January 27, 2023 15:00
Could not do otherwise.
Eldar Ryazanov’s comedy “Hussar Ballad” is still adored throughout the post-Soviet space. The main female role was played at that time by an unknown Larisa Golubkina. For her sake, the director even rejected the candidacy of his adored Alice Freindlich.
35 actresses applied for the role of Shurochka Azarova. Among them were Lyudmila Gurchenko, Svetlana Nemolyaeva and Valentina Malyavina. However, Ryazanov leaned towards Freindlich, but the 22-year-old Golubkina, who had not previously acted in films, intervened in his plans.
The candidacy of the actress was recommended to representatives of Mosfilm by classmates, who said that she would definitely cope with such a role. Golubkina was invited, dressed in a uniform and gasped – it was as if she was born in it! In addition, the actress was young and full of youthful enthusiasm, and this is exactly what is needed for such a role. Freindlich, at that time, was about 30 years old, and she would certainly betray her feminine nature. This is how, in a gentlemanly way, Ryazanov refused his favorite. But he promised to shoot her in the following films and kept his word. About how she got the coveted role, Golubkina told reporters “Komsomolskaya Pravda».
