In March, the second part of the fourth season of the Molodezhka series started on the STS channel. We met with Alexander Sokolovsky, who plays the role of the captain of the "Bears" Yegor Schukin. It turns out that the project participant in childhood did not even think of being a hockey player. And even got on skates relatively recently.

Text: Valeria Kostyunik
Photo: PETERZAKHAROV/GEOMETRIA.RU

- Alexander, how did you get into Molodezhka?

There was information about the hockey project on the Internet, I sent my data and photos. First, I was called to a casting, then a meeting with the director took place. Then there were the first tests, I auditioned for several heroes. It was the longest casting in my life, in addition to acting auditions, there were also sports ones. We watched how we skate on the ice, assessed the general level of physical fitness. Of course, during the auditions, everyone said that they skate well - I really wanted to get into the project.

And four years later, hockey infected you so much that you became a player in the amateur Night Hockey League?

Yes, our team is unique in that actors and musicians from all over the country play in it, any actor can come and say, I want to play with you. From Molodezhka, Ivan Dubrovsky plays with me, sometimes Vanya Mulin joins us. We periodically participate in away games, I flew to Tolyatti, Samara, Naberezhnye Chelny, played with local teams at a serious level.

- In the fourth season of Molodezhka, a hockey legend, Vyacheslav Fetisov, appears. How did you work together?

Imagine my feelings - this was a man from a parallel universe, from the world of big sport, and you should never have crossed paths with him. And here you go into the actor's room at the beginning of the shooting day and in front of you is a legend that millions of people are praying for ... An amazing story! And then he invites you to play together at the opening of the arena in Vladivostok, you stand in the same line with Fetisov, Yakushev, the anthem plays, and you play with the legends of Soviet hockey - these are such emotions! These are not butterflies, these are some kind of jet planes inside!

How do you get along with experienced actors on set?

We have a clear division between adult artists and young artists. A young actor has no right to tease an older one, there is subordination. The elders will definitely tease, they always do it. Of course, we treat them with great respect.

How do you welcome newcomers? You are already the fourth season on the site and every time new actors join you.

We have a tough hazing. At the time of filming, we have already become a real hockey team, and every newcomer at the beginning of the season goes through fire, water and copper pipes. These stories are not for the press, but trust me, we're not much different from a real hockey team. In our country, the introduction of a new person does not begin with filming, but with training that goes before each season. And the first acquaintance with a newcomer takes place on the hockey rink, I would even say, in the locker room.

- If you were offered another role in Molodezhka, who would you like to play?

It would be interesting for me to play the role of Kazantsev, it seems to me that this is such an interesting character, so many-sided, Vladimir Zaitsev makes him so cool. I would try, this is so not my role. He's so mean, yet so charming.

- Molodezhka is not only about hockey, it is also about personal relationships. Have novels flowed from screen to life?

This happens very often. But the series "Molodezhka" is unique in that over the four years of filming, not a single novel has arisen within the acting team, and in fact a huge number of guys and girls are being filmed. We didn't have any clue. We are all friends and communicate very well, approximately all of the same age and the same area of ​​​​interest, so we do not have disagreements. But with novels - an amazing thing, on all the projects where I used to star, some kind of relationship always twisted, but on Molodezhka - no. Everyone is already married, married and relationships are moving to another stage when you can be friends with families.

- Do your parents watch the series?

Yes, they are watching. They are my toughest critics in terms of any content, they watch good projects, and my mother and I often discuss this topic. She says that "Molodezhka" is a really cool series compared to everything that is on our television. We are not yet in the category to be compared with the West, we are moving a little in that direction, but are not yet ready to fully compete.

- In the fall, you participated in the Ice Age, did the experience of Molodezhka help on the project?

I was terribly disturbed by hockey training, because hockey and figure skating are completely different, this is a different skating technique. And when you skate like a hockey player for four years, and then they try to fix you, it's almost unrealistic. The project was given to me very hard, probably, it would be better if there was no hockey experience, I would have learned faster. But after the "Ice Age" I realized that if I have a girl, I will give her iron to figure skating, because this is a cool sport, very beautiful.

- You played a hockey player, participated in the project as a figure skater. What other sport would you like to try yourself in?

As a professional swimmer, my dream is to play a swimmer. I will not need an understudy, I will do everything myself. And athletics, I'd love to play a runner.

- Have you been swimming since childhood?

We are hereditary swimmers, always afloat - my mother is a professional athlete, she reached the second adult. As a child, I completed the first youth category, then my eyesight began to deteriorate and the road to professional sports was closed to me.

- And how did you get into the theater?

At the age of 9, my parents sent me to the theater, to their friends, apparently they felt that this irrepressible energy should be directed in the right direction, into creativity. It was an experiment that resulted in the main meaning of my life.

- When your children choose a profession, will you persuade them to choose an acting specialty?

Let them choose. I am grateful to my parents that they did not pressure me when choosing a profession, even if my children choose for themselves. The acting profession, the way it is seen and the way it really is - this difference cannot be explained. You can only feel it in your own skin. Of the graduates of the theater, only one percent achieves something in this area, because it is terribly difficult, it is for very strong people, morally, in spirit, in character.

- You both act in films and work in the theater. What do you like more?

I'm generally a filmmaker. I came to the cinema from the first year and somehow it happened that I decided for myself that cinema would be my main activity. The theater appeared in my life only two years ago, when Sergei Vitalievich Bezrukov invited me to the Provincial Theater, for me it was an experiment. There is a huge difference between theater and cinema. Cinema is a dead art, you get nothing in return, you only give a lot to the camera. Art is alive in the theater, you have a 100% exchange with the audience, direct contact, and, of course, the emotions that the theater gives as a result, cinema will never be able to give. Maybe at the premiere of your film, but you already feel it after the fact. And at the moment of the process itself, the stage gives much more. Al Pacino said a very right thing, the actor is like a tightrope walker. But in the theater the rope is stretched very high under the dome, while in the cinema it lies on the ground.

- What kinds of sports do you like?
- Hockey, football, running, swimming since childhood, this is my sport. Reached the youth category and graduated. Snowboarding in winter, wakeboarding in summer. I try to find time, but usually there is none. Well, the gym, of course. Depending on the role, you have to either gain muscle mass or lose it, we constantly walk along such a parabola.

- Did you start playing hockey after your role in the series "Youth" or before?
- I played yard hockey before Molodezhka. Then I started playing in the Night Hockey League - there are many divisions, teams by levels. Last year, for example, we flew to Sochi with a team and won our division. Everyone was surprised, since we did not have a single professional hockey player in the lineup.

- What is the team?
- The team with which I flew to Sochi is called KomAr - a team of artists. It was organized by producer Alexander Morozov, and it has a huge number of stars.

- What is the peculiarity of hockey training?
Hockey is a great sport, it really changes you a little. This is a sport for absolutely fearless people. So many injuries, as in hockey, there is no other sport. In Sochi, for example, in the semifinals, I went under the puck. We won this match at the cost of some of my damage. They knocked out my hip and limped for four days. In hockey, you don’t think with your head, there are instincts - as soon as you immerse yourself in this game, you start reflex thinking and fear goes away.

- Did you specialize in hockey for filming in the series?
- We were prepared very seriously, almost like an adult team is prepared before the season, the so-called hockey training camp. Three times a week we had ice, three times a week we had land. The task was to put us on skates at least in a few months, so that we would understand in the frame what a puck is, how to throw it with a stick, how to give a pass, see a partner, raise our head so that there would be no misunderstanding during the filming.

- And what about your passion for snowboarding? How long did you choose between a board and skis?
- At the age of 11 I had an attempt to go skiing and then until the age of 25 I completely forgot and did not even remember about this matter. I bought my first snowboard at the age of 25. I decided a long time ago that I would not get on the board until I bought a car. I couldn’t imagine a situation when I, after riding, all tired and wet, shaking in the train ( laughs).

- What does skating mean to you?
- Snowboarding is part of my culture, which appeared around the age of 14. At that time, I began to devote a lot of time to hip-hop - not only music and dance, but also philosophy. He wore wide trousers, caps, bandanas, hoodies, durags. Now I'm 28 and I've grown out of the hip-hop culture a bit, but I can still afford to dress like that sometimes.

"Snowboarding is a dream"

- How do you see yourself when you are on the board?
- There are different types of snowboarding: simple skiing, freestyle (ski jumping), jibbing (sliding on railings, walls, etc.), freeride and off-piste skiing. And each direction has its own difficulties. I like stunt, I like to jump, for me this is a buzz - in ramps, in pyramids. The most difficult thing is to catch the coordination. In snowboarding, the position of the body is completely unusual, because in any winter sport you have a natural body position: you ride facing forward, and then you just need to catch the balance. In snowboarding, you stand uncomfortable, it’s unusual for the body, so it’s difficult. The most difficult thing is to overpower yourself and move out once from start to finish, never falling.

- How long have you been riding?
- I'm skating for the third season, but I'm cunning. With my signature schedule called “months without days off”, sometimes it just happens that there is no opportunity to ride. If during the winter in the Moscow region I manage to get out at least ten times, I think that this is a good season. Last year, for the first time in my life, I learned what mountains are. I flew with friends to Sheregesh. This year, for the first time in my life, I learned what Krasnaya Polyana is. This is my first serious experience in the mountains, and, of course, after a tiny track in the suburbs, the mountains are just space.

- Are there any idols among pro-riders?
- I think Travis Rice is the coolest snowboarder. A person perceives an extreme sport as a philosophy, as the meaning of life. For me, any business that you do, to which you give yourself completely, should fill you so much that you will not perceive it as a fan, it is much more. People who do snowboarding because they see it as the meaning of life is very cool. I watched the movie Phase Four with Travis and a whole new world opened up for me. Before that, I was snowboarding just because I liked it, and after this film I left the hall as a different person and realized that snowboarding for me is something else.

"The snowboarder's way is a bit special"

- What are your impressions of Quiksilver New Star Camp?
- Very cool organization. A huge plus of this festival is that here you are completely disconnected from the outside world, from Moscow, to which you will have to return and worries and affairs will flood over you there. Everything here is beautifully done, as if you find yourself in a special world where skiers and snowboarders come, hang out, ride and have fun.

- Where have you been?
- I traveled almost all the tracks, watched in the park how the pro riders perform all their tricks on the big air. Every time I look at a person who does 6, 8 or even 3 rotations, and I think: he may not land now. It's so tough, it's space for me, crazy guys

- What about your plans for the future? What role would you like to play in a movie?
- Since I would not need an understudy for swimming, I would love to play one of the famous Soviet or Russian swimmers.

As for the snowboarder, I don’t know how relevant this is for us, maybe something about Vic Wild. I would really love to play a figure skater, especially after the Ice Age, in which I participated in the fall. Alexei Yagudin would play one of the Soviet greenhouses. Figure skating is absolutely our sport.

The actor of the series "Molodezhka" on the STS channel Alexander Sokolovsky talks about how the hockey player woke up in him.

Did you enjoy being "in bed" with TOPBEAUTY?

It was nice. My first bed photo shoot in my life - I thought I would be squeezed, but no. Everything went smoothly and comfortably. You have a great team!

Does the concept of "team" mean a lot in your life?

Everything. I believe that one in the field is not a warrior. Everything in life is accomplished by collective efforts. Cinema is created by a whole film crew.

Your hero from the series "Molodezhka" on the STS channel is also a member of the team, only hockey. After the release of the series, did you feel like a sex symbol?

We have as many as eight contenders for this title in the series, plus Denis Nikiforov, so there is someone to compete with. I don’t pretend to be a sex symbol, but I can feel the increased attention.

It seems to me that the image of a brutal hockey player especially affects girls.

I didn’t think about it, but after filming, I started playing hockey. That is, a hockey player woke up in me, and representatives of this sport are examples of masculinity. And I understand those girls who dream of such men.

• "Only the sniffing of a loved one can break the silence."

No wonder they say that every hockey player has a girlfriend, but not every girl has a hockey player. But back to the topic of our conversation: how do you like to fall asleep?

In complete silence, only the sniffing of a loved one can break it. This is the only background I allow. But at the moment I don't have a permanent girlfriend. So I fall asleep all the same without extraneous sounds.

What kind of girls do you prefer?

For me, the main thing in a girl is intelligence. She also needs to be goal oriented. Also - well-groomed and take care of yourself. There is an expression: "The way a man is dressed speaks of the taste of his girlfriend, and the way a girl is dressed speaks of the financial situation of her man."

It's clear. After talking about who you can sleep with, let's start a conversation about where to go to bed. What should be your bed?

The main thing is to be big. I love having lots of pillows. My current bed has four pillows.

Have you ever done bed scenes?

In the film "Split" I starred completely naked, at first I was embarrassed. Then I realized how sitters feel when they are painted. But they do not feel anything, the main thing is to overcome the barrier. I haven’t had explicit sex scenes yet, but I don’t think that they will be given to me with great difficulty.

And in real relationships with women, the thought of sitters helps to liberate yourself?

No, it's part of the job. In life, if you like a girl, then in any case you are shy at first. I don’t think that having replayed a hundred sex scenes with different partners, I will become such a cheeky macho in life.

On Sasha: shirt, Tommy Hilfiger Denim, 9990 rubles; T-shirt, sneakers, everything - Puma, 1990 rubles. and 6490 rubles; jeans, Topshop, 4999 rubles; watch, SUNLIGHT, 6990 rub. On Masha: sweatshirt, Puma, 3990 rubles; skirt, Topshop, 4499 rubles; slip-ons, Zara, 3599 rubles; ring, SUNLIGHT, 1710 rubles. On Petya: sweatshirt, sneakers, everything - Puma, 3190 rubles. and 6490 rubles; jeans, Versus Versace, 18,000 rubles. On Katya: jacket, Topshop, 6599 rubles; dress, Tommy Hilfiger Denim, 14,490 rubles; sneakers, Puma, 6490 rubles; watch, SUNLIGHT, 1990 rub. Bicycle, Electra

Photo by Pavel Kryukov

Sasha is one of the most sought-after and beloved by the audience actors of Molodezhka. In the series, Sasha plays the role of Yegor Schukin, the captain of the Bears Hockey Club.

EG: Probably, you can already be called a veteran of Molodezhka…

Alexander: Yes, I'm 76, I'm a veteran, you can say (laughs). I even remember how the "pilot" was filmed, when there was no talk of "Molodezhka" yet. We just tried. I remember very well when we filmed the pilot in 2012. Everything was different: there were other teams and a different cast.

EG: Is there anything that hasn't changed in these few years?

Alexander: In general, a lot has changed. The main thing remains - probably some kind of spirit of a series about sports, about love, about love for sports. Everything else has changed, of course.

EG: How has your character changed?

Alexander: Has changed a lot. After the third season, he stopped being a hockey player. This is probably the main change in my character, who has been a hockey player all his life. All in all, it was hard. Playing a man who has had his dream stolen is also, in general, not easy. Therefore, my hero has probably remained a little the same, but this is a completely different person.

“It could have been a series about chess, about curling, about football, but there would not have been such a response ...”

EG: What do you think, if it was a series not about hockey, but about football or rhythmic gymnastics, would it be popular?

Alexander: It could have been a series about chess or about curling, about football, about volleyball, but there would not have been such a response. Being a Nordic country where hockey has been the #1 sport all its life, it is only natural that a hockey series has become very popular. Maybe people lacked something patriotic, real. The series "Molodezhka" is not just about one hero, it is the story of a whole team. Why do films about sports teams always resonate so much? Because people feel they are part of something important. If we make sport a national idea and take it as a basis, this is the most correct thing for our country. So I think that's what happened.

On Sasha: T-shirt, Puma, 1990 rubles; trousers, Dockers, 7900 rubles; watch, SUNLIGHT, 6990 rub.

Photo by Pavel Kryukov

EG: Do you think vloggers can compete with TV shows?

Alexander: Well, they are very different markets. Still, the content that is distributed on the Internet, and the content that goes to television and cinema, are still slightly different stories. We may be dealing with similar stories, we have points of intersection. But in fact we are not competitors to each other.

EG: Doesn't it bother you that you had to study acting for many years, and bloggers just film themselves on the phone and become popular overnight?

Alexander: Well, first of all, there are a lot of those who take pictures of themselves on the phone and upload videos. Those who have millions of views are their few. Becoming a famous blogger is, in general, not so easy. I believe the market is extremely competitive. That is, everyone became a blogger. And popular bloggers, maybe 10-15 people. Some bloggers are more popular than many actors. They have their own niche, their own history. In general, if people do this and subscribe to them, then it is necessary, interesting and very popular.

STS viewers will meet New Year's Eve in the company of popular artists. According to the plot of the colorful show "New Year, children and everything!", the famous showman Dmitry Nagiyev undertakes to organize the holiday in a new way. In the ski resort "Igora", which will be aired on STS on December 31 at 20:00. It was attended by: the actors of the series "Youth" (Nikiforov, Sokolovsky, Kanopka), as well as Zara, Estraradada, Victoria Daineko. Correspondents of Piterzavtra visited the shooting of the New Year's holiday and talked with Yulianna Karaulova.

Piterzavtra: Tell us about your creative plans for 2018.

The plans are grandiose. Until I talk about the main ones, which really, really excite me, so as not to frighten me away. And so, there are many interesting projects ahead and, in general, there is a desire to change your whole life upside down.

Piterzavtra: Maybe you can hint: cinema, theater?

No, no, no, you can’t talk about such things until they are fulfilled.

Piterzavtra: In general, if you sum up, what are your impressions of 2017?

The most beautiful. It was an amazing, bright, pleasant year. I experienced a huge amount of positive emotions, met amazing people, and I flew a lot like never before. It seems to me that at the end of December I will be able to map my flight routes for 2017, because I have crossed almost the entire globe.

Piterzavtra: Where did you like the most?

Probably... Vienna. Given that all my travels ended in Vienna in December. I just flew in from there. This is the most Christmas city of all that is on the planet! Everything there is imbued with a holiday: every street, every person, every corner. That is why the most powerful impressions I have from Vienna. Although in Sochi at the Rosa Khutor ski resort in April at the Quiksilver New Star Camp it was incredibly cool. Probably, these are the two most powerful trips in terms of emotions.

Piterzavtra: That is, Russia is not inferior?

Russia will always be ahead!

Piterzavtra: Do you make wishes for the New Year? Come true?

Yes, I'm guessing. Yes, they come true. Not always, but they do.

Piterzavtra: In what ways? Is there a special ritual?

No, there is no ritual. You just need to really, really want it, and the wish will come true. That is, if it should happen in your life, then it will definitely happen.

Piterzavtra: How do you generally feel about the New Year? Do you love this holiday?

My favorite holiday! New Year and Christmas is the best time for me: by the atmosphere, by the warmth, by the joy, by the positive that comes from people. It is always a pity in January when it ends, because February is difficult. But my birthday is in February, so this month is also very positive for me.

Piterzavtra: How do you usually manage?

Always different. This very much depends on the circumstances. I celebrated my last New Year with my family in 2011, and this year I will be here in St. Petersburg. Prior to this, 6 years did not work.

Piterzavtra: What are your plans for the upcoming winter holidays?

I will come to St. Petersburg for a week, probably, and then shoot in Istanbul.

Piterzavtra: Many people make a promise to themselves on the eve of the New Year. For example, in 2018 I promise myself that I will learn English. What promise do you want to make to yourself?

A promise to change my life.

Interviewers: Elizaveta Shiryaeva, Ekaterina Tregub