Lukerya Ilyashenko: “To be fashionable today means to look like everyone else, but I don’t want that”

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Lukerya, you often play antagonists, but in the project “Sergius against evil spirits: Sabbat” you got a positive character. Tell me, is the villain harder to play?

I really like playing antagonists more. And the protagonists, in particular, captain Katya Zemtsova in the first season, were not so interesting for me to play. But in Sabbat, my heroine had a more interesting story in terms of personal relationships, so this time I was able to express myself as an actress much more fully. But in general, I don’t really like the roles of such “muslin” young ladies, because they have a very small range, which for me, as an actress, is not very interesting.

What is it like working with partner Roman Mayakin? This is not your first joint project, but did you immediately find a common language?

It is wonderful to work with Mayakin, we are old friends since the days of “Sweet Life”. We even have one agent with him, who also leads other artists from the “Sweet Life”. And over the years we have become like a family. Of course, there is a moment of familiarity between us, which does not contribute to the required working distance on the site. Sometimes it gets in the way, we start arguing, but rather, in such a related way. Although, in a good way, subordination on the set between the artists should be present. But Roma and I always have a lot of fun, we laugh a lot.

Have you worked with director Kirill Kuzin before? What was the atmosphere like on set?

There was a very cool atmosphere with Kuzin on the set! After all, Kirill Kuzin, like me, is an absolute punk! Yes, and Roma Mayakin is also a punk, although he will never call himself that, and in general he listens to all kinds of stupid music like Russian pop music, which I myself do not like. (Laughs) But it was great on set! Everyone loved each other, teased each other, and it was a lot of fun.

How did you hear about the role? How was the casting?

First, they sent me a role in Sergius. I went to audition, and then I accidentally met Mayakin in some kind of photo studio. We went to have lunch, chat, and I told him: “Roma, be sure to call Asya (our agent) and ask for the role of Sergius, because it’s just you!”. As a result, at that moment I acted as his casting director. I was the first to see that Roma would suit this role, and they really approved him, and he famously embodied this image. Then I even jokingly told him: “Mayakin, you have a percentage, I found you a job.” And already at the end of the first season, I go into my actor’s trailer, and there is a Prada bag that I have long wanted. It was very touching.

In the recently released second season of “Vampires of the Middle Strip,” you play the spectacular and cruel vampire Agatha. She is laconic, but one look from her makes the blood run cold. Tell us more about this experience and how did you manage to make this character convincing?

I think that, apparently, my atoms have developed in such a way that my face looks very “vampire”, I don’t even need fangs – once again: I love playing antagonists! The only thing, of course, is a shame that the character of Agatha was not very deeply written. Because every antagonist must have a reason why he is so bad. For example, the story of the Joker about how society makes a monster out of a person. And if it’s written in the script, it’s always interesting. But with Agatha, unfortunately, this was not the case. But, of course, my fangs helped me, plus makeup, a costume and the indifference of showrunner Lesha (ed. note – Alexey Akimov). Plus a good team. It was one of the few projects where literally all members of the group wanted to make a good product, and in the end it just couldn’t work out badly.

Do you prefer long-term shooting in a series or equally painstaking work in a movie? What is the difference between the creative process of an artist who plays the same character for a long time?

The fact is that the timing, that is, the production – the amount of material that is filmed per day or per shift in a movie or TV series – is now approximately the same in both TV shows and movies. Therefore, I can’t say what I like more: filming in movies or TV shows. It all depends on the scenario and the team.

You must be rejecting offers. What projects are planned for this year?

No, it’s not, I don’t reject offers. I consider various proposals, and even if the project is not very good, I still go to auditions so as not to get out of shape. For me, this is a kind of training, a challenge: suppose the text is bad, and I try to play it so that it becomes organic. And for this year I have projects planned: “Plevako” with Bezrukov, the third part of “Sergius against evil spirits” and, maybe even the continuation of “Sweet Life”.

In social networks, you are called a style icon. Love shopping? Do you follow trends? Describe your image in one sentence.

It seems to me that you are exaggerating a little that I am such a style icon on social networks. In fact, I recently found myself thinking that I hate trends, because in this case it turns out to be a kind of “equalizing”. It’s like being trendy today is looking like everyone else, and I wouldn’t want that. It is much more interesting to stand out with something, life is already short. And since I’m a punk, I love classic and psychedelic rock, I have a few style icons that I want to be like – and they are all men. In my style, I try to cosplay Ozzy Osbourne: everything is black and a lot of jewelry on the fingers, black nails and all these attributes. I also really liked the way Mick Jagger and Robert Plant always looked. My style is something like that.