Yuuri Katsuki took the job. Why? His agent admonished him for it—why take on a small role when people want to see him in something bigger?
"Support." Is all Yuuri said. And this is the reason why he has his own dedicated fans too. Yuuri Katsuki—the big star who supports the youngest in the business! What a great guy!—only, Victor Nikiforov said the same thing and now it looks like one is copying the other.
Doesn't matter though. They are professionals, and professionals will not let something as petty as that keep them from doing their best.
Welcome to the Madness was a hit. Yuri Plisetsky got news that he was a nominee for the best actor category. The other two though—they didn't even congratulate the young boy who they said they were supporting. Instead, they were both waiting impatiently to see who would be nominated for best supporting actor. There could only be one.
And of course…
"Victor Nikiforov...Welcome to the Madness." The announcer has such a terrible monotone voice—but what do you expect from a pre-recording. Yuuri Katsuki didn't attend the ceremony—tending to his sick dog. As far as Yuuri's agent knows, Yuuri's dog has passed a while ago. His public relations agent was happy to run with it, and boy did being a dog person gain you points in social media!
As far as the public knows, Yuuri Katsuki is cheering on co-stars Yuri Plisetsky and Victor Nikiforov from the privacy and comfort of his own home. That's enough to keep the fans at bay.
Months later, all the news is talking about is Yuuri Katsuki's departure from film.
"I want to try something new," he repeats on every interview he gets. "I think a TV series will allow me to test out my abilities."
It's kind of a thing now these days—these big name A-Listers suddenly moving to TV, so maybe, it's one of those power move things where you move to TV so more people see you. No one knows for sure though.
Yuuri's quickly cast in a figure skating drama—title pending.
Then, because everyone has been raving about the Katsuki-Nikiforov duo from Welcome to the Madness—really, the entertainment headlines are reading: KATSUKI-NIKIFOROV IS THE INTERNATIONAL BROMANCE YOU WANT TO SEE THIS SUMMER! (Bromance.) (Yuuri's agent's eyes would roll out of her head.)—Victor Nikiforov is also cast in the figure skating drama—again, title pending.
For some reason, Yuri Plisetsky follows suit—eager little thing, and Yuuri Katsuki looks miserable when his agent tells him who his co-stars are going to be. Yuuri would have quit but he learns that he's the leading role—execs are also feeling the Emmy awards for this one.
When all the contracts have been signed, entertainment news erupted.
WELCOME TO THE MADNESS ACTORS YUURI KATSUKI AND VICTOR NIKIFOROV
STAR IN SKATING DRAMA ALONGSIDE NEWCOMER, YURI PLISETSKY
The fans are excited—all contained under the hashtags: katforov, nikisuki, and 2YnV (two Yuuri/Yuri's and Victor).
If only they knew, how much Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov disliked each other.
Yuri Plisetsky joined in on the facade—retweeting fan comments and excitement. Victor Nikiforov stepped up to the challenge and became much more active on social media too. Yuuri Katsuki, on the other hand, remained mainly behind the scenes. But staying invisible did gain him a lot of traction when he appeared on interviews.
The TV show, to the fans, was just a rumor—many times have fans been so eager about a TV show only to hear it was cancelled before it could even get filmed. So, naturally, public relations decided to gather the Big Three and have them do a Vanity Fair interview.
WELCOME TO THE MADNESS CAST TEASES NEW PROJECT | VANITY FAIR
"Welcome to the Madness cast, take one—mark!"
Plisetsky is looking around the set, Nikiforov is picking at his clothes, and Katsuki is glances at his co-stars before looking to the camera to shrug.
[Jump cut]
"This is a really fancy set," Nikiforov jokes—some background laughter. Camera pans just to the left and shows staff standing around wearing headphones. It's clear the space is not very fancy at all. Plisetsky giggles and Katsuki gives a dry laugh.
[Jump cut]
"Hello, my name is Yuuri Katsuki."
"I'm Victor Nikiforov."
"And I'm Yuri Plisetsky."
[Jump cut]
Off camera, the interviewer speaks. "A lot of people are excited about—"
"Oooh," Nikiforov half interrupts.
"The new project." Katsuki says at the same time.
"Yeah, a lot of people are excited about the new project. What can you tell us about it?" The interviewer continues.
Nikiforov and Plisetsky both look towards Katsuki, and he raises his brows. "You guys want me to tell it?"
Nikiforov shakes his head—, "this guy—he's the main character, that for sure we can tell you."
"So it's confirmed then that Yuuri will be playing the leading role?"
Katsuki nods, "yes, I will be."
[Jump cut]
Katsuki looks serious. "It's about an ice skater who is starting to feel like he is past his prime and decides to quit until a famous figure skater—"
"Played by me," Nikiforov smiles.
"—played by Victor, offers to be his coach."
"It's all really about realizing potential and rekindling the passion someone might have lost." Nikiforov continues.
"At the end of the day, we want people to feel that it's never too late to chase after your dreams." Katsuki finishes.
Off camera, the interviewer asks, "have you started filming yet? Or is that a secret?"
[Camera zooms into Yuri Plisetsky]
"We've done a rough shoot, but we've mostly finished our table reading and it couldn't have gone better! We all work really well together."
Yuuri Katsuki's agent, who was standing behind camera sighed deeply. Yuri Plisetsky is a gifted actor.
Table reading for the pilot happened three months ago and Victor Nikiforov asked to reschedule. The young one, Yuri Plisetsky brushed it off with a smile. Just because he's been nominated for best leading actor in a film doesn't mean he can throw around an attitude just yet. Yuuri Katsuki used his own connections to proceed with the table read—and when asked what to do about Victor Nikiforov's line, Yuuri replied with a cool, "one of the interns can read for him." Followed by, "it seems unprofessional to reschedule when everyone but one person is present."
Too much money must have been poured into the show because executives and producers decided to push through despite all the background tension. However, admittedly, they were trying something completely new.
Three months after the Vanity Fair interview, it seems like there was no other news about this skating drama—title pending.
Until Yuuri Katsuki himself announced the title on Twitter.
Yuri! On Ice. Coming soon.