Actor Dmytro Vivcharyuk, best known to audiences for comedic roles, has taken on a new kind of character in the 2+2 television series "Taxi for a Cop." He plays Pasich, a professional and honest police detective who, because of personal circumstances and demanding working conditions, ends up on the verge of emotional burnout.
Vivcharyuk said that while preparing for the part, it was important for him to move away from the familiar image of the heroic police officer. He spoke with real law enforcement officers and studied the specifics of their work, their professional jargon and their behaviour.
He said he did not want to make his character a superhero, and wanted instead to show an ordinary person who is somewhat worn down by life and dealing with personal problems of their own.
In the series, Pasich spends much of his time at work, faces difficult circumstances in his personal life and gradually slides into a state of emotional exhaustion. For Vivcharyuk, immersing himself in the character went so deep that after filming wrapped, he could not immediately return to his normal state of mind.
He said he felt as though he had lived his character's life, adding that he had immersed himself so deeply in the role that it took him several months afterward to come back to himself.
Learning to drive a vintage Zaporozhets
Besides the dramatic role, the series gave Vivcharyuk another unusual experience. He had to learn, right on set, how to drive an old Zaporozhets car with a manual transmission.
He explained that in one scene he had to drive the old Zaporozhets, and that he was taught how it worked in just two hours. He said it was genuinely difficult because the car kept stalling and had to be towed, but that he eventually managed to drive it at speed along a narrow forest road, and that everyone came out unharmed.
About 'Taxi for a Cop'
"Taxi for a Cop" is a detective comedy series about two very different men whom circumstance forces into becoming partners. Taxi driver Motia, played by Hryhoriy Baklanov, and police detective Pasich must investigate tangled crimes, take part in dangerous special operations, flee from pursuers and repeatedly test the strength of their trust in one another. The clash between the two characters drives the story and gives viewers a mix of unexpected, dramatic and comic moments.
The cast also includes Anastasiia Nesterenko, Oleksiy Cherevatenko, Serhiy Kyiashko, Nataliia Koretska, Mykhailo Zhonin, Valeriy Shvets, Yakiv Kucherevskyi, Serhiy Mitryushin, Olena Olar, Pavlo Kochubei and others.
New episodes of "Taxi for a Cop" air Monday through Thursday at 20:15 on the 2+2 channel. The series is also available in Ukraine on Netflix as part of a subscription and on Kyivstar TV.
