Artur Sergeyevich Smolyaninov (; born 27 October 1983) is a Russian actor.

Biography

Smolyaninov was born on October 27, 1983, in Moscow. His mother Maria Vladimirovna is an art teacher. The godfather of Artur is

Ivan Okhlobystin Ivan Ivanovich Okhlobystin (; born 22 July 1966) is a Russian actor, director, screenwriter, and former Orthodox priest. He was defrocked by the Russian Orthodox Church and barred from performing priestly rites because of the roles he played ...

. He spent his childhood and youth in the city of Korolyov,

Moscow Region Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

. Artur has two younger brothers and a sister. Smolyaninov's cinematic debut was at the age of fourteen in the 1998 film ''Who, if Not We'' by Valeriy Priemykhov. After completing external school at the age of 16, he entered the

Russian Institute of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) () is the largest and oldest independent drama school, theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the ...

at the acting section of the directing department (course of Leonid Kheifets) at the age of 16, and in 2004 graduated from it with almost a dozen credits in films and on television. After his acting debut in ''Who, if Not We'', he played in the movie ''Triumph''. The role of Lyutyy in the film about the Afghan war ''

The 9th Company ''9th Company'' () is a 2005 Russian war film directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk and set during the Soviet–Afghan War. The film is loosely based on a real-life battle that took place at Hill 3234 in early 1988, during Operation Magistral, the las ...

'' brought wide popularity to the actor. Artur Smolyaninov was accepted into the troupe of the Sovremennik Theatre in 2006. In his theatrical performances, he played the father in ''Family Situations'' by

Biljana Srbljanović Biljana Srbljanović ( sr-cyr, Биљана Србљановић, ; born 15 October 1970) is a Serbian playwright and university professor. She has written eleven theater plays and screenplay for ''Otvorena vrata'' television series that aired o ...

, Vikhorev in Stay in Your Own Sled by

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...

. Afterwards he had the roles of Soleny in the play '' Three Sisters'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, the Danish king in ''Once Again about the Naked King'' Leonid Filatov, Pompey and Gonets in the play ''Antony & Cleopatra. Version'' of Oleg Bogayev and

Kirill Serebrennikov Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov (; born 7 September 1969) is a Russian stage and film director and theatre designer. Since 2012, he has been the artistic director of the Gogol Center in Moscow. He is one of Russia's leading theatre and cinem ...

based on the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, Prince Gialmar in ''Malen'' by Maurice Maeterlinck. Artur Smolyaninov played the main role of ambulance doctor Oleg Samarin in the television series ''Samara'' which premiered in 2012 and lasted for two seasons. Took part in the competitive ice skating show ''Ice Age'' in 2014, paired with Olympic champion

Tatiana Totmianina Tatiana Ivanovna Totmianina (; born 2 November 1981) is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Maxim Marinin, she is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and five-time European champion. The pair began skating t ...

. In October 2022, Smolyaninov was charged for discrediting the Russian armed forces after making statements against the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

; he had also

fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American Buddy film, buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepa ...

the country. He commented: "The laws of this state do not exist for me. They, like the state itself, are inherently criminal, which means they have neither moral nor legal force". In January 2023, Smolyaninov was charged after allegedly making "anti-Russian" comments in an interview with Novaya Gazeta Europe. In the interview, he had stated that he would fight for Ukraine, not Russia, if he was forced to take part in the war. Artur Smolyaninov is also a musician and has a band titled cheLovek which he founded after leaving Russia and moving to Riga, Latvia. The band released their first music video in 2024.

Philanthropy

Artur Smolyaninov is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Give Life Foundation, organized by Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun, which helps children with oncohematological diseases, and Galchonok, which helps children with organic lesions of the central nervous system. Repeatedly participated in charitable events.

Personal life

In 2013 he married the actress

Darya Melnikova Darya Alekseyevna Melnikova () is a Russian actress in theater, film and television. Biography Darya Melnikova was born in Omsk, Russia. She learned to play the piano at a music school and was involved in ballet. In 2009 from Melnikova was a ...

, in October 2015 the couple had a son, followed by a second son. On June 6, 2021, Melnikova announced her divorce from Smolyaninov. Smolyaninov stated in October 2022 that he was no longer living in Russia.

Filmography

References

External links