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Alexey Morozov about his role in «Provincial»: I’ve played such a character for the first time

1 November 2021
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The premiere of the 24-episode action detective series «Provincial» will take place soon. The whole cycle of production of the picture was carried out by Kyivtelefilm Film Company.

The director of the picture was Sergei Shcherbin.

The male lead in the series was portrayed by the well-known actor of theater and cinema Alexey Morozov.

In the new ironic detective, the audience will see the famous artist as Nikolai Semashko, a provincial precinct who, thanks to his wit and full commitment to work, solved a high-profile crime and, having received a promotion, is transferred to serve in the city. However, not everyone is happy with the rapid career development of the young, ambitious investigator.

His fiancée Svetlana, with the support of her influential father, tries to resist the decision of her lover, again and again inventing new tricks to make him return to his native village. But all of her naive girlish schemes and methods are not only doomed to failure, but also cause serious trouble for Semashko.

In addition, the newly-made colleagues dream of their partner getting fired as soon as possible. His appearance in the department threw a wrench in all their plans to move up the career ladder. And, as puppets in the hands of corrupt high-ranking officers, for whom a principled captain has also become a pain in the neck, they try to get rid of him by any means necessary. At some point, their under-the-table games go so far that Semashko not just appears on the verge of being fired and losing his professional reputation, but effectively ends up on the dock…

Our journalists were able to talk to the main actor Alexey Morozov about more details concerning the character, plot twists and the work on the series during their filming.

All the details are further in the article.

About the character

– After reading the script, I realized that it is necessary to try myself out for this role and, if I am approved, to work in this project. I’ve never played a character like that before, and it’s an absolute expansion of my acting spectrum.

In the movies, I used to play roles of heroes in difficult circumstances, heroes with some sort of permanent internal worries. Roles with a third plane, as they say.

In this case, my character is the wonderful Kolya Semashko from the village of Soshnyaki – a man with absolutely open charm and energy, which, by the way, I also have in my character, it just wasn’t in demand earlier in the work. And he’s very diverse. You can’t say that he’s an exclusively radiant person who doesn’t know sadness. Of course not. He can be sad too, he can have some moments of despair and anxiety… But it’s all refracted through his inner light and its easyness. He even overcomes his difficulties in his own special way… It’s like he’s not going, but fluttering through life…

In the story Semashko is a real labor maniac (Laughs, – Ed.). He also has a fiancée, Svetlana, portrayed by a wonderful actress Yulia Yurchenko. It’s a funny couple. He loves her very much, but their relationship is somewhat childish. So it’s difficult to call him a lover hero in a way to which we are all used to. And I must say, I’ve never played so before either.

About the script

– We have an amazing screenwriter – an odessite Georgy Conn. Maybe it was the first time when I didn’t want to adjust the dialogue to myself. On the contrary, there was a desire to say the lines exactly as they was originally written. Because the lines were great indeed.

Plus, when working on the picture, we also tried to take into account the intonational nuances. Specifically, the melody of the speech, which manifests itself in a rather rapid pronunciation. We have a lot of long dialogue, and I think it’s great that we’ve accelerated it a little bit. I really like this pace and rhythm.

The audience will be exposed to a lot of information and humor that will be difficult to keep up with. And it’s much better than letting them anticipate what’s going to happen, get bored and change the channel.

About the audience

– By the way, I think our show will interest a pretty wide audience. It has both a romantic line that will be interesting to women and a detective one (with a lot of stunt scenes) that will attract the attention of men…

A more mature audience will probably like the episodes about the village of Soshnyaki, where our protagonist comes from. A kind of modern Maxim Perepelica, as the director says. So both old and young can participate in the viewing.

About stunt scenes

– In our series, there are twenty-four episodes and in almost every one of them there are some stunt scenes. We had a great stunt director – Nazar (Nazar Maiboroda – director of the League of Stuntmen of Ukraine, Ed.) – who taught us all these subtleties: how to dodge a blow, how to punch in the gut to make it look believable, etc.

I certainly had some sports training. At the time I was actively engaged in acrobatics: studying at a theatrical institute and then working at the SDT – Theatre of Europe under the direction of Lev Dodin. But I have to say, I’ve never fought, shot, ran or rolled so much… And there will even be a stunt where I «fly» over the fence, which I also decided to do myself…

Approach to work

– On the whole, this project was perhaps one of the most difficult in my practice. Because it was accompanied by a great deal of work. But it is always very important to me that during the work each work group understood that all their tasks are related to one goal: to let the actors play. Otherwise, all their work will go to waste.

As the wonderful Alexey Balabanov used to say (when during the shooting of one of the pictures there was an uneditable issue and the actor was put into the frame in the wrong jacket) – no jacket will help if the actor didn’t play well. And on the contrary, if he played well, then no one will even notice that jacket. And it really is so.

It should be said that we had wonderful work groups on the project, employees of which all understood this well, and supported the artists in every way. They realized that we have a lot of pressure and responsibility upon us, because it is our faces that will be seen on the screen.

On partners

Besides Yulia Yurchenko, whom I have already mentioned, among my main partners in the frame will also be the amazing artist Alexander Pashkov.

He and I not only found a common language (which is basically the main condition for a normal work), but were inspired by each other… We even had the idea to film something together. And it’s great when that happens. When the energy flows from partner to partner during work, it gives the extra power that is so necessary.

About the director

– Regarding the work with the director, I would like to say that we have long wanted to work together with Seryozha. And as a result of our cooperation, I can say that he reminds me of a lion (Smiles, Ed.).

A lion, who sits in ambush until time, sometimes invisible and not heard on the set, but who at some point, when the complexity of the stage demands it, suddenly jumps out of his hiding place and begins to explain and show how and what to do. I’ve never seen this kind of directorial approach to work before, so I found it very interesting.

About directing

– Generally speaking, this profession is largely technological. And the most important thing for the director is a clear understanding of what he wants to shoot, why and for what. I discovered this when I started directing and successfully shot several works.

And I want to add that I really like one interesting, yet paradoxical, message: that any creative profession is to wait and be silent without working. Sometimes you don’t have to turn on the working motor for something to happen. On the contrary, it is sometimes necessary to make the process and its feeling more light.

For example, you don’t need an actor to show off in a shot. This excessive tension can be felt immediately. Therefore it is important that this feeling of «non-work» is present…

The same goes for the director. Only in this state will he be taken to a new philosophical peak. Because again, although this profession is very technological, it is always important for him to understand what he wants to say with his film, with this or that stage, with exactly that expression of an artist, and not with the other. Relatively speaking, to understand on which «spit» he skewers this «kebab». But, as strange as it is, not all directors today have this understanding…

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We will remind you that filming of the series was completed in August of this year, and the material is now in the post-production stage.

More details about the cast and the filming process can also be found in the following articles:

«Shootots, chases and fights: Kyivtelefilm continues filming the series «Provincial»

«Provincial»: About the scenery, script and acting ensemble»

«Shooting of the series «Provincial»: About the work of the creative group»

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«Provincial»

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24 episodes

Crime melodrama

Year 2021

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Screenwriter: George Konn

Director: Sergey Shcherbin

Director of photography: Anton Verbin

Production designer: Alexander Ukolov

Costume designer: Tatyana Zubareva

Make-up artist: Irina Boytsova

Director of the film crew: Artem Suliga

Executive Producer: Pavel Karvan

General producer: Valentin Opalev

 

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