in The Ascent. Because of this, she rejected Andrey Myagkov, who wanted to act in the picture. The same fate befell Nikolai Gubenko. Vladimir Vysotsky, who yearned to play Rybakov, also did not pass selection. At the time when the castings for The Ascent were taking place, Vysotsky was starring in the film The Negro of Peter the Great. Production of that film took place at the Mosfilm sound stage, adjacent to where the auditions were being held, and during his breaks Vysotsky often went to see what was happening at Shepitko's sound stage. From the beginning of the search for the actor who would play Sotnikov, Larisa Shepitko instructed Emma Baskakova, her casting assistant, to keep in mind the image of Christ, although it was impossible to mention this out loud. Boris Plotnikov, a 25-year-old actor of the Sverdlovsk Theater, turned out to be the best candidate for the role according to the director, but the officials of Goskino saw in Shepitko's plan the intention to put Jesus on to the Soviet screen. Plotnikov, whose repertoire until then largely included the roles of magical animals, even had to be made up for the purpose of greater glorification of the character so that the artistic council would approve him for the role. The actor went through seven test shots altogether for which he always had to fly to Moscow from Sverdlovsk. For the role of Rybak the director screened 20 candidates. The actor chosen for the role was the unknown actor Vladimir Gostyukhin. Gostyukhin, who had worked for six years in the Soviet Army theater as a furniture and prop maker, had once replaced a sick actor in the play Unknown Soldier. His performance was noticed by Svetlana Klimova, who was the second unit director for Vasiliy Ordynski. Gostyukhin received an invitation to act in the series The Road to Calvary, where he played the role of the anarchist and bandit Krasilnikov for whom charisma and a strong temperament were required. It was while working that set that he was noticed by Larisa Shepitko's assistants. Gostyukhin was invited to audition for the role of Rybak, but initially could not equate "a woman of great beauty [Sheptiko] with the super-masculine, tough and tragic story by Vasil Býkaŭ." But after a 20-minute conversation with the director, he was convinced that only she could film the adaptation of this weighty book. Even so,