Actress Irina Shevchuk is still popularly called Rita Osyanina, after her character in Stanislav Rostotsky’s film “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...”. She had many more leading roles in cinema and theater and, like any actress, she would like them all to be remembered, but she is not offended by Rita. Irina thinks it’s great when an actor has his own calling card.
During the filming of this film, Shevchuk experienced the first love drama in her life - the betrayal of a man for whom she was ready to give her life. Probably, whatever is done is for the better. Irina was tempered to some extent by this situation; from a quiet, modest girl, she turned into a woman capable of withstanding the blows of fate and boldly opening more and more doors.
Irina Shevchuk in the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” (1972)
Today Shevchuk is one of the founders and vice-president of the Kinoshock festival, a sought-after actress, and a loyal friend. Since her student days, her close friend has been Galina Loginova, the mother of Mila Jovovich. And neither time nor distance destroyed this friendship.
And Irina believes that the main thing is that she still managed to find personal happiness and family. For more than forty years she has been the wife of composer Alexander Afanasyev. And her only daughter Alexandra Afanasyeva-Shevchuk became a famous actress.
In 2013, a car accident in which Alexandra was involved almost separated them forever. At such moments you understand how fragile human life is and you need to appreciate every moment with a loved one. Everything else simply fades into the background.
Irina Shevchuk and Alexandra Afanasyeva-Shevchuk
Childhood of Irina Shevchuk
Ira was born in Murmansk.
Her two sisters grew up with her in the family. This time is now remembered as the happiest, most fabulous: reindeer in sleds, northern lights, the coast of the Barents Sea. Surrounded by this beauty, the girl grew up as a dreamer and visionary. The family moved to Kyiv when Ira was eleven. At this age, her organizational skills fully manifested themselves. In addition to the fact that Irina was an excellent student, she also managed to work with those who were lagging behind - she improved them in subjects, took them to the theater and cinema, and held conversations. She was also a class Komsomol organizer.
As a tenth-grader, Shevchuk took part in the filming of the film “Well, Youth,” which was directed by Rezo Chkheidze, for three weeks. The filming influenced Ira’s choice of profession. She fell in love with cinema and decided that she would definitely become an actress.
Irina Shevchuk in the film The Dawns Here Are Quiet
To enroll, the girl chose the Kiev Theater Institute and began to prepare. Just before admission, on the advice of a friend, I went to Moscow and submitted documents to VGIK. She immediately passed the competition and began studying on the course of Professor V. Belokurov.
Galina Loginova is Irina Shevchuk's best friend
In her interviews, Irina often says that she loves smart women. Apparently, this comes from my youth, when, out of envy, colleagues in the acting workshop wrote anonymous letters with fables about all the actresses from “The Dawns..” so that they would not be allowed abroad. Much later, such anonymous letters were sent to Irina’s husband.
In general, an ordinary acting story. Therefore, Irina has very few real friends. One of them is Galina Loginova, the mother of Milla Jovovich.
Tatiana Tretyakova, Galina Loginova and Irina Shevchuk. Photo 7 days
Shevchuk and Loginova were classmates. At that time, Galina was considered the main beauty, but in her youth she was too arrogant, and therefore managed to turn the majority against herself. Irina was the only one who supported her in those years.
Irina witnessed Galina’s meeting with her future husband Bogdan Jovovich and even nursed little Milla, who was born in Kyiv. When the Jovovichs emigrated, their communication ceased for some time. But as soon as the borders opened, Galina immediately remembered her friend and invited her to come to America, where her daughter’s career was already gaining momentum.
By the way, the children of Shevchuk and Loginova also know each other and meet and communicate from time to time.
Alexandra Afanasyeva-Shevchuk and Milla Jovovich
The beginning of the career of actress Irina Shevchuk, filmography
Belokurov was categorically against his students being distracted by filming while they were studying at the institute.
Irina secretly starred in “The Adventure of the Yellow Suitcase” from him. In 1970, filmmakers paid attention to the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” Stanislav Rostotsky took on the film adaptation. He decided to use actresses who were not yet famous, who were just starting out. To do this, the director visited theater universities for three months in search of the right heroines. He also came to VGIK. This time Belokurov was not against actors being chosen among his students for the future film. This film also starred Andrei Martynov, Irina Dolganova, Elena Drapeko and many others. Irina auditioned for the role of Zhenya, but Rostotsky categorically spoke about the possibility of the aspiring actress Shevchuk starring in the role of Zhenya. The girl was offended by such a refusal. She considered it rudeness. When she was invited to play the role of Rita Osyanina, at first she even refused, she was so offended. Her classmates told Shevchuk some sense, because almost everyone would like to act with Rostotsky.
Irina Shevchuk. "Kinoshock 2012". Round table. Such a happy opportunity could not be missed. Irina gave her consent. Viewers saw the picture in 1972. It turned out to be expected and very successful, immediately becoming a box office leader. All young actresses became “stars”. Belokurov and Rostotsky are two people who had a great influence on actress Irina Shevchuk.
The work of Irina Shevchuk at the Kyiv Film Studio
After graduating from VGIK, Irina went to Kyiv and began working at the Dovzhenko film studio.
Everyone knew the actress who played Rita Osyanina. She was offered many roles, most of them leading roles. In 1973, she starred with Alexei Mishurin in the film “Entrant”. In Boris Ivchenko’s film “Marina,” the actress played together with Vladimir Konkin. This was followed by work in such films as “Second Wind”, “The Right to Love”, “The Romashkin Effect”, etc.
A notable film in which Shevchuk played was the drama “White Bim - Black Ear.” There she played Dasha, and the main role went to Vyacheslav Tikhonov.
Talgat Nigmatullin - Irina Shevchuk's first love
Irina met Talgat at VGIK. He was a couple of years older. It was the feeling that people call “love at first sight.” For two years their relationship was ideal, but then Shevchuk learned about a betrayal that she could not forgive.
For the rest of her studies, she simply tried not to show herself to him, so as not to dive headlong into this pool again. However, after graduating from the institute, Nigmatullin found Irina in Kyiv and came to ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Shevchuk said her decisive “no!”
Talgat Nigmatullin and Irina Shevchuk
The paths of Irina and Talgat crossed several more times, he was married three times, she was dating someone. But they never got back together with each other, despite their undying feelings. This situation forced Shevchuk to be more judicious in choosing men. Although they were able to maintain good relations with Nigmatullin.
The last time they saw each other was a couple of months before his tragic death. Then Irina was already married to the main person in her life and had long been able to let go of both the resentment and that first unhappy love.
Job in Moscow
Since 1983, the actress began working at the Gorky Film Studio. During this period of time, there were many standard, ideologically consistent films in Shevchuk’s career. The most notable of them are “Copper Angel” and “Corral”. It is noteworthy for Irina that in the film “The Corral” she starred with her daughter Alexandra, where she played the little daughter of Professor Zakharov. Irina Shevchuk At the end of the eighties, all the actress’s energy was aimed at organizing the acting festival “Constellation” in a team with Vsevolod Shilovsky, Boris Tokarev and Evgeny Zharikov. Later, already in 1991, Shevchuk was among those who organized the Kinoshock film festival. This business was new for the actress, and she took on it with great enthusiasm, thanks to which this film festival became more and more popular from year to year.
Accident of Alexandra Afanasyeva-Shevchuk
In May 2013, an event occurred that divided Alexandra’s life into “before” and “after.” After a serious accident, she was in a coma for several days. Later there was a long recovery period, after which she was able to return to her profession. The Afanasyev-Shevchuk family thanked the doctors for performing this small miracle and Alexandra can now lead a normal life.
Moreover, a year later at the Kinoshock festival, the permanent organizer of which is Irina Shevchuk, Alexandra met her future husband, producer Dmitry Guzeev. From his first marriage he has a daughter, Maria Guzeeva, who became an actress. By the way, this family has nothing to do with the namesake Larisa Guzeeva.
Dmitry Guzeev and Alexandra Afanasyeva-Shevchuk
Alexandra and Dmitry got married in 2020. Galina Loginova was also present at their wedding, and she brought congratulations from Milla.
And Irina is happy that her daughter has found her destiny. She believes it is important to have someone in your life who you want to take care of and be around day after day.
Irina Shevchuk today
Recently, viewers can see the actress more often on TV screens.
She starred in “Healing with Love”, “A Woman without a Past”, “The Expert”, “House with a Surprise”, etc. Shevchuk plays on the stage of the Film Actor Theater with her daughter, who became an actress, in several productions.
Irina Shevchuk now plays in the theater and stars in TV series
early years
Irina Shevchuk, whose photo can be seen in the article, was born on October 6, 1951 in Murmansk. Our heroine spent most of her childhood in the small village of Rosta, which was located on the periphery of the city. The actress herself calls this time the happiest in her life. After all, she grew up on the shores of the Barents Sea, surrounded by picturesque nature with its northern lights and endless polar nights.
When Irina Shevchuk reached the age of 11, the family decided to move to Kyiv permanently. Here the girl’s parents took up teaching in one of the city’s high schools. Thanks to a good upbringing, our heroine showed herself to be an obedient student, an activist and a Komsomol member. Irina Shevchuk was known at school for voluntarily helping her peers who showed unsatisfactory academic progress. It seemed that the girl’s future was predetermined, and fate favored her to become a teacher. However, thanks to a coincidence of circumstances, everything turned out differently.
Personal life of Irina Shevchuk
Irina has always had many fans.
While still at VGIK, she had a stormy romance with a student of the same institute, Talgat Nigmatulin. However, it did not come to marriage, since Shevchuk did not want to be only a wife, as is customary in the East, for this she would have to leave the profession. After the release of the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” Ira received a huge number of letters from young people. As the actress herself says, she liked to win hearts, meet and break up.
Shevchuk met her future husband when one of the episodes of the “Comrade Cinema” program was being prepared. Alexander Afanasyev was the musical director of this program. The young people got married, and soon their daughter Alexandra was born. The actress's hobbies include literature and theater, she writes poetry and loves the Russian bathhouse.
Irina Shevchuk and Alexander Afanasyev
Irina had already known composer Alexander Afanasyev for a couple of years before their relationship began. He was married then, and she somehow had no time for him. In 1979, they met again to work together on a musical project. Then their romance began, which very quickly ended with a wedding. In 1981, their daughter Alexandra was born.
Alexander Afanasyev, Irina Shevchuk and their daughter Alexandra in the program “While everyone is at home”
The family, of course, was not always idyllic. The couple argued and quarreled, but for forty years now they have been living under the same roof with great respect for each other.
