Have you ever wondered which famous people can speak Russian? While some celebrities have Russian ancestors and therefore know the language, there are also others who had to learn it from scratch. Check out this list to find some fellow Russian speakers in the celebrity world.
Milena Markovna Kunis was born in 1983 in the former Soviet Union in a city that is now part of the Ukraine. When she was just seven years old her family moved to California in the United States. She started taking acting classes after School and her first major role was “Becky” on the series “That 70’s show”. During the series she also met her husband Ashton Kutcher. After that she played in many famous movies like the romantic comedy “Friends with Benefits”, the fantasy film “Oz the Great and Powerful” or in the comedy film “Bad Moms”and its sequel.
Because she stopped learning Russian after her first school year she said herself that she cannot write in the Cyrillic alphabet and is only able to read a little. But she can speak it very well as her family continued speaking Russian at home after moving to the United States.
The British actor is famous for films like “Schindlers List” and the James Bond movies “Spectre” and “Skyfall”. In the movie “Two Women” by Vera Glagoleva Fiennes plays a Russian character and therefore had to learn the language. In an interview he said himself that it was extremely hard to learn Russian, but that he also wanted to learn another language and that he is really interested in the Russian culture and also likes the country very much.
Here you will find a video of Fiennes speaking Russian at the Moscow Film School while promoting the movie Spectre with his colleagues.
The English actress had her debut in the movie “Underworld”. Before that she studied French and Russian literature at Oxford University. Her motivation to do so was because she wanted to read Chekhov and Molière in their original languages. Kate loves Russian literature and the first play that she ever did was Chaika (The Seagull) which is by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. She played in many famous films like Pearl Harbor, Van Helsing and the Aviator.
She said herself that she found it quite hard to learn the Russian language and that the grammar is very very difficult (I think a lot of us can agree on that with her).
Hadfield was the first Canadian astronaut to ever walk in space. He was born in 1959 and grew up on a farm in the south of Ontario, Canada. With only 9 years he decided to become an astronaut one day after he saw the Apollo moon landing on television.
He said that now he is able to speak Russian because he simply had to learn it because all the instructors only spoke Russian. It’s true – all astronauts travelling to the International Space Station must in fact learn Russian before they are allowed into space. The working language is English but all the crews are delivered to the station by a Russian ship. Future astronauts need to have at least an Intermediate High Level of Russian.
Actress Milla is the child of a Russian mother and a Serbian father. During her childhood she lived in Moscow, her mother’s native city. Her mother also was a famous actress. When she was just five years old her family moved to Los Angeles to the United States. She started modelling at the age of 12 and soon she had her first acting debut. In 1997 she landed a lead role in the film “The Fifth Element” next to Bruce Willis. Thanks to her roles in numerous science fiction and action films like “Resident Evil” or “The Three Musketeers” she was considered the reigning queen of kick-butt.
She said despite living in the United States her mother raised her in the traditions of their home country and education and reading played an essential part in her childhood. Her Russian roots are very important to her and she said that she wants to pass it on by speaking Russian with her own children.
Last but not least the actor tried to speak a little bit of Russian while promoting “The Avengers” in Moscow in 2012.
Check it out for yourself:
Posted by Marleen Streussnig
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