Julian Kostov (Юлиaн Костов; born 25 August 1989) is a Bulgarian actor, filmmaker, talent manager, and former professional swimmer.
He is best known as playing Vladimir Makarov in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
Kostov was born on 25 August 1989 in Varna, Bulgaria.
At the age of 12, Kostov became a pentathlon champion for his age group.
2005
He was a 10-time National Swimming Champion from 2005 to 2009.
2007
Kostov holds over 60 medals as a professional swimmer, including a bronze medal at the 2007 Balkan Games.
He attended the Spanish-language Frederic Joliot-Curie School in Varna, before entering post-secondary studies at Tilburg University, where he majored in international business.
After two years in the Netherlands, Kostov decided to move to the United Kingdom and pursue a career in acting, inspired by Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight.
2008
In 2008, he earned the Master of Sport title in Swimming.
2011
He transferred to Cardiff Metropolitan University to finish his studies, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Business Studies in 2011.
He was admitted to the National Youth Theatre that same year.
Kostov began auditioning for agents, eventually signing with one.
He later switched to a different agent and landed a Gillette commercial.
During that period, he also took classes at Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop in London.
2014
Kostov began his acting career in Bulgarian and British productions, including a two-episode guest arc on 24: Live Another Day in 2014.
In 2014, Kostov founded JupiterLights Productions, a Bulgaria-based production and talent management company.
2016
In 2016, he had minor roles in the films Ben-Hur and London Has Fallen.
He began doing motion capture and voice acting for video games.
2017
His films include Another Mother's Son (2017).
In 2017, Kostov starred as Feodor "Bill" Burriy in the independent British war film Another Mother's Son.
That same year, he appeared in the American horror film Leatherface.
Kostov landed a number of television roles such as Timur in A Discovery of Witches on Sky One, Sergei Basarov in Berlin Station on Epix, and Yuri Leniov in Treadstone.
In 2021, Kostov played Fedyor Kaminsky in the first season of the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone.
In 2023, Kostov voiced Vladimir Makarov in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
He next starred in the superhero splatter film The Toxic Avenger (2023), directed by Macon Blair, and is slated to co-produce and lead Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov's Triumph.
Kostov plays Thomas Bosmans in upcoming World War I feature film The Last Front and season 3 of The White Lotus
2018
On television, he is known for his recurring roles in the Sky One series A Discovery of Witches (2018), the Epix series Berlin Station (2018–2019), and the Netflix series Shadow and Bone (2021–2023).
2019
Their debut feature film The Dare was released in 2019.
JupiterLights represents Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova in the United Kingdom.
Kostov is also the co-founder of the production company Five Oceans alongside Bakalova.
