Which of the American actors have Russian roots. Hollywood stars with Russian roots
If we examine in detail the genealogies of famous people, in particular Hollywood stars, then, surprisingly, it turns out that many stars are celebrities with Russian roots. Celebrities with Russian roots are proud of their partial belonging to our great people. Whoopi Goldberg never recognize a Russian woman. Meanwhile, Whoopi's maternal great-grandmother lived in the city of Odessa. Whoopi Goldberg was born in one of the black areas of New York. The actress, while still a girl, decided to leave her mother's surname - Goldberg - thereby demonstrating her Jewish (or Russian) roots. Director Martin Scorsese's favorite Leonardo DiCaprio- a little American, a little Italian, a little German and, of course, a little with Russian roots. His grandmother was a certain Elizaveta Smirnova, an emigrant from the Soviet Union. When she was a little girl, her parents moved with her to live in Germany. Already when Leo became a celebrity, he invited her to live in America, but she refused. The actor sees his Russian grandmother when he arrives in Germany.
actress Liv Tyler not much is known about Russian roots. Grandma Liv had Russian and Indian roots. But the actress was never interested in who exactly was from Russia - great-grandmother or great-grandfather. But the Russian roots of the celebrity made themselves felt, because it was not for nothing that Tyler played the role of Tatyana Larina in the Hollywood film adaptation of Eugene Onegin. Harrison Ford half Irish, half Jewish from Russia. His mother Dorothy was born already in America, but her large Jewish family came to New York in 1907 from Minsk. Dorothy Ford's real name is Dora Nidelman. Even in her youth, out of a sense of protest, the girl changed her name: she was annoyed by the Jewish traditions of their family. Her parents, respectively the famous actor's grandparents, Anna Lifshuts and Harry Nidelman - both Jews from Minsk - met already in the USA. Harry managed to get a job as a tram driver in Brooklyn, and soon the young people got married. Harrison Ford was named after Harry's grandfather. Asked about his Russo-Jewish-Irish roots, Harrison Ford says: “As a person, I'm more Irish. As an actor, I am Jewish." The name from the birth of the actress - Winona Laura Horowitz, is known to the whole world as Winona Ryder. In reality, her last name is Tomchina. When her father's parents fled Russia, there was confusion. Already in America, the documents were mixed up, and the Tomchins became Khorovits. The actress dreams of compiling her family tree, where everything will be painted inside and out. Then she'll figure it all out. Actress Jennifer Connelly was born and raised in New York. The father came from the families of Ireland and Norway, and the mother's homeland was Russia and Poland. Jennifer does not like to deal with her Russian roots: on the maternal side she has so many relatives that, probably, her life will not be enough to compile a family tree.
Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem, but her parents moved to the capital of Israel from Chisinau. When Natalie was three years old, the family moved to the United States: first to Washington, then to Connecticut, and then to New York. Hollywood actors Michael Douglas and his father Kirk also have Russian roots. Kirk's real name is Issur Danielovich-Demsky. His father, respectively Michael's grandfather, Hershel Danielovich, left Russia to avoid military service and participation in the Russo-Japanese War. In a foreign country, the Danielovichs decided to become Americanized and changed their names: Hershel became Harry, and Brina became Berta. The Kirk sisters also "renamed": Pesha to Betty, Tamara to Marion, Huska to Eda, Zifra to Fritz, and Rachel to Ruth. Brother Kaleh chose the name Kay. Issur's parents gave the name Isadore, which the future Kirk Douglas hated. The Danielovichs changed their surname to Demsky. Performer of the role of Hercule Poirot, Peter Ustinov, was born in London in 1921 in a family of immigrants from Russia. His first performance on stage took place at the age of 17. After that, Ustinov became widely known in the UK and in the world for his directing and acting work in film, theater and television. In 1961, he was awarded an Oscar for his role in the film Spartacus. Mother David Duchovny, Margaret, was born into a Scottish family, and her father, Amram Dukhovny, is the son of Russian Jews who emigrated to New York. David does not speak Russian, but he is fluent in Hebrew. Nevertheless, David is very fond of Russian literature, especially Dostoevsky. "It's just that it's very easy to understand," Duchovny explains. Mother Sean Penn from an Irish family, and his father is a Jew of Russian-Lithuanian blood. The surname of Sean's father's parents, Leo Pen, was Pinon, but after emigrating to the United States, they anglicized it. In the 1950s, the name of Leo Penn, an actor and television director who directed, among other things, several episodes of the TV series Star Trek and Colombo, was blacklisted by the Un-American Activities Commission due to suspicions of spying for the Soviet Union. . But his guilt has never been proven. famous movie actress Gwyneth Paltrow can also be attributed to “ours”, since she comes from the Jewish family of Paltrovichs, who lived in Minsk. After moving to America, the rabbis slightly changed their surname to fully correspond to the acquired status - citizens of America. Gwyneth Paltrow remembers her roots and speaks of the Russian people with great respect. The queen of Hollywood, who did not hide her Russian roots, was Natalie Wood. Under this pseudonym, Natalya Nikolaevna Zakharenko became famous. During the years of the revolution, her parents fled from Kharkov to Vladivostok, then to China. And from there to San Francisco. Natalia was born there in 1938. The daughter of a Russian engineer and a noblewoman began acting at the age of four. Films with her participation - "West Side Story" (1961), "The Great Race" (1965) - entered the golden fund of cinema. Natalie Wood has earned fame as the most beautiful, scandalous and mysterious actress in Hollywood. She died in 1981. It is still unclear whether the actress threw herself off the yacht and drowned, or was she killed? After all, Natalie's life was insured for $ 13 million, which was received by her husband Robert Wagner. Robert Hossein, one of the famous actors and directors of French cinema (Geoffrey de Peyrac from the epic film about Angelique), was already born in France and likes to repeat that he is French. In fact, Robert is the son of composer Aminuly Husseinov, a native of Samarkand, and Anna Mnevskaya from Kiev. They left Russia immediately after the revolution. The first wife of Robert Hossein was an ethnic Slav Marina Vladi. And no matter how he denied his roots, he called his sons Russian names Igor and Peter. And the favorite treats of the adored actor have always been rye bread and pickles. Sylvester Stallone was born in New York. His father, hairdresser Frank Stallone, came to the States from Sicily, and his mother, astrologer Jacklyn Stallone-Leibofish, was born in Odessa, in a Jewish family. An energetic mother, even during perestroika, was looking for relatives in Ukraine. Then Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev himself helped. A native of the seaside town was the maternal great-grandmother of the star - the heiress of a wealthy family, Rosa Leibovich. The actor says: "I suddenly felt that I had a lot more maternal than Italian paternal genes." Granddad Lenny Kravitz on the father's side (as, indeed, great-grandfather) was born in Kyiv, and his name was Lenya Kravets. During a recent concert in the capital of Ukraine (which Lenny asked to organize specifically in order to finally see the homeland of his ancestors with his own eyes), the singer asked if there were his namesakes in the hall. There are plenty of people with that name!
Almost half of foreign celebrities can be found in their Russian pedigree.
Leonardo DiCaprio's grandmother's name is Elizaveta Smirnova. After the revolution, the parents took little Lisa from the newly-made USSR to Germany, where she grew up and married a businessman. And their daughter, Leo's mother, settled in the United States.
Despite the fact that the 85-year-old relative of the Hollywood star left the country as a child, she did not completely forget the Russian language. Most recently, Elizaveta Smirnova appeared in the company of her famous grandson at the Russian Film Festival in Los Angeles, where, after the screening of the cult film by Sergei Eisenstein "Battleship Potemkin", First Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Denis Molchanov presented DiCaprio with an award for outstanding contribution to the development of world cinema.
When the famous grandson of the Russian grandmother Lisa was in St. Petersburg and participated in the International Forum on the Conservation of the Tiger Population on Earth, he managed to talk with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The conversation also touched on the origin of the actor. “The surname of my ancestors was Smirnov,” DiCaprio said. “A famous surname,” Putin smiled. - Do you speak Russian?" “No, but if my grandmother was here, she would chat with you,” DiCaprio replied. - I always wanted to bring her to St. Petersburg, but, unfortunately, these plans will no longer be realized, since she died. My grandfather was also Russian. So I’m not a quarter, but half Russian.”
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
The founders of the famous film studio "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" Samuel Goldwyn and Louis Mayer spent their childhood in the sandboxes of Russia.
The symbol of America, Hollywood, also has Soviet roots. The creators of the Warner Brothers film studio were four brothers from Belarus - Voronovs (or Warners). The fathers of the film company "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" were a native of Minsk, Lazar Meir (aka Louis Bart Meyer) and a resident of Warsaw, Shmuel Goldfish (Samuel Goldwyn).
Both of Steven Spielberg's grandfathers are from Russia. On my mother's side - from Odessa, and on my father's side - from a small Ukrainian village. The family cherished traditions: they spoke Russian and Yiddish, and, according to the director himself, Ukrainian borsch has always been a favorite dish. Mama Leah often cooked it at the request of little Steve. To this day, she can freely communicate with Russians in their native language and sing folk songs. But Stephen knows only a few words in Russian. By the way, Spielberg's ancestors are not the only connection with the Slavs: the husband of his sister Sue is a distant relative of Boris Pasternak. Helen Mirren
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood was born on July 20, 1938. Her real name is Natalya Zakharenko, and her parents were immigrants from Russia. Natalie spoke both English and Russian perfectly and considered herself "very Russian".
Nicole Scherzinger
The father of the burning brunette Nicole Scherzinger is Filipino, and her mother is half Hawaiian, half Russian in the female line.
I must say, the girl's parents paid tribute to her origin, and therefore the singer's full name sounds like this - Nicole Elikolani Praskovya Scherzinger. Nicole Praskovya herself considers herself a Russian American and notices that her friends sometimes call her Pasha.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whomever you don’t suspect of having Russian roots is the dark-skinned actress Whoopi Goldberg, the winner of the Oscar for her role as psychic Oda Mae Brown in the movie Ghost. Meanwhile, she can boast that her maternal great-grandmother was a native Odessa woman who lived in Tsarist Russia. Whoopi herself, who was born in New York, decided to keep her mother's surname - Goldberg - in memory of her Jewish-Russian roots.
Michael Douglas
The grandfather of Michael Douglas once emigrated from Russia in order to avoid participation in the Russo-Japanese War. His surname sounded like Danielovich-Demsky, but Michael's father (famous actor Kirk Douglas) chose not to stand out from the crowd with such a complicated surname and became just Douglas.
Gwyneth Paltrow
The surname of another Hollywood star has been changed. Gwyneth Paltrow's father was a descendant of the Paltrovich family from Russia, who lived in Minsk. Having left for America, they slightly changed their surname - it turned out to be Paltrow.
The actress herself proudly says that she belongs to such an amazing nation as the Russians.
Anton Yelchin
Young actor Anton Yelchin is considered a rising star in Hollywood.
He was born in St. Petersburg, and when he was six months old, his parents. When the baby was six months old, Anton's parents, professional skaters, moved to Los Angeles. “I don’t remember Russia,” Anton complains. - But I love, as well as my relatives, who stayed with me there. In 2007, I starred in the Russian-American film You and Me (originally called In Search of t.A.T.u.). I agreed to this job only for the sake of visiting Russia. Filming took place in Moscow, Yaroslavl and Los Angeles, but I went away for a few days - I went to my hometown. He visited Shipbuilders Street, where he lived for up to six months, made friends with his uncle, visited the grave of his grandparents. Petersburg is a city of outstanding beauty. But, to be honest, I liked Moscow more. It better reflects the Russian character and Russian history with all its invasions, moments of crisis and restructuring. St. Petersburg is a quieter, European city that could be in Germany or France. Moscow, it seems to me, reflects the Russian essence more. Although, perhaps, the Russians know better.
Jack Palance
Actor Jack Pelans has Ukrainian roots. True, he does not at all consider himself a Russian, declaring that he is a true Ukrainian.
Robert Hossein
The Frenchman Robert Hossein, although he is proud of being French, still does not deny his Russian roots. Yes, and the first wife of Robert was the Slav Marina Vladi.
Mike Mazurki
Mike Mazurkas is one of the oldest Hollywood Ukrainians. The actor starred in more than a hundred episodic roles, but he never returned to his homeland, despite the fact that this was his greatest desire.
Larisa Oleinik
Also a Russian American is a young actress Larisa Oleynik (Larisa Oleynik). Her mother is American, but her father is a Russian programmer who emigrated abroad. As well as possible, it is her Russian name that indicates the Russian roots of the actress.
Liv Tyler
Actress Liv Tyler does not know much about Russian roots. Grandma Liv had Russian and Indian roots. But the actress was never interested in who exactly was from Russia - great-grandmother or great-grandfather. But the Russian roots of the celebrity made themselves felt, because it was not for nothing that Tyler played the role of Tatyana Larina in the Hollywood film adaptation of Eugene Onegin.
Jennifer Connelly
Actress Jennifer Connelly was born and raised in New York. The father came from the families of Ireland and Norway, and the mother's homeland was Russia and Poland. Jennifer does not like to deal with her Russian roots: on the maternal side she has so many relatives that, probably, her life will not be enough to compile a family tree.
Peter Fahl
The mother of Peter Falk, who gained worldwide fame after the TV series Colombo, is Russian by origin, and his father has a mixture of Polish, Hungarian and Czech blood.
Peter Ustinov
The performer of the role of Hercule Poirot, Peter Ustinov, was born in London in 1921 in a family of immigrants from Russia. His first performance on stage took place at the age of 17. After that, Ustinov became widely known in the UK and in the world for his directing and acting work in film, theater and television.
Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal was born in the family of Steven and Pat Seagal, was the fourth child - the first boy after three girls. His paternal grandfather came to America as a child with his family from St. Petersburg. Steven Seagal's mother is Irish by origin, his father had Jewish, Mongolian and Russian roots.
Let's start with him. After all, you won’t think right away: he was born in Los Angeles, his surname is Italian, because his father has Italian and German roots. But the mother, Irmelin Indenbirken, was born in the family of Wilhelm Indenbirken and Elena Stepanovna Smirnova, a Russian emigrant. Moreover, DiCaprio says that he not only has a grandmother, but also a Russian grandfather, although he does not specify which one. But this gives DiCaprio reason to consider himself half Russian, which he jokes about with pleasure. He does not speak Russian.
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
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Kirk Douglas's father's name was Danielovich-Demsky, and to be honest, he was a deserter. He escaped from Russia on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, so as not to go to the front. The son of an emigrant decided that it would be difficult to make a career with such a surname, and became just Douglas. And Michael also inherited this Americanized version of the surname.Michael Douglas in movie
Julius Borisovich Briner was born in Vladivostok, his grandfather was a Russified Swiss. When the boy was 14 years old, his parents left for Paris, and a completely different life began from this. At the same time, for some reason, Yul Brynner often said that there were gypsies among his ancestors, he even performed with concerts of gypsy romances, although all this had nothing to do with him personally. Yul Brynner's son Rock often comes to Vladivostok for the Pacific Meridian International Film Festival to tell the townspeople a little more about their famous countryman.Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven
It was even possible not to change the surname much, Paltrovich in Hollywood would have looked quite normal among other Mankeviches and Malkoviches. But it just so happened that Gwyneth's father refused the surname of his Minsk ancestors, but his famous daughter speaks with pleasure about her involvement in the Russian people.Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie Seven
The actor's grandfather, Moishe Duchovny, left Berdichev in 1918. In the US, he worked as a journalist for a Jewish newspaper. His son Amram always pronounced his last name as "Dukovny" to make it easier. David returned "d" and always emphasizes how important it is for him to belong to our culture.David Duchovny in the series
That's someone who has never been shy about his Russian surname, although Michael Joseph Steven Dudikoff was born in California and hardly speaks Russian. But his father is Russian, they say, he studied in Minsk. Maybe that's why militants with Michael Dudikoff have always enjoyed great success with us.Michael Dudikoff in American Ninja
Steven Spielberg's family has always spoken two languages: Yiddish and Russian. Shmuel Shpilberg and Rivka Chechik, paternal grandparents, emigrated to America from Kamenetz-Podolsk in 1906. Faivl Posner emigrated from Odessa, and his wife Jenny Friedman was born in the USA, but also in a family of Russian emigrants. Therefore, Spielberg is Russian "on all fronts." Adding to Spielberg's charm is the fact that his sister Susan's husband is a distant relative of Boris Pasternak.Steven Spielberg movie trailer
His great-grandmother's name was Rosa Lamlets, she lived in Odessa and did not know that she would ever have such a powerful grandson. She and her husband, Leibofish, left for the United States in 1888, where their son John Paul was born - and Stallone, as a result, had a “Russian trace” in the gene pool.Sylvester Stallone in movie
Winona Laura Horowitz. The first name is in honor of the town in the neighborhood. Second - that was the name of Aldous Huxley's wife, Winona's father knew him personally. And Michael Horowitz himself is a descendant of an emigrant from Kharkov.Winona Ryder in movie
Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich was born in Kyiv. Father is a doctor from Montenegro. Mother - Galina Loginova, Soviet actress. They lived in Dnepropetrovsk, Milica went to kindergarten. In 1980, they all moved together, first to England and then to the USA.Milla Jovovich in movie
Neta-Lee Hershlag. She was born in Jerusalem to Avner Herschlag and Shelley Stevens, and Stevens is a changed surname. The real one was supposed to be Edelstein, the actress's ancestors emigrated from Russia to the United States, and many years later, the young Shelley Stevens met Avner and eventually decided to move to Israel with him. However, a few years later they moved to the United States and stayed there.Natalie Portman in movie
Born in Leningrad. Viktor Arkadyevich Yelchin and Irina Grigoryevna Korina were professional figure skaters in pair skating. When Anton was six months old, they left for the USA. It is noteworthy that when Anton Yelchin and Milla Jovovich starred in the film together, they tried to speak Russian several times. They did not succeed: it turned out that Yelchin did not know his native language at all.Anton Yelchin in Cymbeline
Ford's grandmother, Nechama Lifshitz, married Harry Nidelman. Both are Minsk Jews whose families came to the US to try their luck. Nehama and Harry had a daughter, Dora, who later married an Irishman, Christopher Ford. They named their son after Harry's grandfather from Minsk.Harrison Ford in the movie ""
Elena Lidia Vasilievna Mironova was born in London. Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, her grandfather, moved to the UK to avoid living in Soviet Russia: he was a monarchist. His son Vasily changed his name to Basil Mirren as soon as his father died. At the same time, he changed his name and daughter. But she did not forget about her Russian roots, she even met with relatives in 2010 in Moscow.Helen Mirren in movie
Are there many Russians among Hollywood celebrities today? It turns out that quite a lot - if you look at the family tree, you can find Russian (or at least Slavic) emigrants among the ancestors of US stars. We offer to consider the 15 most famous of them.
1. Natalie Wood
The real name of the Hollywood actress is Natalya Zakharenko. The daughter of Russian emigrants Nikolai Stepanovich Zakharenko, a native of Vladivostok, and Maria Stepanovna Zudilova, who herself comes from Barnaul. Members of the Zakharenko family, having moved to the United States, took the surname Gurdina. Since childhood, the actress has been fluent in both Russian and English, and has always considered herself "very Russian." Although, of course, there was a pronounced American accent in her speech, there was no getting around it.
2.Nicole Scherzinger
The American actress and singer, member of The Pussycat Dolls, is of Filipino-Hawaiian-Ukrainian origin. The actress's father is a Filipino, her mother is half Ukrainian in the female line. It is also worth saying that Nicole's parents paid tribute to her origin, because her full name sounds like Nicole Elikolani Praskovya Scherzinger. Praskovya was the name of her grandmother.
At one time, the actor's grandfather emigrated from Russia to avoid participation in the Russo-Japanese War. His last name was Danielovich-Demsky. But Michael's father Kirk Douglas, also a famous actor, by the way, chose not to stand out from the crowd with such a complex long surname and took a simpler name for himself, namely Douglas. Here is the story of an acting family.
4.Leonardo DiCaprio
DiCaprio's pedigree has American, German, Italian roots, and, of course, Russian, otherwise he would not have made it to our today's selection. The actor's grandmother's name was Elizaveta Smirnova. When she was little, her parents took her to Germany, where she grew up and got married. She gave birth to a daughter (mother of DiCaprio), who moved to the USA and already gave birth to her children there. Being a famous actor, DiCaprio asked his grandmother to move closer, but she chose to stay closer to her native places. According to the actor, his grandfather was also Russian.
5. Steven Seagal
The hero of American action films, a talented film actor, director and screenwriter boasts Irish, Jewish, Mongolian and Russian ancestors. “How is this possible?” you ask. “He comes from a simple American family.” It turns out that the family of Steven Seagal's grandfather on the male line moved to the United States from St. Petersburg when he was a baby. In one of the frank interviews, the famous actor shared that he feels Russian blood in himself, and is very proud of it. Seagal's wife speaks Russian very well, plus the star family is friends with many Russians in the USA.
6. Gwyneth Paltrow
A charismatic and attractive Hollywood actress can be safely considered our compatriot. Her father is a descendant of the noble Paltrovich family, who lived in Russia before the revolution. After moving to the United States, they deliberately changed the spelling of their last name a little to look more like Americans. This is how the name Paltrow came about. The actress herself calls the Russians a wonderful people and is proud of her roots.
7. Steven Spielberg
One of the most successful film directors in US history is also from Russia. They say that both of his grandfathers are our compatriots. At the same time, the husband of Steven Spielberg's sister Susan is a relative of the writer Boris Pasternak, although distant, but still.
8. Winona Ryder
The full name of the actress given to her at birth is Winona Laura Horowitz, however, this is not quite her real name. The fact is that the ancestors of the star bore the Russian surname of Tomchin. When her father Michael's family fled Russia, US immigration officers accidentally confused their last name with other settlers. So the Tomchin family became Horowitz. That is, they left Russia as the Tomchins, and entered the United States as Horowitz. Therefore, today a completely different actress could be known to the world - Winona Tomchina.
9.Mila Jovovich
Few people have not yet heard about the Ukrainian roots of the Hollywood actress and star of the cult "The Fifth Element". The world famous supermodel was born in Kyiv, which at that time was part of the Soviet Union. Mila Jovovich's mother is Galina Loginova, a famous actress, and her father is a Yugoslav doctor. The actress spent the first five years of her life in the USSR and still speaks excellent Russian.
10. Mila Kunis
Interestingly, Mila Kunis, the wife of actor Ashton Kutcher, and herself a no less famous actress, model and mother of two children, was born in Soviet Chernivtsi. Her birth name is Milena Markovna Kunis. I ended up in the USA thanks to my parents who immigrated there.
11. Anton Yelchin
During his lifetime, he was considered a rising star in Hollywood and prophesied a great future. Originally from St. Petersburg, his parents are professional skaters who moved to Los Angeles when Anton was six months old.
12. Sylvester Stallone
The living Hollywood legend, actor, director and successful screenwriter also has Russian roots. More precisely, his ancestors were related to both the Sicilians and Russian Jews. His maternal great-grandmother Roza Leibovich lived in Odessa, which at that time was part of the Russian Empire. Sylvester Stallone is proud of his ancestors, which he constantly reminds of in his interviews.
13. Natalie Portman
The actress's parents are from Chisinau, although they moved to Jerusalem even before her birth. A few years after baby Portman was born, they decided to move to the US in search of a better life.
14. David Duchovny
The star of the X-Files TV series is Russian by father. His father's name was Amram Spiritual. When he began to live in the United States, he changed the letter “x” in his last name to “k”, so that it would be more convenient for the locals to pronounce his name. The actor returned the native sound to its rightful place, but the last letter, due to the peculiarities of pronunciation, was still lost over time
15 Whoopi Goldberg
In one of the interviews, the dark-skinned actress admitted that her great-grandmother was a native of Odessa during the time of Tsarist Russia. Whoopi was born in New York, but left the name Goldberg to preserve the memory of her Russian-Jewish ancestors.
An interesting profession is an actor, you constantly have to learn something new. For example, language. Today we have collected almost a dozen Hollywood stars who, with varying degrees of success, but still mastered the great and mighty. For some, he remained native, despite moving to the States, for some it is an acquired skill, honed specifically for the role.
In any case, extremely curious.
Kate Beckinsale
Beckinsale is not only an incredible beauty, but also the same smart one. The actress speaks French, German and Russian. She studied Russian at Oxford University College, along with classical Russian literature. “I have always loved Russian classics: Akhmatova, Chekhov. When I played in The Seagull, I met the father of my child, ”says Beckinsale. Sometimes the actress boasts of her skill, answering journalists' questions in Russian. She told Ivan Urgant that she wrote secret notes to herself in Cyrillic so that no one would understand them.
Mila Kunis
About the fact that nee Milena Markovna Kunis moved with her family from Ukraine to America, only the lazy do not know. At the age of 7, her parents took the girl away towards a better life, which, by the way, she does not regret. At home, the family still speaks Russian. “For outsiders, Russian sounds like Klingon, but for me it is the language of love and tenderness. Some, when they hear me talking on the phone with dad, they think we are arguing, and he just asks how I am doing, ”the actress laughs. Mila admits that she is always worried when she is asked to speak Russian in public, and that it is much easier for her to communicate with her grandparents. However, the actress kept some Slavic traditions in her family. For example, the son of Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher is called Dmitry by a simple sonorous name.
Milla Jovovich
Another Ukrainian Milla, whom her parents first took to London as a child. and then to the States, where a nimble mother became her agent and helped her arrange a modeling and acting career. The Russian language, however, Jovovich has not forgotten and chats in it at any opportunity, constantly laughing and asking “how is it right”. The actress named her youngest daughter Dashiel, but in everyday life she simply calls her Dasha. The star even starred in the Russian film "Freaks" with Konstantin Khabensky and Ivan Urgant, with whom she is now very friendly.
Rife Fiennes
The prominent Briton has been interested in Russian culture and language since childhood. According to him, his mother taught him Russian classics, as a young man, the actor met Dostoevsky and Pushkin. And he undertook to learn the language during the filming of Vera Glagoleva's film "Two Women" based on Turgenev's play "A Month in the Country". Now he uses the skill infrequently, but he admits that the Russian language is rich and powerful, and in it, as in the Russian soul, "there are a lot of rooms, a whole life is not enough to see everything."
Eli Roth
Who would have known that the Zhid-Bear could speak Russian too. As a child, Roth, according to him, for some reason wanted to learn Russian. And taught. He speaks it very badly, but he speaks! 20 years ago, the actor visited Moscow and St. Petersburg, and later returned to Russia with the project "The Last Exorcism".
Jared Leto
Well, Jared Leto is not exactly speaking Russian, but rather, he constantly repeats a few obscene phrases, like “Fuck ... accordion ass.” The Russian actor played in the "Lord of War", where they are paired with Nicolas Cage with an incredibly funny accent, but on serious cabbage soup they had dialogues in the great and mighty. Summer did not begin to learn the language completely, saying that it is very difficult, it must be respected and you can’t joke with it. But now the artist constantly confesses his love to Russia and Russian young ladies, whom he already had several.
Danny DeVito
Once DeVito voiced the cartoon "Lorax". The actor does not speak any language other than his native English. But he got so into the taste that he wanted to voice the Lorax in Spanish, German, and Russian. And if you watched the cartoon and wondered why the Lorax is so funny talking, it's because DeVito voiced him without doubles.
Helen Mirren
Elena Vasilievna Mironova was born already in London, where her father Vasily Mironov worked. The mother of the actress is English. The girl's father wanted to settle in Britain and believed that the family would never be able to return to Russia, so he changed his name to Basil, his daughter's name to Helen and did not teach the girl Russian. Mirren, however, has always said that she is proud of her Russian roots and that she is still half Russian. The actress decided to learn the language for filming in the film "Payback". “My heroine speaks the language of my ancestors, the language is complex and beautiful. It was a challenge to teach him,” says Mirren.
Emir Kusturica
Kusturica is not exactly a Hollywood star, and in general he is like a native to us. The Serbian and Yugoslav director is doing his best to support Russia both culturally and politically. In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, for example, Kusturica repeatedly publicly supported the Russian side, spoke quite warmly about Putin's policies and sang Russian songs. According to the director himself, this could be the reason that his latest work, "Along the Milky Way", was not taken to Cannes.
Liev Schreiber
The actor and director undertook to learn Russian together with Daniel Craig for the filming of the film "The Challenge", where the guys played Jewish brothers during the Second World War. However, Craig, for example, was completely unable to understand Russian, and it is absolutely impossible to understand what he is saying. But here Schreiber has succeeded quite well: he has a good pronunciation, everything is in order with intonations, and now he is still able to understand some expressions. However, the actor cannot maintain a conversation in Russian.
Robin Williams
A man of many talents, Williams was also good at foreign languages. For the role in Moscow on the Hudson, the actor spent a year cramming the language and studying Russian traditions. According to him, this role is one of his favorites, and he learned the language in order to speak on behalf of his character, a Russian immigrant, with the right accent and better understand him.
Anton Yelchin
Let's end on a sad note. Young Anton Yelchin's parents, professional figure skaters, were taken to the United States as an infant. At home, however, the family continued to communicate in Russian, so Anton learned the language well and used it quite confidently, albeit with an accent.