What the Prototypes of the “Chernobyl” Series Really Looked Like

The Chernobyl mini-series is sort of a big cultural phenomenon that the entire world is talking about. It is rated 9.6 on IMDb which makes it the highest-rated series of all time. The show is based on the book Chernobyl Prayer by a Belorussian author and Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich.

In today’s article, we will show you the real people who were portrayed by very talented actors. By the way, the character of Ulana Khomyuk, played by Emily Watson, was a fictional character which is an impersonation of several scientists that took part in the liquidation of the accident.

We at Bright Side believe that this series is a must-see, at least to make people remember this important lesson from the recent past and avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

Valery Legasov, a prominent Soviet inorganic chemist, and Jared Harris



Mikhail Gorbachev, Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and David Dencik



Vasily Ignatenko, the leader of the sixth fire crew in Pripyat, and Adam Nagaitis



Ludmila Ignatenko, the wife of Vasily Ignatenko, and Jessie Buckley



Viktor Bryukhanov, the director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and Con O’Neill



Nikolai Fomin, the lead engineer, and Adrian Rawlins



Mikhail Schadov, the Minister of the Coal Industry of the USSR, and Michael Colgan



Aleksandr Akimov, the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4, and Sam Troughton



Anatoly Dyatlov, deputy chief engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and Paul Ritter



Nikolai Tarakanov, Soviet military leader of the liquidators, and Ralph Michael Ineson



Leonid Toptunov, the senior reactor engineer, and Robert Emms



Boris Shcherbina, vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers, and Stellan Skarsgård



Alexei Ananenko (Baltasar Breki Samper), Valeri Bezpalov (Philip Barantini), Boris Baranov (Oscar Giz), and 3 assistants



They had to dive into the radioactive water in order to prevent the second explosion in the power plant.

Which of the characters do you think looked very close to their prototype?

Preview photo credit Chernobyl (TV Mini-Series) / HBO, history

SOURCE: BRIGHTSIDE