Linda Kalniņa: the "Gilindzher's seventh wife" label is a fact, but privacy has limits

Latvian choreographer and actress Linda Kalniņa has spoken in an interview with the news portal Delfi about how she feels about the label "Gilindzher's seventh wife", which is often attached to her. The conversation also covers creativity, her marriage to Gilindzher (Džilindžers in Latvian) and the courage to do what you truly want, even when others disapprove.

On the label and marketing

Kalniņa considers the description a fact. She stresses that she does the best she can in her profession and is married to a person she loves. Even before her marriage, she says, the Kalniņš family name was often mentioned alongside hers. She sees this as marketing: clicks are clicks. She understands that journalism is currently a very difficult industry and that gathering views is hard, so if a number or surname brings them, journalists will use it. She adds that this could sometimes be done more tolerantly.

Boundaries with the press

According to her, there have been specific articles in specific publications that crossed her boundaries. For that reason she now avoids those journalists, which she regards as her right. Kalniņa says there is nothing to hide in her relationship and that it has been discussed publicly quite a lot. Still, there is a zone she does not want to touch, perhaps precisely because people are so interested. She notes that everything has already been discussed anyway, even when she and her husband comment on nothing.

The interview also mentions that Kalniņa once worked as a secretary at a construction company, felt unhappy there and decided to start over.