The cult youth series “Difficult Teenagers” is coming to an end. We talked to the lead actors about how they got into the project and what viewers will remember it for.

At the end of February, the final episode of the fifth and final season of the series “Difficult Teenagers” will be released on the online cinema Wink, which has gone from a promising experimental project to a public favorite. We invite you to sum up the results and say goodbye to the people's hit in the company of its stars – Anastasia Krylova, Mila Ershova, Svyatoslav Rogozhan, Sergey Novosad and Ingrid Olerinskaya, who joined them in season 5.

How did you get into the project? What were your expectations from participating?

I got in the classic way: I was invited to auditions, I came, recorded a scene. They called me again for ensemble auditions, recorded. At first I auditioned for the role of Phil. And a few days later they called and said I was approved for the role of Nikita. The auditions were in June, during the exam session of my second year. To put it mildly, I had no time for auditions then. I didn't count on being approved. But it turned out favorably.

I had no expectations. When the series became a hit, it was a big surprise on one hand, but on the other hand, it was so easy that I thought it was like that with all projects. But no. It's rare.

I got into the project through casting. At first I was offered the role of Lena. I recorded self-tapes. And then Svyat (Svyatoslav Rogozhan – editor's note) went to in-person auditions with the director (he was auditioning for the role of Phil at the time) and after them he told me that there was a girl who acted as if she had already been approved for Lena (that was Nastya Krylova). I was upset then, realizing I was missing out on this series.

After some time, I auditioned for another series, and the casting director there said she had another project and I could try out for it. She sent me a scene, and by the character names I realized it was “Difficult Teenagers”. It was the role of Christina. I recorded it. I was approved. Then they wrote that there was a bigger role – Yana.

It was a tough student time, plus the exam session was in full swing, and Svyat and I (we are classmates) skipped theory classes for auditions, recording self-tapes during breaks. And on one of the days, within a few hours, we were both approved.

Of course, we didn't know then that this series would become popular among teenagers. More.tv was a new unknown platform, there was no talk of any pre-known benefit. We liked the director Rustam Ilyasov, we liked the script, and the very anticipation of filming in the summer.

I went through the casting, it seems it was for all young actors. Few people didn't know about it. Everything happened very quickly. I was approved one of the first. My vision of the character coincided with the creators' vision. I remember I prepared well for the auditions, came up with an image with long straightened hair, dark lipstick, chewing gum. And it all worked out.

I had no expectations. I didn't know the series team, the director, the producers. The script seemed promising. But when reading scripts, the question always arises: “How will this be done?” Many scenes were described in one sentence, for example, “Lena and Phil make love”. That's it. Then the question: “How will this be done?”

So there were no expectations, and fame came suddenly. The season came out, we saw how views on YouTube grew at the speed of light, people started recognizing us on the street, then we realized that people loved this project.

When auditions for the second season of “Difficult Teenagers” began, I was in my village because there was a quarantine and we all went home. I hadn't seen the first season. Turning on the first episode, I couldn't stop, I watched non-stop all night. I really liked this series. Like, reeeeally!

Recording the auditions turned out to be a challenge because during quarantine I gained 8 kg, my hair grew long, and I had to play a teenager, a handsome footballer that girls like.

We recorded the auditions with my agent via Zoom, I didn't have a tripod for my phone, so it stood on a structure made of a table, a stool, and books. We did about 15 takes because I didn't like how the scene turned out, and honestly, I thought I wouldn't be approved. And I kind of let go of that story. Completely unexpectedly, two weeks later I was invited to paired auditions with the director. Then everything started spinning, I was quickly approved, and I needed to quickly lose 8 kg, but they asked me to keep the long “quarantine” hair.

I met director Kolya Rybnikov, we exchanged opinions that the project was cool. I said that I had long wanted to participate. The first auditions we did seemed too harsh to the producers. It felt like my character looked so cold and rude that it would be hard to imagine any romantic line with Kovalev (Anton Kovalev, the main character of the series – editor's note). Because of this, I was invited to auditions again to make a completely different version, and voila – it worked out.

Expectations are something I usually try to avoid. I don't like being disappointed. I tried myself in the role of a coach, met new people, had a great time.

Share vivid and memorable stories from the set

The most memorable, probably, were the filming of intimate scenes, which are always difficult in cinema. In the first season, it was hard for me because my character had tactile interactions with several characters, respectively, several actors. It was not easy on a personal level, but that's our profession. It was important for me to convey the heroine's vices, so that by her example she shows how not to do, how not to live, what behavior is destructive for the soul. Having immersed myself in the script, I was already in character, and all the scenes turned out quite believable.

And, of course, I remember the famous scene when Lena in the parking lot (those who watch and love the series understand which episode I'm talking about) says: “Relationships? What, because of sex? Are you serious, maybe we should have kids too?!” It was shot almost in one take, because it was also in the auditions. But actually, the secret is that we simply didn't have time to shoot it. We were lucky that we knew the scene well and fit into the 12-hour shooting day.

It was, I think, one of my first scenes in the second season, where I fought with Svyatoslav Rogozhan. I was terribly nervous because I wanted to do everything cool, so to speak, to establish myself on the first shooting day.

The fight started with Svyat knocking me off my feet, and during the very first take, when falling, Svyat's shoulder pressed very hard into my chest… The pain was hellish. I got so scared and started worrying even more. I really didn't want to slow down the filming process, so I kept quiet and finished the scene on “willpower” (laughs). What a blessing that we shot this fight in 3 takes!

Probably the funniest and strangest at the same time was my first shooting day, which started with a deepfake scene.

Imagine, you just come to the set, don't know anyone, and immediately undress, remain in plus-minus invisible underwear, and behind you stands an African American man making characteristic movements. I don't know how else to describe what was happening there (laughs). To put it mildly, it was uncomfortable.

There was a funny story when I exposed myself during a scene, although it wasn't necessary. Everyone was exposed but covered with T-shirts or hands, but for some reason I decided that covering wasn't needed. Camera, action, started: Kovalev (Nikita Volkov – editor's note) stands, bent down at the level of our groins (we stood in a male group in a row), shines a flashlight on our bodies, because according to the script we had a rash from doping. It gets to me, and here I am… in all my glory! We barely held it together until the end of the take. Then everyone laughed for a long time. A lot of people gathered at the playback.

One of my favorite stories is when in season 2 we were filming the scene where Yana and Gena ran away, and in the night Yana called her dad. It was an important and touching moment, but filming was complicated by the fact that it was the end of the shift, we were going into overtime, and the producer was breathing down our necks.

It was clear that as soon as Rustam Ilyasov said “Cut!” after the take, the producer would stop filming and end the shift. And we really didn't want there to be no options in editing and everything to be done haphazardly. So when I finished the scene, Rustam quietly came up to me and asked: “Can you play it again right away?” I said “Yes,” and without a cut, we ran with the cameraman and director to the first mark. We did that two more times (laughs). I just played this scene non-stop three times in a row. It was a brilliant decision, of course. We later remembered and laughed.

How do you think viewers will remember “Difficult Teenagers”?

I think, by its special style. The project is dynamic, all characters are bright, filmed cool and rich. The series has a huge army of fans, and that's great!

By its lightness, humor, bright characters and images, empathy for teenagers, and, of course, honesty with the audience.

It's hard for me to evaluate our series as a viewer. After all, I've come a long way together with the team and actors who have become my close friends. I've become very attached to “Difficult Teenagers”. I hope viewers will live through this story with us, and this project will take a special place in their hearts.

“Difficult Teenagers” is the series that will be rewatched. It hooks with its sincerity, lightness. Not even the highest quality and most expensive projects always want to be rewatched, because they can be heavy, touching on complex topics. And “Difficult Teenagers”, although they talk about important topics, are filmed in such a way that you want to watch them again and again.

By its warm atmosphere, lightness, young, bright, incendiary energy.