How Svetlana Khodchenkova starred in Hollywood, and why the Wolverine star did not want to stay in the USA

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

Few Russian artists manage to achieve noticeable success not only in their homeland, but also in Hollywood, but there are exceptions to every rule. At the age of 20, Svetlana Khodchenkova made her film debut in Stanislav Govorukhin's film Bless the Woman, and at 30 she played one of the main roles in the Hollywood blockbuster Wolverine. Why didn't she continue her career abroad after that, and does the actress regret the missed chances?

Her story is similar to the tale of Cinderella: she grew up without a father, in very constrained material conditions. To help her mother, who worked in three jobs, Svetlana washed the porches at the age of 13. And after 2 years she passed a casting to a model school, signed a contract with a modeling agency and went to work in Japan for six months. However, in this profession, Khodchenkova could not realize her creative ambitions, and therefore entered the Shchukin school. While still a first-year student, she unexpectedly got the main role in the film of Stanislav Govorukhin himself. Every actress dreams of such a debut. Thanks to the director's lovingly sculpted image of a real Russian beauty with a scythe to the waist in the film Bless the Woman, the actress instantly turned from a debutante into a movie star at the age of 20.

From the very first role, Khodchenkova attracted the attention of critics and directors and made herself talk about herself as one of the most promising aspiring actresses. Her heroine Vera Platonovna was called the standard of Russian beauty, but the actress herself was categorically unhappy with her image on the screen: it seemed to her that she had too magnificent forms. Svetlana dreamed of looking just like Hollywood stars, and therefore soon after filming she took care of herself and in just a few months got rid of 20 kg.

The audience admired her changed appearance, but Stanislav Govorukhin, who at first planned to cooperate with the actress in the future, was so disappointed with her changes in appearance that he immediately retracted his words and vowed never to film Khodchenkov again. In his opinion, she lost her individuality and became like hundreds of one-day stars, blindly imitating Western actresses. In addition, the director was outraged by the fact that Svetlana, as it seemed to him, was exchanging her talent, agreeing to take part in "pop" projects and shooting in serials. Govorukhin predicted her the future of an ordinary actress who would never become a film star. However, after 10 years, she proved that the famous director was wrong.

Svetlana has always been distinguished by dedication, and went to her goal with enviable persistence. After her film debut, she received one leading role after another, and although her filmography at first did not include works of the same level as "Bless the Woman", Khodchenkova confidently won the title of one of the most sought-after, successful and recognizable actresses. Even her roles in the series were very noticeable - the audience probably remembered the main characters of the series "A Short Course in a Happy Life" and "Lavrova's Method". And soon foreign directors also drew attention to the Russian actress.

In 2011, the film of joint production of Great Britain, Germany and France “Spy, Get Out!” Was released, where Svetlana Khodchenkova played one of the episodic roles. At first, the proposal to star in this project for the actress seemed absolutely unrealistic, so she immediately forgot that she needed to learn the text, record samples on video and send it to the director via the Internet. The actress at that moment was busy filming in Belarus, and when she was reminded of the audition, she did not have time to prepare in advance. She recorded the video at night, from one take - and, to her surprise, was approved for the role! In 2011, Svetlana Khodchenkova, along with partners on the set, Hollywood stars Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, presented this film at the Venice Film Festival.

She understood that thanks to this film work and her appearance at the international film festival, she could attract the attention of Hollywood directors, but she did not create illusions about this. Khodchenkova then stated that she was not ready to be a statistician in American cinema and play the roles of "bad Russians" or girls of easy virtue, which were usually offered to our actresses in Hollywood. She said: "". Probably, then she herself did not imagine that she would really succeed in just 2 years.

If in "Spy" Khodchenkova appeared in only a few scenes, then in the next film - the Hollywood blockbuster "Wolverine: the Immortal" she got the role of the main villainous named Viper, and Hugh Jackman himself became her partner. Initially, the role of the Viper was offered to the wife of Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, but for some reason she refused, and the role went to a Russian actress.

Khodchenkova called this a new stage in her career, not only because she went to shoot in Hollywood, but also because she appeared in this film in a new negative image for herself. She said she was tired of playing "good girls." At the same time, the schematic image of the classic villainess did not appeal to her either, which she told about: "".

Comparing the process of filmmaking at home and abroad, the actress came to the conclusion that the difference is very noticeable only in the budget spent on filming, and in their organization - in terms of equipment and operational efficiency, foreign colleagues, in her opinion, are ahead of their domestic ones. At the same time, on the set, Khodchenkova did not feel very comfortable. She confessed: "".

Despite the resounding success, Khodchenkova did not plan to pursue a career in Hollywood. She explained it this way: ""

After that, Svetlana Khodchenkova became one of the most demanded and highly paid Russian actresses. Even Stanislav Govorukhin changed his anger to mercy and, convinced of the creative consistency of the star he had discovered, invited her again to his film "The End of a Beautiful Epoch". Since then, the actress has played dozens of striking roles that give her no reason to regret that she stayed at home.

In the fall of 2020, she was named the most successful actress of the decade in Russia. At the same time, she did not receive any interesting offers from abroad. In an interview, Khodchenkova admitted: "".

One of her most notable recent works was the main role in the series "Casanova": How a Soviet marriage swindler named Alain Delon became the prototype for the main character of the series.