The once-famous actress Maria Zhukova has recently been difficult to find in the credits of viewed films. After the dizzying success in the film "Brother", the artist disappeared from the screens, appearing only in episodic roles of popular TV shows and films. What made the actress give up her dream and stop taking big roles? How does Maria Zhukova live now? We will talk about all this in detail in our article.
Biography of Maria Zhukova
The Russian actress, known to the viewer for Alexei Balabanov’s cult action movie "Brother", was born in Yakutia in the city of Aldan on February 2, 1973. Little is known about Maria’s childhood, but reliable information is that she began her acting career in the Aldan Youth Theater. She was lucky enough to study acting at the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography together with Konstantin Khabensky, Mikhal Porechenkov and Mikhail Trukhin.
The first movie role for Maria Zhukova was an episodic scene in a mystical thriller about vampires, "Drinkers of Blood." This lyrical picture of 1991, although it did not bring her all-Russian fame, but it became a springboard for the young actress. Fame came a little later, when Mary got the role of Kat in the most popular action movie of the nineties, "Brother".
According to the plot, Kat is a companion of the main character of the picture, Danila Bagrov, with whom he goes to clubs and smokes weed. The main role in the cult action movie was given to the artist, who became legendary - Sergei Bodrov. The film was a stunning success thanks to the accurate vision of the director of real events and the atmosphere of gangster Petersburg of the nineties.
Another reason why the picture is entrenched in the minds of contemporaries is the music of the famous band Nautilus Pompilius. As an idea, the director put forward the unification of the criminal world and music. Fortunately, Alexey Balabanov was friends with both the first and second. Crime drama has received many awards at festivals.
Thanks to this picture, Maria rightfully received a grand prix at the Kinotavr festival, and along with the award came fame and recognition.
During an interview with one of the newspapers, Maria Zhukova, on the question of the artist’s similarity with the heroine, Kat indicated that she was quite far from the subculture in which her heroine revolved. Maria also noted that she had to reincarnate internally, and in order to get accustomed to the role as much as possible, she had to dress independently, do hairstyles and make-up.
Directorial debut and main role
Subsequent roles in the movie were not marked by such success. These were mostly short episodes. Only in 2008, Maria Zhukova in the film experiment MY Tube! played a major role.
My tube! - This is a story about a lonely woman, whose life, like the life of ordinary inhabitants, is far from ideal. The main character seems to be filming her tale, her own picture of the Russian capital. Here, each person in the crowd has their own story, here you can absolutely accidentally meet with Konstantin Khabensky. For her, any passerby is a new story, a new fantasy. Here a boorish man with the face of Igor Sarukhanov suddenly turns into a lonely knight, who is happy to answer the main character's questions about horses. Somewhere in a cafe, a guy with a laptop becomes a director and heads to St. Petersburg for a casting of rising stars. And so on...
Only in the last scenes of the film does it become clear why the movie is considered experimental. The only funny scene in the picture can be considered a session with a therapist, but in fact there’s nothing to laugh at. An involuntary smile appears on the face of the viewer only because the heroes gathered in a Moscow apartment and dreaming of receiving three hundred thousand a month just like that remind real neighbors and acquaintances. This picture is unlikely to be seen on TV. My tube! - A very interesting story about small joys, about a feeling of freedom.
The work was well received by critics, thanks to which the actress was awarded the prize of the film festival "Kinoshok".
For a short period of time, Maria Zhukova managed to work with the famous masters of cinematography and theater: L. Tolkalina, L. Tregub, A. Pozharov, M. Policeitsimako and others.
Filmography
Despite the fact that 27 years have passed since the first filming, the number of films in which the actress has appeared is not so much. The filmography of Maria Zhukova has 9 paintings:
- 1991 - "Drinkers of Blood" - episode;
- 1996 - "Evil Fate" (film production) - Santina;
- 1997 - "Brother" - party girl Kat;
- 1997 - clip of the group Nautilus Pompilius for the song "In the Rain" - a girl in a movie theater;
- 2002 - the series "Secular Chronicles" ("They do not beat the Recumbent" - 4th series) - Margarita;
- 2007 - The 143rd series of the comedy series "Who is the boss in the house?" - Olga;
- 2008 - My Tube! - leading role;
- 2016 - Eclipse
- 2017 - the series "Trotsky" - Secretary of Trotsky.
Maria Zhukova speaks with sarcasm about her participation in the last film: she doubts that her character was written in the script initially, most likely, the idea with the secretary appeared after the filming began.
Scoring
In 2002, a series of joint production of Latvia and Russia based on the novel of the same name by Sebastian Japrizo "A Lady with Glasses, with a Gun in a Car" was released. To voice one of the heroines of the series - Marie - took Maria Zhukova. The experience was a success, however, unfortunately, he was the only one in the career of the actress.
Personal life
Few people know, but already on the set of the film "Brother" Maria was pregnant. She married in the mid-90s, changed her last name to Milyutina, and after the end of the filming process she gave birth to a son. This was the reason for the end of an active acting career. Having left for Moscow, Maria completely decided to devote herself to her family and simply did not take big roles.
The actress does not extend about her personal life, so almost nothing is known about her husband and children. Fresh photos of Maria Zhukova with a chosen one are also difficult to find on the network. Perhaps the reason is that the life partner is not a media personality.
Actress life now
Now the actress is actively engaged in publishing and organizing cultural events. The magazine, in which Maria takes part, is called DE I / DESILLUSIONIST ("Deillusionist"). It covers all significant theatrical events, high-profile premieres, backstage events, and the opinion of famous observers is published.