From Illegal Immigrant to Hollywood Actress, Margarita Levieva Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details of “The Assassination of Litvinenko” [Interview

Last Updated on 02/22/2023 by てんしょく飯

An interview with Margarita Levieva, who played Marina, the wife of the poisoned Litvinenko, from “The Litvinenko Assassination,” a drama film that completely recreates the 10-year investigation of the “Litvinenko Affair” that shook the world, has arrived. The film is based on the novel “The Assassination of Litvinenko”.

Margarita Levieva, a hot actress, reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the much-talked-about film.

I was assassinated by Vladimir Putin. The assassination of Alexander Litvinenko (David Tennant), who died claiming he was assassinated by Vladimir Putin, and the 10-year struggle between a Scotland Yard investigator and his wife Marina Litvinenko that ensued, were filmed in the non-fiction drama “The Assassination of Litvinenko” with the full cooperation of those involved.

Margarita Levieva plays the role of Marina Litvinenko, who continues to appeal for the truth behind the murder of her late husband, who was poisoned to death in this film. How did the American actor create the role of Marina?　There was Margarita’s life story that was linked to the role of Marina.

How did this role come about?

Margarita Levieva: When the audition for the role of Marina took place, I was in Spain shooting another film. It was a very hard schedule and I was very tired at the time. Then I was asked to audition for “The Assassination of Litvinenko” and I thought to myself, “I would love to do it, but I don’t know how I would find the time.

The audition tape was due on Monday morning, and I was feeling very down that weekend, probably because I was tired. I told the friend I was video calling that I didn’t feel up to working on this audition. She said, “Just put your cell phone next to your computer and turn on the camera.” I said, “I don’t know the characters, I haven’t practiced, I haven’t memorized anything. There’s too much to do,” and she said, “I can feel Marina already inside you. So anyway, read the script,” she said. So I read it. We were both very surprised at the result. I could feel something coming out of me.

Marina is a very wonderful woman. Her courage, resilience, and integrity have always impressed and intrigued me. There was a part of me that wasn’t sure about playing her. But when I auditioned, I thought, “Oh, I could do it.

You live in the U.S. now, but are you originally from Russia?

Margarita: I grew up in St. Petersburg. When I was young, I was a rhythmic gymnast and was “owned” by the government. That sounds very dramatic, but at that time, as an athlete, it was a fact of life. I trained hard from an early age. When I was 11 years old, my mother took me and my twin brother to the United States on a tourist visa. Just like the scenario with Marina and Sasha (*Alexandre’s nickname) Litvinenko and his wife, “We’re going on vacation. Pack your bags.” And my mother told them that we were going to leave Russia for good.

As a Russian Jewish family, the anti-Semitism we experienced was a big part of the decision my mother made. I did not know much about Judaism because we were not allowed to talk about it. In Russia at the time, religion was listed on passports. I was not Russian, I was Jewish. I hid my passport because I did not want people to know I was Jewish. When I was a child, my parents took me to a synagogue and I was not allowed to go inside because of a demonstration. At that time, I couldn’t talk much about it because I didn’t want to get in trouble. My brother was called “kikeh” at school and often got into fights, and my mother could not go to the school she wanted to go to because she was Jewish. Those things were part of my life.

We went to the U.S. on a tourist visa, which was illegal at the time. We left everything behind. My father, my family, my grandparents, everything. My father moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Because we were illegal aliens, we could not return to Russia for about 10 years, and it took a long time to get any papers. But when we were able to return, we started going back to Moscow.

Did you know much about the story before this production began?

Margarita: I learned more as I began to do my own research. When this incident happened, I was shocked by the news, but at the same time not surprised. I didn’t know how much of the poison had been traced or where it was located, so I started doing some research, including reading a book called “A Very Expensive Poison” by Luke Harding (not translated into Japanese). It was interesting just to learn the scope of this story.

Alex Goldfarb, who is in the screenplay for this film, happened to be a friend of my stepfather. Alex sent his script to my stepfather and asked for feedback. My stepfather read it and called me and said, “My friend’s script is going to be quite interesting. He said, “There’s a role for a very nice woman, you should read it.” So I read it, and I liked the script and the role, and I said, “I’d love to meet this person. So I met with Alex Goldfarb, and he was surprised to learn that I was his stepfather’s daughter. He wanted me to play Marina. So we decided to write the script together.

I had been working on the script with Alex Goldfarb for about two years before I got involved in this drama. I just didn’t realize that he was the same Alex who had been the unofficial spokesman for the last weeks of Alexander Litvinenko’s life and had written a book with Marina about Sasha’s life and death. He told me that if “The Assassination of Litvinenko” were to be made into a movie, I would be a good choice for Marina. And later, when I auditioned for the drama, I found the name Alex Goldfarb in George Kay’s script, and I thought, “I know this name. And then I realized that was the Alex I had been writing the script with for two years.

Have you met Marina?

Margarita: We spent a lot of time together in London. I was very grateful; in the HBO drama “DEUCE/ Porno Street in NY,” my role was modeled after a real woman, but she didn’t want to get involved and we never met. So this was my first time meeting the real-life model in person. I was scared that she might not be happy with this casting. But a friend of mine who writes plays based on true stories gave me a good clue. She said, “People who experience something horrible and whose stories are told really appreciate it.” It was nice to know that before we went to our first meeting.

Marina was a very friendly person. She was very happy that I was playing her and even happier when she found out that I knew Alex. Since then we have become very good friends. When you meet her in person, you can see that her positivity and optimism is extraordinary. She has the belief that she is not a victim. This is not something that happened to her. This is not a divine curse. This is life and it happened the way it was meant to happen. She is so grateful for the love, support, and friends around her. Marina truly sees life through the lens of love. She says that the love she had with Sasha has lasted forever. Alexandre left her with this love and all those who now support her. Of course it is a battle for her, but it does not feel like a battle.

I watched a video of Marina being interviewed on TV a few weeks after her husband’s death and was impressed with how she had done it. She had never been in public before. She said, “It was very easy. I wasn’t nervous. It wasn’t about me. I had to tell his story.” The idea is that she is the voice of her husband. She reminds me of Jeanne d’Arc. Someone who is firm in her beliefs and faith. It is unwavering and much more than personal. Marina has such power. But at the same time, she is a petite and gentle woman. Full of light and positivity, she always holds that space. I believe that even though he is gone, they are still together; the cord between their hearts is still connected.

Did Marina have to convince people that her husband was poisoned and not mentally ill?

Margarita: It is hard to understand. I think if I were in that position. Not only was my own spouse poisoned, but now I have to convince people to believe me and my husband. Because what happened to them is so far from reality. Who would poison an Englishman on the streets of London? Who would do such a thing? It was interesting to talk with Marina about Sasha’s last statement. It was dictated before his death and read after his death, and it was a condemnation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Putin then made her doubt the truthfulness of Sasha’s words by saying, “Mr. Litvinenko is unfortunately not Lazarus.” Whenever this was mentioned, Marina would say, “But he is Lazarus. Even if he is not here, he is over there accusing Putin, telling his case, and winning justice. In this drama, Marina can do what she has always done: tell his story and tell the truth.

Sasha always said that these people would kill him. That’s why I left Russia. He didn’t want to die or be killed in prison. That was his daily routine. Right after he was poisoned, Marina believed he would survive. That’s why the last few days of police interrogations were so long and excruciating, because their time together was cut short. They felt safe in England, and Marina still does. We believe that Sasha was killed because for Putin and his regime, betrayal comes with retribution. What more can they do? They killed the people who betrayed them.

Did you have time to think about how Marina and Sasha felt during the filming of the hospital scene?

Margarita: There was no moment to look back. The whole time we were there, it was the same. The director, Jim Field Smith, did so much for this film. He said from the beginning that he wanted to film this drama as if it were a documentary. Many of the locations are actual places where these events took place. He said he cast all of us for a reason. He saw us as characters and wanted to create a space where we could interact with each other. That was very helpful to hear. His direction, set designers, and the entire production team provided an environment that made us feel like we were living this story. Everyone has a different job. All the actors have their own style. But when I was on set as Marina, I felt like I was living the situations of these people and places.

At Highgate Cemetery, we shot at the real grave of Alexander Litvinenko. That was very powerful. This scene had a huge impact on the story. Also, during the courtroom scene with James Ezrav, who played Marina and Sasha’s son, Anatoli, I kept looking at photos and videos during the shoot to get into the story. During a break in filming, I looked at a photo that Marina and Anatoli had taken at the courthouse and showed it to him. I said. ‘Who is this for?’ It is not often that we talk like this.

How was it working with David Tennant as Aleksandr Litvinenko?

Margarita: I had heard from people who had worked with David beforehand, and he was everything I had heard and more. They all told me what a wonderful man and generous actor he was, in addition to being extremely talented, and it was all true. There was a scene in the hospital where David Tennant, playing Alexandre, tells Detective Brent Hyatt, played by Neil Maskell, to promise to do justice. From the first rehearsal, when he said these words, we were all sitting around the bed crying. We wondered how we could all make it through that scene without crying. We really had to concentrate. And we all decided to hold back in order to film the scene. I felt like I was listening to Sasha, like I was in the room with him. It’s so inhuman to hear him speak and not get emotional.

The hospital scene was so condensed that David and I worked together for a little over a week. He embodied Sasha and gave us what we needed for the rest of the shoot and was very helpful in bringing this story to life. There were many times on the set that I thought back to our days in the hospital and the scene where he turns to the police and says, “Promise me.” I thought, “Okay, I promised him. I have to do this for him.” It was really great to work with David.

Did both Marina and Sasha have great faith in the British police?

Margarita: The detectives were exceptional in their work. Marina told me the actual story. Just seeing and experiencing their work and dedication was heartbreaking. The police did the job they were supposed to do right. They tried to keep their promise to Sasha and the wife he left behind, both of whom truly trusted the British police. Sasha was very proud to be a British citizen. It meant a lot to him to feel that he was part of a social system that was not broken or corrupt.

Without getting into newsworthiness and politics, this is also the case of one man, a British husband and father in his early 40s, who was murdered on the streets of London!

Margarita: There is an interview that I watched many times as part of the role, and there is a statement from Marina that grabbed me every time I watched it. These words remind me of why I tell this story. In an early interview when Marina and Alex Goldfarb were promoting their book, they asked Marina how she felt about being in public. She replied, “After all, a really good person was killed. And without me, no one would ever know about it,” to the effect that “I’m not there. If you strip away all the politics, he is just a good man who loved his wife and son and wanted to give his family a better life.

So, one might ask, why do we continue to protest Putin? It is because the late Sasha was a good man and believed in justice and morality. He thought it was not fair that these things were being done with impunity and no one was doing anything about it. I think Marina understood him like that. She knew what was important to him. She loved him. No one could stop her.

Was the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in September 2021 that Russia is responsible for the radioactive murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 announced during the filming?

Margarita: That ruling was announced on the second day of filming at Highgate Cemetery. When I came to work, everyone said, “Did you hear?” I remember saying, “I don’t know. Everyone on the staff, from the caterer to the PA, was excited about the news. Everyone was so into this story. I can’t tell you how many people I met who were excited to be part of this story, whether they were drivers or behind the scenes.

How do you look back on this role in your career?

Margarita: It is still fresh in my mind. It was definitely one of the more difficult and challenging jobs of my career. It was because I wanted to honor Marina. It does not mean that I am a selfish actor who worries about my performance. I wanted to do it right, whether it was in the way I spoke or the way I looked. I was deeply involved in Marina’s story, so I was emotionally invested in it many times. At the same time, Marina is not the kind of person who is always in danger. She has a strong sense of self. So I wanted to respect that and not get too emotional. I wanted to honor her.

I would like to do more work in the UK. A lot of the work I admire is coming out of the UK, so I got an agent in the UK. I hope to be a part of that. I am an American actress, but I am also Russian. So I feel like I have a European sensibility. I want this drama to be seen by many people and I think it will have a great impact. In England, the story is very familiar. In the U.S., not so many people know about it. I would like more people to know about it.

The drama “The Assassination of Litvinenko” is available in subtitled and dubbed versions exclusively on “Star Channel EX” and broadcast exclusively on “BS10 Star Channel”.