Russian actor Alexander Petrov has admitted that maintaining friendships with fellow actors does not come easily to him, saying rivalry within the profession usually gets in the way. He made the comments in an interview with Gazeta.Ru ahead of the September 13 premiere of the second season of the reality show "Fort: Return of the Legend" on the STS television channel, which he is once again hosting.
Petrov, best known for starring in the popular comedy series "Politseysky s Rublyovki" (Rublyovka Cop), told the outlet that filming the second season of Fort was just as physically demanding as the first. He said he was on his feet from morning until night and rarely had time for a calm meal or a cup of coffee, since he had to eat quickly before moving to the next location. Ten minutes of quiet, he said, felt like a luxury, though he understood what all the effort was for.
What draws him to the show
Asked what he particularly liked about the project, Petrov said it was not built on manipulation or intrigue. He described it as an honest show that reveals participants from a completely new side, adding that viewers are used to seeing these people from a certain angle, but on Fort they show their genuine, sincere selves. He said the story is not only about people overcoming their fears, but primarily about being able to drop the mask and be who they really are.
This season, Petrov shared hosting duties for one episode with actor and comedian Sergey Burunov. He said having a co-host genuinely helped, since carrying the show alone is not easy and the format traditionally had two presenters. At the same time, he described himself as a loner by nature who performs one-man shows and is used to controlling the process himself. Because he has been involved with Fort since its first season, on the side of the team that created and runs it, he said the right approach on set was for Burunov to appear more like a long-awaited guest who brought joy to people, rather than a co-anchor sharing equal control.
A rare friendship in the industry
Petrov said he always gets great pleasure from spending time with Burunov and values him highly as a friend, calling that kind of friendship a rarity in the industry. When it was put to him that, according to Burunov's own accounts, he seems to be close friends only with Petrov, the actor said Burunov was also close with comedian Garik Kharlamov, a member of the Comedy Club troupe, but agreed that among actors specifically, he may indeed be Burunov's only close friend.
Petrov said it is generally difficult to be friends with other actors because it is hard to avoid competition, even when the actors work in very different roles or styles. He said that he and Burunov, however, have never experienced that kind of rivalry, and suggested this dates back to "Politseysky s Rublyovki," where the dynamic between their characters carried over, in part, into their real relationship.
Looking back without regret
Asked whether he watches his own work, including the first season of Fort, and whether he ever feels he should have done something differently, Petrov said that process never really stops. He explained that watching a project he has worked on always triggers a subconscious review of what he sees and leads him to draw conclusions, and that it is usually only after many years, as happened with "Politseysky s Rublyovki," that he recognises everything turned out the way it should and nothing needs to change.
He said he never wishes he could reshoot a scene, adding that mistakes, given enough time, tend to look correct and logical in hindsight. Petrov said he believes there should always be an element of imperfection in a project, because when everything is too polished it becomes boring, both for him and, he suspects, for viewers. As an example, he pointed to director Quentin Tarantino, who he said sometimes picked up the camera himself on set and appeared to shoot scenes incorrectly, yet that approach gave the scenes a certain edge. Petrov said that although it is clear an unprofessional camera operator was involved in such moments, the result often feels far stronger than a technically perfect shot, because life itself lives in those rough edges. He said that mindset is why he was not afraid of things going off plan while filming Fort, and that he even asked the production team to keep such unplanned moments in the final cut.
Time away from his family
Petrov spent more than two weeks filming in Kronstadt, a port town near St Petersburg. Asked how difficult it is to be away from home for such stretches now that he has a young son, he said it is hard. He said what helps him get through it is staying in touch with his wife and son through constant video messages, photos and calls, and that whenever he found a spare moment during filming he tried to quickly record something and respond. He added that looking forward to seeing his family again was ultimately what got him through the shoot.
