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Video: How Soviet director Leonid Gaidai turned down current American President Donald Trump
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It would seem, what could the famous Soviet director and the current president of the United States have in common? Nevertheless, their interests crossed in the distant now 1991. At the same time, Donald Trump went to meet Leonid Gaidai, but our director refused a small request to the American. True, at that time no one could even imagine that a quarter of a century later, Donald Trump would take over as President of the United States.
"Yes" from the future president
While working on the film "The weather is good on Deribasovskaya, or it is raining again on Brighton Beach," the film crew, led by director Leonid Gaidai, ended up in Atlantic City, an American resort town, which is widely known throughout the world for its numerous casinos and shopping centers and incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean. It was here that some scenes of the film were to be filmed.
Everyone knows the plot of the film: a KGB super agent arrives at the Atlantic City casino in order to finally expose the Russian mafia. And he successfully single-handedly ruins the casino owned by his compatriots.
The filming of the film was initially fraught with many difficulties, from Leonid Gaidai's addiction to gambling and ending with the lack of a designated location for filming. Not every gambling establishment was ready to start up a Soviet film crew at that time.
The administrators turned to the owner of the large entertainment complex "Taj Mahal", who turned out to be Donald Trump, more precisely, the company "Trump Entertainment Resorts" owned by him.
The American businessman not only agreed to let the film crew enter the territory of his entertainment complex, but also did it completely free of charge, that is, he did not take a penny for renting the premises. Many years later, Dmitry Kharatyan, who played the main role in the film, of the very KGB super agent Fyodor Sokolov, will assume that the future US president gave his consent without even getting acquainted with the script.
The actor simply cannot assume that a man who has been in business for many years has allowed a film to be filmed in his complex in which his brainchild is being ruined by a Russian agent. And besides, he has not yet tried to get at least some money, at least for renting premises. Be that as it may, the fact remains: Donald Trump graciously allowed filming in the Taj Mahal.
"No" from a famous director
True, Donald Trump nevertheless turned to Leonid Gaidai with a small request. Through his assistants, the American businessman expressed a desire to star in a film in a small role. The seemingly innocent request caused a lot of indignation in Leonid Iovich. He was not particularly shy in expressions and asked his assistants to tell Trump that such masters as Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Andrei Myagkov, Leonid Kuravlev and Dmitry Kharatyan were filming in his film. And an unknown businessman cannot stand on a par with famous actors and play with them in the same film.
Of course, Trump's assistants, passing on Gaidai's words to him, softened the form of refusal as much as possible and, for sure, found more appropriate and correct words. However, the fact remains: Leonid Gaidai categorically refused to meet the man who let the film crew into his entertainment complex for free.
In the episodic role of an old man who played with machines and broke one of them, the director preferred to act himself. But in the credits, the filmmakers expressed their gratitude to Donald Trump personally for assistance in filming.
Complex shooting
Leonid Gaidai had a weakness for gambling and could easily get carried away, forgetting about time and money. The actors who starred in the film "The weather is good on Deribasovskaya …", and the director of the film, Marina Kapustina, recalled how one day, while filming in a casino, they simply lost Leonid Gaidai. Fortunately, he was quickly found: the famous director got carried away with the game of slot machines and lost the sense of time. Therefore, he played the old man playing very reliably, because he himself was no stranger to the excitement of a real player.
The film, which became the last work of the brilliant director, could well have starred a world-class star. True, during the filming of the comedy Gaidai, she was not yet as famous as today.
For one of the main roles of the film, the CIA super agent, Leonid Gaidai was advised to take an American actress. It made sense, and the director agreed to see two talented young actresses from the United States. They were invited to audition on the same day, only with an hour difference.
The first to appear on the auditions was Kelly McGrill, who fully met the ideas of Leonid Gaidai about his heroine Mary Star. The director refused to even look at the second actress, although the assistant convinced him as best he could, telling him how good and talented she was. But when Gaidai heard the name and surname of the applicant, he immediately categorically declared: two Joviches just for one picture will be too many. The failed Mary Star was none other than Milla Jovovich.
By the way, Kelly McGrill, approved for the role, on the very first day of filming in Moscow, almost regretted her new job. She arrived in the capital of the USSR on August 19, 1991. And on the way from the airport I saw the tanks coming. The young actress was literally shocked by what she saw, but tried to pull herself together and hoped that the tanks were still not real. Those who met the actress explained to her the complexity of the political situation in the country and said that the tanks were not fake at all.
The filming of the film turned out to be very difficult in general, because permits were issued and immediately taken back, and the director had to constantly solve some problems. And yet the film was released, although at that time the Soviet Union had already ceased to exist.
The phenomenon of comedies by Leonid Gaidai lies in the fact that they do not seem to become outdated, but as if they become even better over time. All of his films bear the imprint of a unique directorial style. The actors who starred with Leonid Iovich recall how carefully he treated the little things. So, for example, a unique “family gesture” was invented for each hero, by which his whole essence became immediately visible.
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