How Volodymyr Zelensky’s acting career prepared him for the world stage

It makes sense that Hollywood would turn its eyes to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. After all, he is part of the world of actors and producers.

Before entering politics, Zelensky was a comedian, actor and screenwriter, having starred in romantic comedies and played the role of a high school teacher who becomes president of the 2016 series that satirizes Ukrainian politics called “Servant of the People”.

His magnetism and oratory skills have been in the spotlight since Ukraine was invaded by Russia. His courage, passion and determination have drawn praise from around the world.

During the recent Screen Actors Guild awards, Zelensky received recognition from two actors accepting their trophies.

“We have a fellow actor, Zelensky, who deserves some credit tonight for fighting combat,” said Michael Keaton as he accepted the award for best actor in a television movie or limited series for “Dopesick.”

Brian Cox, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award on the “Succession” series, also praised Zelensky.

“The president of Ukraine was a comedian. He was a wonderful comedy actor,” praised Cox. “And we must respect him for that. Getting to the presidency was incredible.”

Zelensky was elected president in 2019 in what the BBC described as “a landslide victory”. Learn more about his career below.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy walks behind the scenes of the comedy series “Liga Smeha” (Laughter League) in 2019.

more than actor

Zelensky co-wrote the 2009 film “No Love in the City,” in which he starred as a conquering dentist, who, along with his friends, takes a romantic road trip through New York City.

The film has been described as a male (but not as good) version of “Sex and the City”.

The film won over fans and spawned sequels: “No Love in the City 2″ in 2010 and “Love in Vegas” in 2012.

political roles

In “Servant of the People,” Zelensky played a character who becomes Ukraine’s president after his video about corruption in the country went viral — but his role doesn’t involve the issues he’s experiencing now.

In another role, in the 2012 film “Rzhevsky versus Napoleon”, the actor and future politician lives none other than Napoleon Bonaparte during the invasion of Russia.

comic roots

As a teenager, Zelensky began participating in comedy competitions and helped found what would become the Kvartal 95 comedy troupe.

Journalist Amy Spiri tweeted a 2016 video of Zelensky doing a bit of comedy in which he and others appeared to play the piano with their private parts.

“Who among us hasn’t played ‘Hava Nagila’ on a piano with his genitals on stage and then proceeded to lead his country against a foreign invasion?” he wrote.

Volodymyr Zelensky performs with his comedy group Kvartal 95 (Block 95) in Kiev in 2019.

The voice of a beloved character

The world recently discovered that Zelensky voiced the character Paddington for the Ukrainian version of the 2014 teddy bear movie and its 2017 sequel.

“Paddington” actor Hugh Bonneville was thrilled with the news.

Until today, I had no idea who voiced Paddington in Ukraine.” Bonneville tweeted. “Speaking for myself, thank you, Mr President Zelensky. #PaddingtonBear”.

“Famous dance”

The future president proved to be light in 2006 when he competed and won his country’s version of the “Dance of the Famous”.

Clips of him and his professional dance partner Olena Shoptenko on the show have gone viral in recent days.

Ironically, former champion of the American version of the show “Dancing With the Stars”, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who is from Ukraine, was in the country as part of a dance competition when Russia invaded the country.

Chmerkovskiy documented his escape from the country and returned to the US, where he now lives.

The return of the Zelensky program

UK Channel 4 reportedly bought Servant of the People, Zelensky’s 2016 comedy series.

It will be shown with the special documentary series “Zelensky: The Man Who Took on Putin”, according to the British press.