On the whole, I believe that a director should be fascinated by his actors. After all, it’s not just any work. I’ve already known for twenty years that Yakovleva will be present in my rehearsals, and that makes me snap to attention, think tensely, be dissatisfied with myself, and so on. But Yakovleva isn’t an angel; she's more like a devil. A beautiful one, to be sure, but a devil all the same. Her nerve, her unexpected laughter, her impossible pride, her endless digging in her bag while we’re talking about something important – all of this could give a person a coronary. But like I already said, it’s all part of a beautiful devil. And I’m happy that I’ve suffered for twenty years with her.