Oksana Grigorieva: «Now Mel has eight children and he infinitely loves each of them!»

In her exclusive interview to «The Komsomolskaya Pravda» the Russian pianist and Hollywood star’s beloved offered her insights about her life after giving birth to her daughter.

It’s 9 a.m. in Los-Angeles. The young mother is getting ready for her first interview for a Russian newspaper. And she seems to be nervous.

«The Komsomolskaya Pravda» is calling. Oksana apologizes for her «poor» Russian. Overlooking her deep American «r», which has already become part of her nature, she has impeccable Russian, which we can hardly say about her pauses, intonation patterns and the way she expresses herself. Mel Gibson’s Russian sweetheart, Oksana Grigorieva, became a public person only seven months ago, when she appeared walking hand in hand with Mel Gibson, the father of her future child, along the red carpet in Los Angeles. It seems that her biography has been written and rewritten many times since then. It all stopped when she gave birth to their baby a month and a half ago. Ever since she has been accompanied by an «information bodyguard» – her personal press-agent. It’s a rule.

«I told my agent I am going to speak Russian, that’s why he allowed me to stay at home», Oksana is almost whispering into the receiver.

The house where Oksana lives is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It doesn’t make much sense to ask why she loves Los-Angeles, but still…

«The nature and the mountains here are breathtaking,» says Oksana. «Only a couple of hours driving and you can ski. It’s sunny all year round. Seasons gradually change from one to another. My mum is currently living with me here. She came several months ago to help me with the baby. My mum can hardly believe it – it’s winter now but we have a million scarlet, white, red and pink roses! To tell the truth, I adore lilies of the valley, but they are so hard to find here…»

Prayer for the son

At the end of October Oksana gave birth to a baby. They gave her a name of Lucia-Anna. I cautiously ask her about her daughter, but she hints that she would be happier to discuss music first. Her pregnancy didn’t stop her from releasing an album «Beautiful Heartache» this year. It’s full of love stories. Lyrics to two of the songs were written by Mr. Gibson, whose production company, called «Icon Records», signed a contract with Oksana to record the album. He also directed four of her clips.

«It’s said that in order to write deep poetry one has to be at least half unhappy, but you have everything …»

«I have been coming to recording an album my entire life. Every song there is a short story, although they are not autobiographies,» Oksana warns. «It was a bit scary because Mel offered me not only to write songs but also to be the producer of the album. And working as a producer in music – it’s like being a director in a movie! Fortunately, I was saved by my intuition and a strong musical background. I started playing the piano when I was 3 years old and writing music when I was 6. (Oksana’s family was living in Saransk at that time and both of her parents are professional musicians – ed.). It’s hard to comprehend why you are doing this at such a young age. I usually took a small TV set, put it on the piano, turned off the sound and started composing a tune that would fit the picture. I remember I was greatly impressed by Tarkovsky’s «Solaris» and I wrote quite a big tune for it. But if you’d like I can tell you my personal secret: a song in the album called «Angel» I dedicated it to my 12-year-old son Alexander (Oksana and Timothy Dalton’s son – ed.). It’s sort of my mother’s prayer for my son that gives him support and hope in time of trouble. Alexander loves this song a lot. He is actually quite musically gifted. He plays the guitar. As for me, all of the songs from the album are dear and very special to me. However, I’d like to mention two of them specially – «Flying Upside Down» and «Love goes on» – they express my nostalgia for Russia.

«Oksana, who was your most important listener and critic?»

«Of course, Mel. He was my first listener and critic. He supported my initiative and so did my mum. She is a musician herself but I couldn’t show her anything personally and had to send the recordings through my younger sister Natalia.»

A hammer and sickle on the right leg

Oksana Grigorieva is coming to Russia this March. She hasn’t been here for 17 years. Since 1993…

«In one of your clips there is a close-up of a tattoo on your right leg – a hammer and sickle…»

«It’s not real!» Oksana laughs. «It’s Director Gibson’s idea. His, so to say, greetings from Russia!»

«But Russia has changed greatly over this time.»

«I am absolutely positive Russian soul remained unchanged! As for me, I had a ordinary Soviet childhood. And a happy one. I was rewarded for excellent grades at school by summer trips to pioneer camps «Orlenok» and then «Artek». I spent a lot of time playing the piano. When I was at the musical college, my skin on the fingertips used to crack because of practicing too much. I also helped my mum to look after my younger sister. She is 13 years younger than me.

«Do you remember what kind of music you used to listen to then?»

«I was brought up on classical music. I still play Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Chopin. And I am fond of Alla Pugacheva! I hope when I am in Russia I will have a chance to listen to her breathtaking voice.»

«So, why did you leave Russia?» I am asking Oksana, going through her biography once again: she left Russia with the aim of conquering London right after she graduated from the conservatory. At first, to survive in a strange city she had to look after an elderly English lady and work as a part-time waitress in a café. It was exactly there that Prince Charles’s cousin – an official photographer of the Royal family - noticed Oksana. Fashion-magazines lined up in order to have a chance to get a Russian beauty…

«I was young. I had a craving for studying. I adored London and was living there anticipating a miracle to happen. I was dreaming of seeing the world. Yes, life was tough: a foreign country, a foreign language, no financial support. But I kept working and studying. I gave piano lessons, worked as a model, wrote music for shorts and studied at a musical school. It was abroad that I understood what «Russian soul» stood for. It’s full of internal romance, anticipation of some sort of a miracle and innate optimism. Things which are hard to put into words saved me…»

Our daughter was named after her grandmothers

«Oksana, has your baby-girl already started to surprise you?»

«Lucia-Anna is a charming child. She is amazingly compliant and has a wonderful temper. I am definitely going to teach her play the piano. She has such cute long musical fingers! Our long-awaited daughter was born a month prior to the term which had been predicted by the doctors, and she demands a lot of attention, literally every half an hour. That’s why I am haunted by a slight longing to sleep. I suspect it’s true of all young mothers. I am a religious person. So, a prayer and meditation help me a lot.»

«Is Mel a good father?»

«Mel is a wonderful father. He absolutely dotes on our daughter. Besides, he has a lot of experience. He has eight children now and infinitely loves each of them.»

«You gave your daughter a double name…»

«We both have decided to name our daughter after her grandmothers – my mum - Ludmilla and Mel’s mum – Anna. I call her Lusechka!»

«After you gave birth to your daughter you got fit in almost no time. Could you reveal the secret: HOW?»

«To be honest, I am doing nothing extraordinary: I am trying to eat as little brown and white bread as possible. I keep my consumption of sweets under control, though I am crazy about them. Unfortunately, I am not doing much sport at the moment. I think optimism also supports me. It was a breathtaking year! In spite of all criticism and negative attitude towards me in the press, I feel happy. Because the truth always prevails!»

«Oksana, you know, it’s not that easy to interview a happy person! He or she has nothing to complain about».

«(laughingly) I am really happy and want to share this feeling with Russia. While I was living in Russia, I received an excellent musical education and now it’s time to pay off the debts and thank the country. I don’t want to argue with Feodor Dostoevsky, but I’d like to express my personal opinion: it’s not beauty that will save the world but kindness! The money from my album, videos and concerts is going to be sent to «Children of Chernobyl Fund» with only one aim – prevent more children’s deaths. In Ukraine there are annually about six thousand babies born with genetic defects and heart disease! Half of them die because lack of money for their operations and unavailability of highly qualified doctors from America and Ireland. I am flying to Kiev in a couple of month’s time and there I am going to meet all the children who are going to have such operations, from babies to teenagers.»

«And why Kiev?»

«I am going to start with Kiev. I am definitely coming to Moscow with concerts! If your readers are interested in joining me, they are welcome to visit my site – oksana.fm».Читать русскую версию: Оксана Григорьева: «Теперь у Мела восемь детей. И каждого из них он любит безгранично!»