Russian star in space

Written by Natasha Vinnikova, a second year PhD Researcher at London College of Fashion.

The space race is on again! But this time it’s all about shooting a film more than 240 miles from earth. It sounds like a good plot for a Soviet blockbuster; a main heroine coming from a provincial city to conquer Moscow and become the first actress who stars in space. But this is a real-life, modern-day situation.

Actress Yulia Perisild was selected from three thousand applicants and cast to take a role in the upcoming film Visov (The Challenge); the plot centres around a Russian doctor sent to the International Space Station to save a life.

So, why did the Russians decide to shoot a film in space? The short answer might be, - because they can. The Soviet Space Program has a long history and can be proud of many achievements, including the first spacewalk, the first Moon impact, the first cosmonaut to journey into outer space in 1961 (Yuri Gagarin), the world’s first space station placed into orbit (Salyut, in 1971), and of course, Valentina Tereshkova - the first and youngest woman who travelled to space on a solo mission in 1963. Regardless of these past achievements, some might say it is about time for the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, to create a new legacy.

The ambitious project to shoot the film in space does not have any specific scientific objectives but there is certainly an ideological function; there is a hint of the old space-race mentality. The October 2021 expedition to the International Space Station by actress Yulia Perisild, director Klim Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov will be a nod to fellow recent fliers Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, and a potential blow to actor Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman, who have plans to also film aboard the ISS later this year.

Why Yulia Perisild and who is she? After a rigorous selection process sifting through thousands of applicants, we can be sure that Yulia has what it takes both with regards to her acting abilities and the physical demands of shooting in space. But it cannot be left unnoticed how symbolic her image is. She is reminiscent of Soviet actresses of the 1960s, a ‘girl next door’ type; pretty but not unusual, with a feisty edge to her nature. This is poignant as the 1960s were the ‘Thawing’ period of the USSR, a time which offered new beginnings and new hopes, a poetic echo to a journey into the stars. Films of the 1960s looked at the world through the eyes of young people, with Yulia’s youthful and carefree look mirroring the sentiment.

The symbolism behind Yulia as a choice for this film permeates other aspects of her life. Even though she is a well-established Russian film star, who is loved by millions, she has manged not to lose the profound connection to her roots that are well asserted through Russian history, her Christian Orthodox religion and her native city, Pskov. Her social media accounts are brimming with photos of her children, Russian nature and these themes seem equally important to her as more professional ones relating to her acting work.

Her off and on-screen personas (she has a varied repertoire ranging from playing czarinas to World War II snipers) intertwine to inform her style, which can be described as “controlled amount of smartness and femininity” and a statement of elegance and modesty. This is the case, be it the floral print dress of a village girl from the film Piat Nevest (Five Brides) or the black velvet dress she wore to open the Russian Film Festival in 2020. This way of dressing evokes trust and shortens the distance between this film star and ordinary Russian women, who can now think of her as a relatable star (quite literally). She is the type of woman Russian poets were writing about and the type the Socialist government was nurturing for decades: the woman who can do it all! The symbolic Yulia is an actress, mother of two girls, and a founding member of a charity for children with central nervous system disorders, well loved by people, hitting all the boxes. She can do it all, even travel to space and create a new legacy. Have a blast Yulia!

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