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Biography
- Star
actor in Russia, Born in Petrovka village, Shkotovsky Region, Primorski
District, Russia. My
father was an officer in the Navy Air Forces and served in Petrovka airport.
When he got a discharge, our family moved back to Moscow, my Dad’s
birthplace. So I was raised in Moscow, Russia. Changing schools was not a
very happy experience. I started to learn French in the 3rd
grade, and then I was transferred to another school and had a choice to
study German or English. Thanks to Beatles, Doors and Deep Purple my choice
was English. My elder brother Vladimir was one of the leader singers in the
local band, and he was a big fan of those groups. Their music gave me a
sense of English, developed my curiosity in the Western culture and love for
sound. During my school years my favorite subject was chemistry. All my
closets were loaded with different chemicals and it was the biggest fun to
mix them and observe the resulting processes. Explosives were my favorites
and my specialty. My family lived in the outskirts of Moscow, so we had lots
of space to explore including new construction sites and nearest forests. It
surprises me now how I survived that period without losing any parts of my
body to my chemical experiments while exploring the wilderness of Moscow
suburbs. Another thing that helped me stay alive was sports (judo-do,
karate) and yoga. As long as I remember myself as a kid I was always
fascinated with Eastern cultures of Japan, China and India. I started
actively practicing yoga when I was 13 after seeing the documentary about
mystery of yogi. During my teenage years I never had any interest in arts,
acting or any other artistic way of expressing myself. I was very bashful
and easily blushing young man.
- My
first undergraduate school was Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), where I
studied for 5 years. I could have become an electronics engineer like my
father but all of a sudden in the forth year of studies I completely lost
interest in electronics. One
show of Taganka Theater in Moscow directed by Yuri Lyubimov, totally turned
my life upside down. Since that moment I knew there was only one thing I
wanted to do - acting. Two of my friends were professional actors. When they
heard that I decided to quit MAI to become an actor, they were absolutely
against it and told me that I didn’t have any talent and I didn’t stand
a chance. It took me two years to become a student at a prestigious Drama
School named after Boris Schukin.
- My
biggest influences:
1)
A book by Peter Brook “Empty Space."
2)
A novel by H. Hesse “Steppenwolf."
3)
A film by F. Fellini “8 ½."
4)
A play, directed by Yuri Lyubimov “Crime and punishment."
5)
Performers: V. Polunin, E. Sitokhin, Danny Pack
6)
Show - Cirque du Soleil – Show ”O”
- My
first job in film was starring part in a TV movie “Greetings from the frontline” (dir. V.
Kiasashvilli), 1982.
- In
Russia I am a well known actor. I came to LA in 1991 to do looping for
American film "The Ice Runner" shot in Russia where I had a
co-starring part.
- Most
influential directors I worked with: S. Ovcharov (Nebyvalschina), E.
Tatarski (Jack Vosmyorkin - an American), Mimi Leder (Peacemaker), Clint
Eastwood (Space cowboys).
- Non-film
projects: Theater- Augecheek
(“Twelfth Night or What You Want” by W. Shakespeare), Jerry (“Zoo
Story” by Olby), Raskolnikov (“Crime and Punishment” by F. Dostoevsky).
TV series “JAG” (“Cowboys and Cossacks”, “Legacy”).
- Hobbies:
Horse riding, scuba diving, water skiing, skiing, hiking, ping pong,
tennis, karate, yoga.
- Most
memorable trips to: North Korea, Germany, China, and Tibet.
- I
live in two cities: LA and Moscow.
- I am
married and have two sons Daniel and Gregory, whom I dearly love and whom
I’d like to bring up as very happy, creative and decent human beings. I
encourage them to explore the world and find their road to happiness and
self-realization.
a.
What I love in people – humor, naturalness, and creativity.
b.
Favorite rule- Doubt everything.
c.
Favorite color – Kandinski blue
d.
Favorite sound – piano jazz
e.
Favorite artists - Van Gogh, V. Kandinski, Mark Chagal, Dali
f.
I believe – Chance is a tool of providence.
g.
Favorite prayer – God, give me courage to change things I can, serenity
- to accept things I cannot change and wisdom to know the difference.
i.
Favorite mood 
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