Viktor Sukhorukov

Biography

Viktor Sukhorukov (born 10 November 1951) is a Russian actor whose career has spanned both the late Soviet period and the decades since. He is known chiefly for character work in Russian cinema, moving between dramatic, historical and genre roles over a long career.

He began appearing on screen in 1974 and has since worked in more than fifty films and television productions. Many of his best-known roles came under the direction of Aleksei Balabanov, who died in 2013. Their collaboration spans Happy Days, Of Freaks and Men, Brother and Brother 2, films that brought Sukhorukov wider attention beyond Russia.

Happy Days (1991) was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, and it remains one of the titles most often linked to his name. Later he took on historical parts, most notably as Emperor Paul I of Russia in Poor Poor Paul (2003), a role that earned him the Nika Award for Best Actor in 2004.

He also appeared in genre pictures, including the crime thriller Anti Killer (2002). In The Island (2006), directed by Pavel Lungin, he played a spiritual father and won both the Golden Eagle and the Nika Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2007. He won the Golden Eagle for Best Supporting Actor again in 2011 for Silent Souls.

In Russia he has received several official honours, including the title of Merited Artist of the Russian Federation in 2002, People's Artist of Russia in 2008 and the Order of Friendship in 2011. His legacy rests on a steady, long-running career in which he has remained one of the recognisable faces of Russian cinema.

Key films

• Happy Days (1991): lead role in a film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 1992.
• Of Freaks and Men (1998): part in one of Balabanov's darkest and most unusual films.
• Brother 2 (2000): return to the franchise with the character that made him best known abroad.
• Poor Poor Paul (2003): played Emperor Paul I, a role that won him the Nika Award for Best Actor.
• The Island (2006): spiritual father in Pavel Lungin's drama, earning the Golden Eagle and Nika for Best Supporting Actor.
• Silent Souls (2010): performance that won the Golden Eagle for Best Supporting Actor in 2011.