It's hard to be a kid: Lev Zulkarnaev will play in the series based on the Strugatsky novel

Filming of the Strugatsky brothers' fantasy novel "It's Hard to be a God" continues on the gigantic territory of Moskino. Now it has become known that Lev Zulkarnaev, famous for his role in the TV series "The Word of a Kid", joined Sergey Bezrukov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Aleksandar Radojich and Nikita Kologrivy. Blood on the asphalt." The actor admitted that the fantasy novel is his desk book. He dreamed of playing Rumata, but in the series he will embody the image of Tick. New details from the set can be found in the Izvestia report.

The villain Zulkarnaev and Goebbels as a reference

Eight years of preparation, grandiose and dangerous filming in Iran, majestic scenery in Moscow, his own writing, a 12-meter aqueduct, more than 900 unique costumes and a 17-meter statue of a warrior on a mountain lion, weighing up to 20 tons — all this is an epic film adaptation of the fantastic philosophical story "It's hard to be a god."

The series will take the viewer to the distant future, where earthlings help less developed civilizations overcome difficult stages of evolution. Anton, an employee of the Institute of History, played by Serbian actor Aleksandar Radojicic, will travel to the medieval Arkanar to rescue scientists. He will become a rich aristocrat, Don Rumata of Estor, who loves drinking, fighting and women. The man has a personal interest: his father has gone missing somewhere in Arkanar. Soon, Anton finds himself in a whirlpool of palace intrigues, which gradually draws in not only himself, but also his colleagues, his beloved, and the entire planet.

Actor Aleksandar Radojicic

Photo: IZVESTIA

Despite his Serbian origin, Aleksandar plays in Russian, which he had to learn quickly literally on the playground. However, this was not the most difficult thing on the set of "It's Hard to be a God."

— I had to learn how to ride a horse, fence, and fight with swords. But the hardest part was experiencing the 40-degree heat in Iran. Our costumes are not at all adapted for such weather, we had to endure it," Radojicic shared with Izvestia.

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According to the script, which was largely refined by Andrei Zolotarev, the hero of Aleksandar only gets to the planet Arkanar and, together with the audience, gradually learns the enveloping darkness of this place. The actor admitted that he tried to look for fears and worries inside himself in order to better convey the image. Another star artist of the cast is Lev Zulkarnaev. He will play the role of a Tick.

— My character is in the book, but in a slightly different incarnation. He is the brother of the main character and initially, in the book, is on the side of the greys. My character in the series is on his way to this. This is a separate story about a man who becomes infected and fascinated by a large—scale universal evil," the actor told Izvestia.

Actor Lev Zulkarnaev

Photo: IZVESTIA

Leo admitted that "It's Hard to be a god" is his favorite book, which lies on the actor's bedside table. In fact, he dreams of playing Rumata, but for now he will embody the villain on the screen.

His leader— Don Reba— was played by Fyodor Lavrov, who participated in the previous film adaptation of the story directed by Alexei German. But then the actor was in the frame for only seven seconds. Now he occupies one of the central positions in the series. Lavrov admitted that he had based his work on the image on the personality of Joseph Goebbels.

— Don Reba is much broader in the film than in the book. Although the Strugatskys have a powerful figure. Anyway, he's a refined evil. I do not know how Reba behaves with his wife or if she exists at all. He is married to the authorities," Lavrov told Izvestia.

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Purple cabbage and seven-kilogram suits

According to director Dmitry Tyurin, being the director of such a project is a tremendously difficult job.

— I refreshed my memory of the Strugatsky novel "The Doomed City", where there were large walking statues, and there was some magic in it. I thought it would be nice if there were such statues in our Arkanar too, as evidence of the former imperial greatness," Tyurin told Izvestia.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

Despite the fact that the action takes place on a fictional planet, many of the scenery resembles a medieval city. This is indicated by the statues of knights, the palace colonnade, and the stone walls, which are actually made of styrofoam.

Another artistic solution is the absence of green color. Even the trees on Arkanar are purple. As the props told Izvestia, if any green dot gets on the playground, it is immediately painted over from an aerosol can. Whether it's cabbage or an unripe tomato.

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The costumes were created with the same scrupulousness. Chief artist Varvara Avdushkina told Izvestia that they made more than 900 images for the project, some of them weighing about seven kilograms. Usually, costumes are rented for actors of mass scenes, but here every detail had to be created from scratch. Therefore, factories all over Russia were engaged in tailoring.: from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Kostroma and Rostov.

"It's Hard to be a God" is an eight—part project co-produced by NMG Studios and Team Films for Wink with the support of Iran. The premiere is scheduled for 2026.