Vladimir Mashkov

His mother, Natalia (1927–1986), was a Puppet theatre director, and his father, Lev Mashkov (1925–1987), was an actor.

He made his debut on stage as a child, took part in the productions of a school theater group, performed with his parents in the Novokuznetsk Puppet Theater.

Vladimir Lvovich Mashkov (Russian: Владимир Львович Машков; born 27 November 1963) is a Soviet and Russian actor and theater director of cinema, known to Western audiences for his work in the 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines and 2011 film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

Mashkov was born on 27 November 1963, in Tula, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia).

In the late 1970s, Mashkov entered the biological faculty of Novosibirsk State University, but studied there for only a year, after which he entered the Novosibirsk Theater School, from which in 1984 he was expelled because of improper behavior.

In this film, Vladimir Mashkov starred in the role of coach of the Soviet basketball team, which at the 1972 Munich Olympics beat the seemingly invincible US team.

In 1989–1990 he was an actor of the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov.

In cinema, Mashkov made his debut in 1989 in the movie Green Goat Fire.

In 1990, he graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School, studied at the course of Oleg Tabakov.

Since 1990, he joined the troupe of the Oleg Tabakov Theater.

He starred in the productions The Sailor's Silence (Abram Schwartz), The Inspector General (The Governor), The Myth of Don Juan (Don Juan), The Mechanical Piano (Platonov), Anecdotes (Ivanovich, Ugarov).

After that came roles in the movies Do It – One! (1990), Ha-bi-Assi (1990), Casus improvisus (1991), Love on the Isle of Death (1991), Alaska, Sir! (1992) and Me Ivan, You Abraham (1993).

Since 1992, Mashkov has also become one of the directors of the Tabakov Theater.

He staged performances there of Star Time on Local Time (1992), Passion for Bumbarash (1992) and Death Room (1994).

However, in 1994, he was best known for his starring roles in Denis Yevstigneev's Limit and Valery Todorovsky's Moscow Nights films.

In 1995, Mashkov also played the main role in Karen Shakhnazarov's melodrama American Daughter.

In the Satyricon Theater, he staged the play The Threepenny Opera (1996), in the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov - "No. 13" (2001).

One of the most notable works of this period was the role of Tolyan in the picture The Thief (1997), subsequently nominated for an Oscar.

In 1997, Vladimir Mashkov made his debut as a filmmaker with the New Year's romantic comedy The Orphan of Kazan.

In 2000, he played the role of Emelian Pugachev in the historical film of Alexander Proshkin Russian rebellion.

In the early 2000s, Vladimir Mashkov starred in several Hollywood films: Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000), 15 Minutes (2001), An American Rhapsody (2001) and Behind Enemy Lines (2001).

Mashkov played the Russian millionaire Platon Makovsky, whose prototype was Boris Berezovsky, in Pavel Lungin's 2002 drama Tycoon.

The next year, he appeared on television as merchant Rogozhin in the adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot, directed by Vladimir Bortko.

Mashkov has also worked as a film director, producer and writer for the 2004 Russian film Papa.

Politically, Mashkov is noted for his public support for Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In 2004, he appeared in the role of director, screenwriter and producer of the film Daddy based on Alexander Galich's play The Sailor's Silence, in which he also starred Abram Schwartz.

He starred in the 2005 adaptation of Boris Akunin's novel The State Counselor, next year he played in the action movie Piranha and the US television series Alias.

In 2007, Vladimir Mashkov played detective David Gozman in the historical crime series Liquidation He portrayed the character of a hired killer in the 2008 film The Ghost.

His next films were the role of the second pilot Seryoga in the action film based on real events Kandagar (2009) and the image of the machinist Ignat in Alexei Uchitel's drama The Edge (2010).

In 2011, Vladimir Mashkov appeared in the American blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, where he played Russian agent Sidorov.

In 2011, at a festival of children's amateur doll theaters, named "Doll in Children's Hands" in Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Mashkov announced the establishment of the "Golden Lion" prize, named after Natalya Nikiforova (his mother).

Prizes are given to those nominated Best Actor and Best Actress.

The first award went to theater actress Galina Romanova, named an Honored Artist of Russia.

In February 2022, he expressed support for the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in an Instagram post on his official page.

In 2015, the thriller TV series Rodina aired on television, directed by Pavel Lungin.

Mashkov played officer Alexei Bragin, released from a long imprisonment, who appears to have defected.

The disaster film Flight Crew by Nikolai Lebedev premiered in 2016, where Mashkov played experienced pilot Zinchenko.

In 2017, the sports drama Going Vertical was released.

He was appointed as artistic director of the Oleg Tabakov Theatre in 2018.

He is a member of the party United Russia, and was a delegate at the XXII Congress of the Party.