Sergey Vitalyevich Bezrukov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Вита́льевич Безру́ков, born 18 October 1973) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, singer,
People's Artist of Russia
People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...
, the laureate of the
State Prize of the Russian Federation
The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...
. He currently works at Tabakov Studio (the theatre of
Oleg Tabakov
Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov (russian: Олег Павлович Табаков; 17 August 1935 – 12 March 2018) was a Soviet and Russian actor and the Artistic Director of the Moscow Art Theatre. People's Artist of the USSR (1988).
Biography
Tabak ...
). He is a member of the Supreme Council of the party
United Russia
United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...
.
Biography
Early life and education
Sergei Bezrukov was born on 18 October 1973 in Moscow. His father was
Vitali Bezrukov
Vitali Sergeyevich Bezrukov (russian: Вита́лий Сергее́вич Безру́ков; born 1 January 1942 in Gorky Oblast), is a Soviet and Russian actor and theatre director.
He has made appearances with his son, Sergei Bezrukov, in tw ...
, an actor and director who worked at the
Moscow Satire Theatre
The Moscow Academic Theatre of Satire (russian: Московский академический театр сатиры) is a dramatic theatre in Moscow, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental cou ...
. Sergei's mother was Natalia Bezrukova (née Surova), she graduated from the Gorky College of Soviet Trade and worked as a shop manager. Sergei Bezrukov was named in honor of his father's favorite poet,
Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...
.
After graduating from secondary school No. 402 in the Perovsk district of Moscow in 1990, he entered the
Moscow Art Theater School
Moscow Art Theatre School is the studio school of the Moscow Art Theatre. It is a state educational institution that has existed since 1943. The initiator of the studio school was Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.Nocturne for Drum and Motorcycle''.
From 1995 until 2000, he worked on the satirical program ''
Puppets
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to mov ...
'' which aired on the NTV channel. Puppets were used on the show to represent famous people, mainly politicians. He voiced twelve characters on the show, among them such famous personalities as
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
and
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, ''né'' Eidelshtein (russian: link=false, Эйдельштейн) (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) f ...
. Bezrukov gained more exposure as an actor with the show.
In 2002 Bezrukov gained his big break; he got the role of gang leader Sasha Belov in the popular crime TV show ''
Brigada
''Brigada'' (russian: Бригада), also known as ''Law of the Lawless'', is a Russian 15-episode crime television miniseries that debuted in 2002. It became very popular in Russia and ex-Soviet countries as well as Eastern Europe, but receiv ...
''. After the series aired Sergei Bezrukov became a household name in Russia. In the same year Bezrukov played Ivan Brilling in the historical detective miniseries '' ''Azazel'''', based on '' The Winter Queen'' by
Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin (russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili (russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვ ...
.
Other roles followed, such as Irakliy in ''
The Irony of Fate 2
''The Irony of Fate 2'' or ''The Irony of Fate: Continuation'' (russian: Ирония Судьбы. Продолжение; ''Ironiya sud’by. Prodolzheniye'') is a 2007 Russian romantic comedy film directed by Timur Bekmambetov based on a screenp ...
High Security Vacation
''High Security Vacation'' (russian: Каникулы строгого режима, Kanikuly strogogo rezhima) is a 2009 Russian adventure comedy film directed by Igor Zaytsev.
Plot
Viktor Sumarokov – experienced thief-recidivist nicknamed Sum ...
'', and Rzhevskiy in ''
The Ballad of Uhlans
''The Ballad of Uhlans'' (''Уланская баллада'') is a 2012 Russian historical adventure film directed by Oleg Fesenko, and stars Sergei Bezrukov, Anna Chipovskaya, Anton Sokolov and Vladimir Gostyukhin.
''The Ballad of Uhlans'' was ...
''.
In 2005 Bezrukov fulfilled his childhood dream, when he portrayed the poet
Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...
, after whom he was named, in the 2005 miniseries ''
Yesenin
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin ( rus, Сергей Александрович Есенин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ jɪˈsʲenʲɪn; ( 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one o ...
''. It was based on the novel ''Yesenin. Story of a Murder'' written by his father, Vitaly, who also portrayed Yesenin in a 1969 film, titled ''Anna Snegina''.
Another notable role was Yeshua Ha-Nozri in the 2005 series ''The Master and Margarita''.
He voiced the title character of ''Prince Vladimir'' animated film. He is also known for his theatre role of Chichikov in ''
Dead Souls
''Dead Souls'' (russian: «Мёртвые души», ''Mjórtvyje dúshi'') is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adv ...
'' (which won the ''
Moskovskij Komsomolets
''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' (russian: Московский комсомолец, lit=Moscow Komsomolets) is a Moscow-based daily newspaper with a circulation approaching one million, covering general news. Founded in 1919, it is famed for its to ...
award). In 2006, he portrayed
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
, revered as the Russian language's greatest poet, in '' Pushkin: The Last Duel''.
Sergei portrayed the popular Soviet singer
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
in the 2011 film ''
Vysotsky. Thank You For Being Alive
Vysotsky. Thank You for Being Alive (russian: Высоцкий. Спасибо, что живой) is a 2011 in film, 2011 Russian drama film about Vladimir Vysotsky based on a screenplay by his son Nikita Vysotsky, Nikita and directed by Pyotr Bus ...
''. CGI and heavy makeup was used to make the actor look like Vysotsky. Bezrukov was not credited for his role and it was only later revealed that he was the actor.
In 2017, Sergei acted in the film ''
After You're Gone
''After You're Gone'' (russian: После тебя, Posle tebya) is a 2016 Russian comedy-drama film directed by Anna Matison.
Plot
Famous ballet dancer Alexey Temnikov (Sergey Bezrukov) dedicated his whole life to the stage, performing in vari ...
'', directed by his wife Anna Matison. The comedy-drama told the story of a ballet dancer who suffered a spinal injury and decides to stage an original ballet performance.
According to the survey of ROMIR Monitoring, in Russia he was called the favorite actor of 2005.
In March 2014 he signed a letter in support of the position of the President of Russia
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia
The amendments of 2020, which were proposed in January 2020, are the second substantial amendments to the Constitution of Russia of 1993. To introduce these amendments, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, held a national vote. They were approved ...
, which, in particular, are defining marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman. He explained his position by saying, that the terms 'parent 1 and parent 2' shouldn't be allowed to exist in Russia. "I propagate love between a man and a woman, and prefer not to have a deal with gender equality", he also said.
In 2022 Bezrukov publicly supported the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2015 he was married to actress Irina Bezrukova (to marry Bezrukov she broke up with actor Igor Livanov, they became officially married when Sergei was acting in the TV series ''Brigada''). In 2015 the couple separated.
Sergei Bezrukov married director and screenwriter Anna Matison on 11 March 2016. On 4 July 2016 they had a daughter, Maria.
At the end of 2013, the media, citing Bezrukov's father, reported that Sergei has young children: daughter Alexandra and son Ivan; their mother was identified as a St. Petersburg actress by the name of Kristina Smirnova (born 1983 in Latvia).