Georgi Staykov (, born 10 August 1964 in

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) is a Bulgarian actor. He graduated in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

from the

National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts The Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (commonly referred to as NATFIZ) is a performing, cinematic and media arts institution of higher education based in Sofia. It is the first Bulgarian university in the field of thea ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Professional career

His debut in cinema was a minor role in ''

Boris I Boris I (also ''Bogoris''), venerated as Saint Boris I (Mihail) the Baptizer (, ; died 2 May 907), was the ruler (knyaz) of the First Bulgarian Empire from 852 to 889. Despite a number of military setbacks, the reign of Boris I was marked wit ...

'' in 1985. in 1988, Staykov became famous in Bulgaria with " Vchera" (, ), where he portrayed Rostislav, a student in an elite high school in

Communist Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; , NRB; ) was the official name of Bulgaria when it was a socialist state, socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; ) together with its coalition partner, the Bul ...

, who rebels against the hollowness of the system and the absurd rules. After the fall of communism, Staykov moved first to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and later to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In Swedish cinema, he typically portrays Eastern European villains. "My Serbian friends refer to me as 'the main bad guy,'" he said in a 2007 interview. "I've played this role for all possible languages which has these 'bad guys' - Russian mafia, Hungarian... Serbian of course. Overall, I play Eastern Europeans. All bad guys who eventually die." Staykov portrays Alexander Zalachenko, a former Soviet spy, in the 2009 film adaptations of the best-selling " Millennium Trilogy" novels. He said he embraces the role of the villain. "Unfortunately, the underlying opinion is that negative roles are very flat and without strong character. But I disagree. On the contrary, all the characters are flesh and blood, and as

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

said, 'Nobody is born bad — they are bad due to lack of knowledge.'" He reprised the role of Zalachenko in the six-part

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

that was broadcast on Swedish TV in 2010. He returned to Bulgarian cinema and acted in the comedy '' Mission London'' and the drama

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

. He also starred in the second season of Bulgarian TV series ''

Undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

'' (), as well as ''Where's Magi?'' (), a remake of '' ¿Dónde Está Elisa?''.

Personal life

Staykov lives in Stockholm, where he also teaches acting. He was married to a Swedish opera singer, Marion, for 15 years, until they separated in 2011. They have a son, Albert Nicholas, born in February 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Staykov, Georgi Bulgarian male film actors Swedish male actors 1964 births Living people People from Veliko Tarnovo Bulgarian emigrants to Sweden