Russian actor Yulia Peresild has been selected for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS) to film scenes for the first feature film to be shot in space, Russia's space agency says.
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She will set off on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on October 5 with director Klim Shipenko, Roscosmos announced on Thursday.
Peresild, 36, prevailed among 20 finalists for the role in space. More than 3000 applications were received.
As well as acting skills, medical tests were the deciding factor, Roscosmos said.
Peresild became known to a wider public 11 years ago with the Russian feature film The Edge, which is set after the end of World War II.
The film by director Shipenko, 37, who is known for the 2017 space movie Salyut7, has the working title Vyzov (The Challenge).
He and Peresild will reportedly begin special training for their flight to the human outpost on June 1.
"Among other things, they will have to take centrifuge tests, vibration stand tests, perform introductory and training flights on a zero-gravity plane, undergo parachute training," Roscosmos said.
Actor Alena Mordovina, 33, together with camera director Alexei Dudin, 40, were nominated for a reserve crew.
According to Roscosmos, the feature film is part of a large-scale scientific and educational project that will produce documentaries about, for example, the rocket and space industry.
Australian Associated Press
