Education.
Sergey Bodrov attended the special French language School № 1265, where in December 2012 a memorial plaque was installed in his memory.
Bodrov wanted to enroll in the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, but his father advised him that "cinema is a passion, and if you don't feel it you should either wait for it or forget about it forever." Instead, in 1989 he enrolled in the art history program in the History Department of Moscow State University, graduating with Honors and remaining for postgraduate studies, although he already knew that he would not work in a museum or library. In his own words, at the university he "learned to see beauty in the simple things around us". After becoming a famous actor and television host he completed and defended (in 1998) his graduate thesis entitled "Architecture in Venetian Renaissance Painting" and received the Candidate of Science degree.In 1991, while still a student, Bodrov studied art in Italy, where he found work as a lifeguard and earned money to support his travels around the country.
Cinema.
First roles.
Sergey's first cinema role was in his father's movie Freedom is Paradise in 1989. He appeared on screen only for a few minutes, playing a minor lawbreaker who was waiting for a decision on his own fate while sitting next to the main hero of the film. During his university days, he also had a bit role as a bellhop in the 1992 movie White King, Red Queen.
Prisoner of the Mountains.
In 1995, his father traveled to Dagestan for the filming of his movie Prisoner of the Mountains. Bodrov asked to go with him, prepared to do any available work. Unexpectedly, he became one of the featured actors, playing the conscript Vanya Jilin, partnered with Oleg Menshikov who played the regular soldier Alexey Ryapolov. Bodrov received an award for best actor jointly with Menshikov at the Kinotavr cinema festival in Sochi.
Bodrov himself did not claim to be an actor:
I always say everywhere: I'm not an actor, I'm not an actor, I'm not an actor. And I hear: "No, you're an actor". And I say that an actor is quite a different thing. Actors are different, it's a different temperament. A role for me is not a profession. It's something that you do.
View.
From October 1996 to August 1999, Bodrov was the host of the program View on Channel One. In 1997 Sergey married Svetlana Mihailova (author of the television projects "Wordsmiths" and "Canon"). In 1998 their daughter Olga was born, followed in 2002 by a son, Alexandr.
Brother.
During the 1996 Sochi film festival Sergey Bodrov made the acquaintance of director Aleksei Balabanov, who invited him to the studio of STV. It was here that the movie Brother was being filmed for release in 1997. Sergey played the starring role, Danila Bagrov. The movie was criticized by the media, accused of racism and Russophobia (as a film made for foreign audiences). The music to the movie was composed by the Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius, which Sergey himself enjoyed listening to.
Despite some controversy, the movie received critical acclaim and the award at the movie festival in Sochi, a Special Jury Award and the FIPRESCI Award at the international festival in Turin, the same awards in Cottbus, and the Grand Prix in Trieste. Bodrov received the award for Best Actor at the movie festivals in Sochi and Chicago and got the "Golden Aries" prize. The movie was regarded by many as culturally significant and for many of the younger generation, Bodrov's character Danila Bagrov became a hero and a role model.
Other roles.
Over the course of 1998-99, Sergey played two roles. The first was the character Vadim, a wedding photographer in P. Pavlikovsky's movie The Stringer. The second was in Régis Wargnier's movie East/West, in which Sergey played Sasha, a neighbor of the central couple in the film, Dr. Golovin and his French wife Marie, in a communal apartment during the Stalin era.
In 2000, the movie Brother 2 (Brat 2) was released, with Bodrov again playing Danila Bagrov. Critics attacked the movie as they had its predecessor, saying that it expressed racist ideas, threatened national security and insulted the Ukrainian and American nations.
That same year, 2002, Bodrov moved to California to take part in the shooting of his father's movie The Quickie. Lets Do it Fast. Sergey played Dima – the head of security for a rich American of Russian ancestry – Oleg (Mashkov).
In Bodrov's free time during the filming of The Quickie, he wrote the screenplay for his first movie Sisters. His father suggested the idea of the movie to him and Bodrov Jr wrote the screenplay in two weeks; four days later filming began. The heart of the movie is a story of two sisters – Sveta (thirteen years old) and Dina (eight), who become inadvertent victims of their father's criminal past. Sergei played a small part, in a role without an available actor. The film opened on May 10, 2001. At a festival in Sochi, it received a Grand Prix award "for the best debut" and the young actresses received a jury award for their parts.
In the autumn of 2001, Bodrov became a host of the game show The Last Hero. Sixteen people landed on an island near the coast of Panama and competed in various trials. The last participant to survive all the votes received the main prize of three million rubles.
The shooting of Balabanov's movie War began in the spring of 2001. Bodrov had a role of short duration (he played captain Medvedev). The opening night was in 2002. The movie got the "Golden Rose" award at the Kinotavr festival and Bodrov received the Nika Award for the best supporting role.
Bear's Kiss directed by his father Sergei Bodrov opened on November 28, 2002. Bodrov played Misha, a bear who mystically transforms into a person. Sergei's love interest in the film is played by Rebecka Liljeberg.
Disaster.
The film crew arrived in the Caucasus in September, and on September 20 were filming the scenes in a women's penal colony in Vladikavkaz where they intended to shoot the scenes of the main character's return from the army. At approximately 7 p.m., filming stopped due to poor lighting conditions. Then, according to official reports, a block of ice fell from Djimara Mountain onto the Kolka ice flow, bringing with it mud and large boulders. This mud flow covered Karmadon Ravine, where Sergey Bodrov and his crew were working. A massive search and rescue operation proved fruitless.
Filmography.
1989 – Freedom is Paradise, cameo
1992 – White King, Red Queen, bellboy
1996 – Prisoner of the Mountains, Vanya Zhilin
1997 – Brother, Danila Bagrov
1998 – The Stringer , Vadim
2000 – East/West, Sasha
2000 – Brother 2, Danila Bagrov
2001 – The Quickie, Dima
2001 – Sisters , a stage manager
2002 – War , Captain Medvedev
2002 – Bear's Kiss, Misha
2008 – Morphine, author of the script
References
1. Бодров Сергей Сергеевич // Российское кино 1986—2006:
2.Биофильмографический справочник: Сценаристы. Режиссёры. Актёры / Сост.: Наталья Милосердова при участии Владимира Мартынова; Отв. ред. Н. Милосердова; Федеральное агентство по культуре и кинематографии Российской Федерации. Научно-исследовательский институт киноискусства.. — М.: Материк, 2008. — Т. 1 (А—К). — С. 308-309. — 592 с. — 500 экз. — ISBN 978-5-85646-131-1. (в пер.)
3.Сергей Бодров. Связной. — СПб: Амфора, 2007. — 303 с. — ISBN 978-5-367-00488-5.
4.Трофименков М. Сергей Бодров. Последний герой. — М: Эксмо, 2003. — 192 с. — ISBN 5-94700-019-9.
5.Без вести // Premiere : ж. — 2002. — № 53. — С. 14-25.