 His debut in the movie took place when he was a fourth-year student.These were episodic roles in Lev Kulidzhanov in the film "When the Trees Were Tall" and Stanislav Rostotsky in the film "On the Seven Winds".The first important role of Viktor Pavlov was the student Dub in Leonid Gaidai's comedy "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures"

Fame came to the actor in 1967 after the role of scout Kolya Grishanchikov in the television movie "Major Whirlwind" directed by Yevgeny Tashkov based on the eponymous novel by Julian Semenov.