January 5, 2023 7.30pm
The director conceived the legendary hero in a completely different way.
Student Shurik, played by Alexander Demyanenko, has become one of the most recognizable characters of Soviet cinema. The hero immediately fell in love with the audience, and after the release of the films, many fans associated the artist only with his main role. Indeed, at the same time, Leonid Gaidai dreamed of seeing a completely different celebrity in the role of Shurik.
As it turned out, she initially approved the actor Alexander Potapov for the role in Operation Y. At that time she took part in the films “Way Stop” and “Fortress Actress”, which attracted the attention of directors. Gaidai was sure that it was Potapov, who looked much older than Demyanenko, who ideally embodied the role of student Shurik.
However, the artist did not come to the shooting. He was distracted by solving domestic problems and kept the director waiting. Gaidai, after another telegram, to which he received no response, called Demyanenko to the set, whom he considered a sort of fallback. As a result, the artist coped with the task set before him and presented the Soviet audience with one of the most striking characters.
