10-year-long office romance by Elena Panova: How "Shadowboxing" changed the fate of the actress

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

The first loud popularity came to this actress at the age of 23, when Alexander Mitta's film “Border. Taiga novel ". Elena Panova and her colleagues, Olga Budina and Renata Litvinova, have become real screen stars. After that, the film career of the young actress took off, after 4 years she cemented her success by starring in the film "Shadow Boxing", and after another 3 years she starred in its sequel. This role became significant not only in her filmography, but also in her personal life, because thanks to the filming, Panova met her fate.

Elena grew up in Arkhangelsk in a creative family: her father was the artistic director of the local Youth Theater, her mother taught at a music school, her older sister became a theater actress. Elena herself dreamed of a career as a ballerina and studied in a choreographic studio. Fortunately, she realized in time that she would not be able to achieve great success in ballet, and decided to enter a theater university. She passed the exams at the Moscow Art Theater School on the second attempt and got on the course to Oleg Efremov himself.

While still in her third year, Panova began acting in films, and in the year of graduation from the Studio School she received an offer from a Swiss director. The comedy "Berezina, or the Last Days of Switzerland" was not highly appreciated by critics, and the audience hardly remembered, but this work opened up great prospects for the young actress. On the set, she met the daughter of the legendary comedian Geraldine Chaplin, and she promised to find an English teacher for her in order to get rid of her accent and continue her acting career in Europe. But Panova was not yet confident in her own abilities and doubted that she would be able to achieve success abroad, and therefore returned to Russia.

"Blessing" by Mordyukova and the triumph of "Taiga Romance"

In the same 1999, Elena Panova starred in Denis Evstigneev's film "Mom", and although her role was episodic, it was her actress who considered her full-fledged debut in Russian cinema. On the set, she was lucky to work with Nonna Mordyukova - Panova played her heroine in her youth, and not only the director and partners in the film paid attention to the similarity of the types of actresses, but also Mordyukova herself, who chose Panova for this role. When she first saw her photo, she said: “At the same time, their external similarity was not so obvious, but it was not so important, because the young actress, according to Mordyukova, copied her“circulatory system”. Subsequently, Panova, just like her famous colleague, was also often offered in the cinema images of "heroines from the people."

A year later, incredible popularity fell upon the young actress - the film by Alexander Mitta “Border. Taiga Romance”became cult, and three actresses who played the main female roles - Elena Panova, Olga Budina and Renata Litvinova - instantly turned into real movie stars. Most of all, this success surprised Panova herself - she still doubted her acting abilities and was waiting for the premiere "with a sense of her great failure." Her fears turned out to be in vain - her efforts were appreciated, and the actress became a laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation. No one could believe that Panova performed the strongest dramatic role at only 23 years old - her heroine seemed much more mature and wise. And after the film was released, no one recognized the actress on the streets, because she looked younger than in the frame.

Fateful role

In 2004-2007. the actress was overwhelmed by a new wave of popularity after her roles in the films "Shadowboxing" and "Shadowboxing-2". The first part was directed by Alexey Sidorov, and Anton Megerdichev worked on the second. At first, Panova admired him as a professional and said about him: "".

In turn, the director appreciated Panova's acting abilities and decided that he would continue to cooperate with her in the future. Their interest in each other was at first purely professional. Megerdichev was married at that time, and Panova went headlong into work, for a while leaving thoughts of looking for a second half. The actress admitted: "".

Panova continued to appear in Megerdichev's films, they worked on "The Dark World" as colleagues, and during the filming of "Metro" in 2011, their relationship went beyond professional. Even before the end of filming, the actress found out that they would have a child. In 2012, Marianna was born, and after another 4 years - Lydia.

The actress admitted that only after meeting this director, she learned what true love is. All her previous relationships she called only preparation for this meeting. She always thought about a strong family, but for a long time she could not meet her man. After the birth of her daughters, she continued to act in films, but her worldview changed dramatically. "".

Today, the actress, who recently celebrated her 44th birthday, feels absolutely happy, and this happiness does not in any way depend on the number of roles played and popularity. After all, she finally found something that turned her outlook on life and gave a new meaning of existence.

This film work changed the fate of many actors: What is left behind the scenes of the film “Border. Taiga novel .