Aleksei Serebryakov (actor)

Aleksei Valeryevich Serebryakov, PAR, HOR (Алексей Валерьевич Серебряков; born 3 July 1964) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He started acting at 15, and now he is one of the most popular and highly paid Russian actors. He has appeared in Leviathan and McMafia.

Early life and career beginnings
He was born on July 3, 1964, in Moscow. His father was an aircraft engineer and his mother worked as a doctor at Gorky Film Studio. As a child, he attended music school (accordion class); at the age of 13 he made his debut as an actor when his music teacher published his photo in the newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva. Serebryakov came to the attention of directors Valery Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolsky, who were responsible for casting the Soviet television series Eternal Call.

In 1986, he graduated from the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts, where he went to the acting school of Oleg Tabakov, after which he played for several years at the Moscow Theatre-Studio "Tabakerka" directed by Oleg Tabakov. In 1991, he left the theater.

After graduating from the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, Serebryakov starred in several films, including Silent Outpost (1986) and Accused of the Wedding (1986), and some others. He gained wide popularity due to his main character as a criminal fighter in Vladimir Feoktistov's movie Fan (1989).

1990s–present
In 1990, Serebryakov appeared in Afghan Breakdown, directed by Vladimir Bortko. He also starred in the 1990 film Accidental Waltz, for which he won the best actor prize at the Locarno Film Festival. In 1994, he appeared in the Sergey Livnov drama Hammer and Sickle.



Later in the decade, he also appeared in numerous TV series, including Bandit Petersburg, Empire Under Attack, The White Guard and many others. Concurrently, he starred in the movies "Antikiller 2: Antiterror" and "Escape" by Yegor Konchalovsky, Dead Man's Bluff by Aleksei Balabanov, The 9th Company and Dark Planet by Fyodor Bondarchuk, Vadim Shmelev's The Apocalypse Code, Gloss by Andrei Konchalovsky, "Golden Section" by Sergei Debizhev, Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman by Andrei Smirnov, "Solo on the Saxophone" by Alexander Kirienko and the fantasy-anthology film Fairytale.Is.

He performed in Lenkom Theatre between 2009 and 2012. He played Sergei Mamontov in the partly biographical film The PyraMMMid (2011), a fictional story inspired by financier Sergei Mavrodi (the founder of MMM pyramid scheme). In 2014, Serebryakov played the lead role of Kolya in Andrey Zvyagintsev's internationally acclaimed drama Leviathan. After that, Serebryakov appeared in Sergei Puskepalis's directorial debut, Clinch.

In 2015–2016, he continued acting in TV series, including Fartsa and The Method. In 2017, he played role of Dr. Andrey Richter in Doctor Richter, a Russian remake of the American medical drama series, House. In the same year, he appeared in the historical fantasy feature film Furious. Serebryakov appeared in the 2018 BBC series McMafia, where he played Dimitri Godman, mafia boss father of protagonist Alex.

Political views
In 2018, Serebryakov became embroiled in controversy over his statement in an interview that the most common traits of Russian people are "[brutal] force, rudeness and arrogance". He also said in the interview that he does not like two things about Vladimir Putin: lies and thieving. At a business forum in London later that year, he accused Russia of stirring up multiple wars.

Personal life
Serebryakov has been with his wife Maria since the 1980s; they married in the 1990s and have three children, one from Maria's previous marriage and two adopted; in March 2012, Serebryakov moved to Canada with his family, citing corruption and political instability in Russia as obstacles to raising children. He later stated that it was cheaper to live in Canada, despite not having Canadian citizenship; in 2021, Serebryakov reportedly returned to Russia. According to the actor, "As a matter of fact, I never left, I only took my children out to study".

Awards

 * 1990: Locarno Film Festival – Best Actor Award (Accidental Waltz)
 * 1993: Sozvezdie International Film Festival, Russia – special jury prize (Higher measure)
 * 1994: Kinoshock Film Festival – best male role (Hammer and Sickle)
 * 1998: Merited Artist of the Russian Federation — for services in the field of art
 * 2000: Festival "Vivat, Cinema of Russia!" (St. Petersburg) – prize for the best male role (Tests for Real Men)
 * 2006: Festival "Vivat, Cinema of Russia!" (St. Petersburg) – prize for the best role (Vanyukhin's Children)
 * 2010: People's Artist of the Russian Federation — for great achievements in the field of art
 * 2014: IFFI Best Actor Award (Male) at 45th International Film Festival of India – (Leviathan)
 * 2019: Nika Award for Best Actor (Van Goghs)