Dmitry Zolotukhin: Russian actor, director and screenwriter

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 1981, a historical dilogy based on the novel by Alexei Tolstoy "Peter I" was released in Soviet cinemas by director S. A. Gerasimov. Dmitry Zolotukhin, a young and at that time unknown actor, starred in the title role.

Theatrical dynasty

In 1958, the film studio "Mosfilm" filmed the film "The Captain's Daughter", in which Lev Zolotukhin, an actor of the Moscow Art Theater, made his debut. In the same year, on August 7, his son Dmitry was born.

The boy grew up surrounded by creative people. But, despite this, he was not drawn to the stage at all. Zolotukhin Dmitry graduated from school with an English bias, and was seriously determined to enter the Institute of Asian and African countries, where he had already passed the documents. But one evening, my father said that Viktor Minyukov, who taught at the Moscow Art Theater School, would like to listen to him. It should be added that Dmitry's parents also worked in the same theater.

After two days of auditions, instead of oriental languages, he began to study the techniques of theatrical skills. In 1979, after graduating from the Studio School, the newly minted actor Dmitry Zolotukhin was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater, and the very next year he was approved for the main role.in the film "Youth of Peter".

Dilogy about the great autocrat

According to Dmitry's own admission, he liked acting in cinema more than performing on the stage. Probably for this reason, in 1982, he moved to work at the film studio. Gorky. Moreover, before that, he had already starred in the cult Soviet films "The Youth of Peter" and "At the Beginning of Glorious Deeds."

The dilogy was a huge success, it was watched by more than 23 million viewers, and Dmitry Zolotukhin, who embodied the image of the reformer tsar on the screen, was recognized as the best actor of 1981. After being approved for the main role, in addition to the novel by A. Tolstoy, which formed the basis of the script, he also re-read many historical documents compiled at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. Therefore, as Dmitry himself says in an interview, he is very erudite in terms of the Petrine era.

He really succeeded in the characteristic role of the tsar, and he was again offered to play Peter the Great, this time in the serial TV movie "Young Russia" (1981). For his role in this film, Zolotukhin was awarded the Vasilyev Brothers Prize in 1985.

Life after Peter

It would seem that after such a triumph, the young actor will be vying to be invited to star in the most promising films. However, everything turned out the other way around. The creative biography of Dmitry Zolotukhin is not as rich as one might expect. So, after "Young Russia" he starred in only 9 films from 1982 to 2016.

The actor himself explains this by the fact that the well-played role of Peter I, hislimited - after it, the directors see him only in the form of a king. In addition, most producers and directors do not rehearse with the actors before filming, as they are already busy. But in order to interpret a new image on the screen, it is necessary to professionally work on the role. In a word, Zolotukhin remained Peter I for both the audience and the directors.

Cinephile

The role of the king was not just a success for the actor, she, according to him, influenced his character. Dmitry Zolotukhin was 22 years old when he starred in the famous dilogy. The powerful personality of Peter activated his purposefulness and will. Zolotukhin entered VGIK at the directing department, from which he graduated in 1987. Moreover, he studied with Sergei Gerasimov, who filmed Peter's Youth.

Dmitry Zolotukhin has only two directorial works on his account: the criminal-psychological drama "Christians" and "Lube Zone". He also wrote the script for the last picture.

The actor is not married. It is known that while studying at the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio, he met with his classmate Marina Golub, who tragically died in 2012.

Recently, Zolotukhin has been producing programs for digital and mobile television. The honorary title of "Honored Artist of Russia" was awarded to him in 2000

Dmitry himself calls himself a cinephile, because of all the visual arts he has always chosen and still chooses cinema. It does not matter whether he is filming himself, writing a script or just watching movies in the evenings.