How a Russian actress conquered Italy and the heart of one of the most popular actors: Ksenia Rappoport

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

March 25 marks the 47th anniversary of the actress of theater and cinema, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Ksenia Rappoport. Her talent was appreciated not only by domestic, but also by European filmmakers, and today in Italy her name is as well known to the audience as in Russia. There she is called "nostra vostra" - "ours is yours", and also one of the best actresses in Italian cinema. For which the actress was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy, which of the popular modern actors gave her a house on the Italian coast, and what her daughter is known for - further in the review.

Actress by chance

Ksenia Rappoport was born and raised in Leningrad in an intelligent family: her father was an architect, and her mother was an engineer. In her youth, she was fascinated not by Italian, but by French culture, she studied at a school with in-depth study of the French language, translated poetry and planned to connect life with French linguistics, but chance intervened in her plans. Her friend was an apprentice make-up artist at Lenfilm, and she was also fond of photography, using Xenia as a model. Once these photos were seen by the assistant director Dmitry Astrakhan and decided to invite the young beauty to audition. So at the age of 15, Rappoport played her first film role in the film "Begone!". Finding herself on the set, Ksenia was so carried away by the process that in the end, after school, she decided to enter the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts.

While still a student, she was invited to join the trainee troupe of the Maly Drama Theater, and after graduation she remained in this theater, on the stage of which she has been appearing for more than 20 years. At the age of 19, Ksenia Rappoport played her first major role in the film "Russian Bride", and by the time she completed her studies, there were already 8 works in her filmography.

Although her film career developed rapidly, until the age of 30, the actress did not play serious major roles - mostly, these were supporting roles and episodes in TV series. The first success came to her in 2005, when the TV series "Yesenin" was released, where the actress played the role of Galina Beneslavskaya. And a year later, Rappoport received an offer from an Italian director, and from that moment a qualitatively new stage began in her creative biography.

Romance with Italy

The actress was well acquainted with the work of the Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, and when she was suddenly offered to participate in auditions for the lead role in his new film "Stranger", she agreed, without even reading the script. She was asked if she speaks Italian, and Ksenia answered in the affirmative, although she did not know the language at all. The director was looking for an actress in Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and Rappoport was the last of hundreds of candidates reviewed. During the auditions, she listened attentively to the director and constantly nodded in response, not understanding a word. Nonetheless, she managed to impress Tornator and she got the role. Her filming partner was the famous Michele Placido (Commissioner Catani from the series Octopus). Rappoport learned the language right on the set, in the process of work, and later said that she did it very quickly "out of fear and hopelessness."

This film received several European film awards and was nominated by the Italian Film Academy for an Oscar. After that, the film career of Ksenia Rappoport took off. She starred in the film "Swing", the TV series "Liquidation", played the main role in the film by Kirill Serebrennikov "St. George's Day". Italian directors also drew attention to her, in 2008 the actress played the main role in the film "The Man Who Loves", a year later - in the film "Double Hour". Her latest work won her the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for Best Actress.

She later starred in several more Italian films. During that period, she worked so much in Italy that there were rumors about the emigration of the actress. In fact, she only flew there to the shooting and did not plan to move from Russia. Although the Italians really already considered it theirs and called it "nostra vostra" ("ours yours"). And ordinary viewers, and directors, and film critics so highly appreciated her talent that they even called Ksenia Rappoport one of the best actresses in Italian cinema.

In 2016, Ksenia Rappoport was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy, Cavalier degree. Italian Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini presented her with this honorary award with the words: "".

Secrets with seven seals

In all interviews, the actress willingly talks about her work, but she prefers to remain silent about her personal life. Ksenia Rappoport, even at 47, is still a bright beauty, and she has no less fans than in her youth. She was credited with novels with the Russian theater director Eduard Boyakov and with the Spanish director Jose Luis Guerin, but she herself did not comment on these rumors.

It is only known for certain that the actress has two daughters. The eldest, Aglaya-Daria, was born when her mother was only 20 years old and she was a student. The girl's father was businessman Viktor Tarasov. Ksenia's teacher Veniamin Filshtinsky, on whose course she studied, said: "". It is not surprising that she followed in the footsteps of her mother and also became an actress - today the name of Aglaya Tarasova is known to the audience no less than the name of her mother.

The father of her second daughter Sonya was Yuri Kolokolnikov, one of the most popular, successful and sought-after actors in modern cinema. He, like his chosen one, won the audience's love not only at home, but also abroad. Rappoport conquered Europe, and Kolokolnikov starred in Hollywood. His most famous foreign film work was the role of the leader of the Tennes Steer in the acclaimed series of co-production of the USA and Great Britain "Game of Thrones".

Together with Ksenia Rappopot, they lived for several years in a de facto marriage, in 2011 they had a daughter, and after 4 years they separated. The actors did not comment on the reasons for this. In 2016, Ksenia married restaurateur Dmitry Borisov, but after 3 years this marriage broke up. Since then, there have been more than once rumors about the reunion of Rappoport and Kolokolnikov, especially after he gave the actress a house on the Italian coast several years ago.

But even after that, both actors remained silent about their relationship. But Xenia's mother did not hide the fact that she hoped for the best: "".

Despite his success abroad, the actor is also not going to move there forever: Why after filming "Game of Thrones" Yuri Kolokolnikov returned from the USA to Russia.