the stigma.”
After Daniel appeared at Gesher in a show with your father, is there a chance we will see all the Demidovs together in one show?
“Indeed, there were talks about it. There is no shortage of material. It seems to me that if we write our lives, it will be dramatic and funny at the same time.”
And the dream?
“To simultaneously develop a career in the United States as well.”