It is one of the key roles in film. Maybe the key role.
The honour and challenge has been trusted to Oleg Shulga, a charismatic, self-deprecating and relentlessly determined Ukrainian actor.
One of the critical and obvious challenges for Oleg in playing Victor is to demonstrate a natural ease on the water and some skill in sailing. No small task for an actor with limited experience on a boat. But learning a new skill in an intense, short period of time is part of an actor’s journey.
“Sailing is a new experience. In acting you have a lot of unexpected challenges, whether it be driving fast cars, shooting guns…” explains Shulga as he stands on the edge of Lake Thun, Switzerland where he is taking a short break from an intensive ten-day sailing immersion course under the guidance of Olympic Star Sailor Flavio Marazzi and a team of Swiss sailors.
He sails twice a day mastering essential boat handling skills and a sense of how to behave and comport himself on the water. “It’s exciting, a little scary and even quite cold,” admits Shulga. “The strangest sensation on a boat is that the ground is never still.”
Shulga hails from Dnipro, the industrial city in the centre of Ukraine, coincidentally where Kovalenko was born. “The first time I encountered Victor’s story was when the Ukrainian men’s sailing team won gold and women’s sailing team won bronze in Atlanta back in 1996. It was a surprising result which impacted the whole nation. I then learnt a lot more about Victor in preparation for this film.”
Oleg Shulga
Shulga finds natural parallels between his own life and Victor’s, admitting a deep admiration for the person he is playing. And with this comes significant responsibility. “Victor set himself targets and challenged everything around him. Coming from the same town, understanding the struggles he would have faced, will help me in revealing his character.”
The similarities between the two men run deep. When he was balancing an early career as a theatre actor, Shulga worked as an engineer in the very factory where Victor’s father worked. Shulga began acting at the age of 14, following his brother to a rehearsal and finding an immediate affinity with performing. Twenty-five years later he has now landed one of his biggest roles. His ambition for Storm School is clear. “Victor gave glory to the Ukraine, and through telling his story I want to give some glory back. This project will change me. Not many people can overcome what Victor did.”