Danila Kozlovski is one of those faces that we know from somewhere, but we don’t necessarily remember exactly where.
Many will recognize him as Oleg from Novgorod from the series “Vikings”, others will remember “Vampire Academy”, others may have come across the Russian version of “Chernobyl”, where Kozlovsky is not only the main character, but also the director .
He easily replaces Hollywood with Moscow and has stopped acting in international productions for now.
Danila was born in Moscow on May 3, 1985, and his childhood predestined him to become an actor. As a child, he is overweight, and is also rambunctious and often intemperate, especially if he is insulted for his appearance.
In an attempt to tame him and help him lose some weight, his parents enrolled him in dance, piano and saxophone at the same time.
Kozlovski told the Hollywood Reporter that he is still grateful for his parents’ efforts, because dancing and music gave him the necessary self-confidence to try his hand at acting. Although he takes a different path, he plays the piano beautifully and can dance very well.
Photo: Getty Images
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Danila is very fond of acting, but first he ends up at the Kronstadt Military School. He graduated with honors and from there he easily got to the St. Petersburg Theater Academy, where he finally embarked on his great passion – acting in theater and cinema.
His debuts were in theater productions such as “King Lear” and “Hamlet”.
In the meantime, he began filming for Russian series such as the comedy “The Simple Truth” and the drama “Alka”. So Kozlovsky quickly became a crowd favorite because of his more unusual appearance for Russia, with pale skin but dark, almost raven-black hair and brown eyes.
His fame in his native soil became concrete when in 2012 Danila played the main role in the film “DuhLess” – a screen adaptation of the hit novel by Sergey Minaev. After the success of the production, the actor thought about trying in Hollywood.
Thus, in 2014, he was approved for the role of Dmitry Belikov in “Vampire Academy” at a time when the passion for bloodsuckers was at its peak because of “Twilight”. Kozlovsky’s hero – Belikov – is a half-human, half-vampire, a professor at the academy, in love with his student.
With such a plot, the film cannot help but make the hearts of teenage girls flutter. As does Kozlovsky himself, of course.
Photo: IMDB
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The actor is particularly pleased with his first major English-language role, not least because he plays a Russian who is not one of the bad guys, but one of the good guys.
Around Danila, there are not particularly many colleagues from Russia, as those who do break into Hollywood usually play villains with a strong English accent. Kozlowski himself, however, speaks perfect English and in his conversation with the Hollywood Reporter emphasizes that for success in the US it is extremely important to speak the language fluently.
His appearance combined with his ambition to always give his best led him to his second big hit – the role of Oleg in “Vikings”.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Kozlowski has stepped into the role of a Viking. Four years before the American series, he starred in a Russian production called “Viking”, where he played the main role – that of Prince Vladimir.
In the sixth season of “Vikings” it is Oleg of Novgorod or Oleg the Prophet, the leader of the Russians and, by chance or not, the father of Prince Vladimir in real Russian history.
Photo: IMDB
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From then on, Kozlovski’s career went downhill, or so we would think, because his appearances in Western productions stopped. In fact, he returned to Russia and embarked on entirely Russian-language productions.
The first thing the actor started working on in his homeland was “Chernobyl: Abyss”, where he was also a director for the first time. Danila explains to Deadline that the topic of the nuclear incident has always been close to him because of relatives who are from Ukraine.
The result on the big screen, however, is mediocre and draws a lot of criticism even in Russia. However, Kozlovsky is convinced that the film is incredibly successful and states that “Chernobyl” “touched the hearts of many people, and that’s exactly what cinema is for.”
Apparently, the actor does not give up making and participating in Russian productions, because after “Chernobyl” he immediately started with the series “Karamora”, where he is again both the director and the main character named Karamora – an anarchist who fights against evil world elites , killed his wife.
We are also expected to see him in Nikita Mikhalkov’s superhero film – “Kraken”, a response to the films from the Marvel universe.
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However, Danila is far from a favorite of the Kremlin authorities and usually gets roles mainly because of his popularity.
Already in 2014, around the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, he refused to comment on what happened, saying that “he does not talk about politics, because he is very uninformed on this topic.”
After the start of the war in Ukraine, the actor took a firm stand against the conflict, posting on his Instagram account photos of people hiding in the subway and footage of Ukrainian refugees.
Kozlowski has no qualms about calling the invasion a “disaster,” expressing his outrage at the attack on a peaceful and sovereign nation, and calling for an immediate peace.
However, he has not yet commented on how he views his participation in a film like “Kraken”, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov – one of the biggest supporters of the Putin regime, nor has he shared whether he really thinks it was a good decision to leave Hollywood. to make mediocre Russian productions.
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