Viktoriya Tarasova Actress Date of Birth: 16.07.1971 Country: Russia

1. Biography of Victoria Tarasova
2. Childhood and Youth
3. Film Career
4. Theater
5. Television
6. Public Activities
7. Personal Life
8. Current Activities

Biography of Victoria Tarasova

Victoria Tarasova is a Russian actress of theater and cinema. She comes from a creative family and has always been driven to achieve success on her own. Although she did not have a glamorous debut, her persistence allowed her to break through in a project that brought her nationwide fame. She finds inspiration not only on the film set but also on the theater stage and even in television studios.

Childhood and Youth

Victoria was born in the small town of Skopin in the Ryazan region, Russia. Her parents, Yuri Egorovich Tarasov and Nadezhda Petrovna Kudelinskaya, were both creative individuals. Her father was a ballet master, while her mother was a director. Victoria has an older sister named Marina Kudelinskaya, who also became an actress. When Victoria was one year old, her family moved from Skopin to Smolensk. There, she completed her general education and also studied at a choreographic school. She started performing on stage at the age of five, particularly excelling in tap dancing. For a long time, she planned to pursue a career in dance but decided to apply to theater school after receiving her high school diploma. Although she initially faced setbacks, she eventually enrolled in the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, and later transferred to the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) under the guidance of Pavel Osipovich Khomsky. In the early 2000s, she obtained a second degree in ballet at GITIS at the request of her father.

Film Career

Victoria made her first appearance on screen in her youth, when she appeared in the final part of the children's adventure tetralogy "Rys idet po sladu" ("The Lynx Is on the Trail"). However, there was a gap in her filmography after that. She returned to the screen in 2002, playing small roles in the comedy film "Moy milyy ezhik" ("My Darling Hedgehog") and the film "Khotyu na more" ("I Want to Go to the Sea"). She later had small roles in comedy series and crime thrillers, including the popular series "Sled" ("The Trace"). However, her real breakthrough came in 2008, when she gained nationwide popularity after starring in the crime drama series "Glukhar" ("The Gamecock"). Victoria played the role of Irina Sergeyevna Zimina, a major and later a lieutenant colonel of justice. The series had three seasons and several additional New Year's episodes. She also reprised this role in the film series "Otdel" ("The Department"), four seasons of the crime series "Pyatnitskiy" ("Friday"), and three seasons of "Karpov," where she starred alongside Vladislav Kotlyarsky. These projects featured the same main characters as "Glukhar" and served as a continuation of the original storyline. According to Victoria, her role in these films created a somewhat negative image for her, as many fans now see her as a police chief rather than an actress.

Theater

In 1997, Victoria joined the theater troupe of the Jewish Theater "Shalom" and has been a member of the company ever since. She ended up in this creative collective by chance, as she is not Jewish, but was asked to replace a red-haired colleague who fell ill. Since 2011, she has also been involved in independent productions, with one or two plays featuring her every year. In 2016, she played the lead role in "Odnazhdy vecherom" ("One Evening") based on Alexander Gelman's play "Skameyka" ("The Bench"). Victoria has also collaborated with other theaters, participating in productions such as "Retsept semeinogo schastya" ("The Recipe for Family Happiness"), a play based on Anton Chekhov's works, and performances in the plays "Avantyurnaya semyaka, ili Kak ukrast million" ("The Adventurous Family, or How to Steal a Million"), "Tramvay 'Zhelanie'" ("Tram 'Desire'"), and "Delo v shlyape" ("The Case in the Hat") at the Millennium Theater.

Television

After graduating from university, Victoria became a television host on the RTR channel. She hosted the program about gardeners called "Shest sotok" ("Six Hundred Square Meters"), which was previously hosted by her sister Marina Kudelinskaya. At the request of her sister, Victoria made an appearance on the show, and the program's creators appreciated her emotional presence and approved her as a host. Since 2015, she has been the host of the socio-economic reality show "Sdelano v Rossii" ("Made in Russia") on the 360 TV channel. In the same year, she was awarded the title of "Honored Artist of Moscow" by the mayor. Since 2016, Victoria has also been a part of the TV program "Krasota po-russki" ("Beauty in Russian"). The participants of this show are people who have suffered from the actions of unscrupulous plastic surgeons, hairdressers, and cosmetologists. According to Victoria, many young people blindly believe that beauty leads to success, which often results in terrible consequences.

Public Activities

Victoria is one of the few Russian actresses who have visited the Hmeimim airbase in Syria on working visits. She has performed for Russian soldiers during these visits. She has also traveled to Russian military bases in the Arctic, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia for concerts. In these regions, she collects assistance for the military and delivers it whenever possible. She has shared her experiences from these trips in interviews.

Victoria is also engaged in charitable work. She has organized a foundation to help children in the Smolensk region. She raises funds for the treatment of seriously ill young patients and provides financial support to low-income families.

Personal Life

Victoria's first love occurred when she was barely 20 years old. She fell for Vyacheslav, a man seven years older than her, who was spoiled by female attention. Despite her fiancé's flaws, Victoria did not notice them until she discovered that he was cheating on her with her best friend, which was a devastating blow for the theater school student.

In the mid-1990s, Victoria married entrepreneur Mikhail Gumen. They had a peaceful and harmonious life for a while, but their relationship deteriorated after Victoria became pregnant. Eventually, Victoria and Mikhail separated, and in 1998, she gave birth to their son Danila. However, her husband refused to meet her at the maternity hospital, and she had to raise her son on her own. During his school years, Danila had to endure many unpleasant moments. After Victoria gained popularity, her son faced hostility not only from his classmates but also from his teachers. As a result, he had to be transferred to another educational institution.

There have been rumors in the Russian press about Victoria's romantic involvement with Maxim Averin, her co-star in "Glukhar." However, these rumors turned out to be false.

Victoria reflects that her personal life did not work out as planned, but she still hopes to meet someone who will understand and love her. She believes that she does not need excessive male attention or expensive gifts, as she is capable of providing for herself. However, she dreams of having a family life and the warmth of a home, which she has never had.

Currently, Victoria lives with her son, who is already building his own family life. He has a girlfriend, and the young couple often joins Victoria for meals during her frequent tours. Victoria appreciates her son's independence and his partner. According to her, "feminine wisdom and cunning" helped her find common ground with her son, although conflicts were inevitable.

Current Activities

Victoria Tarasova joined the cast of the third season of the successful web series "Estestvennyy otbor" ("Natural Selection"). This ironic dramedy about the relationships between couples was filmed in Moscow. The previous seasons were presented at festivals in Belgium and South Korea and received numerous positive reviews. The new episodes explore the theme of maturing in relationships between partners, according to director Kirill Alekhin.