Yuriy Shibanov Actor Date of Birth: 09.12.1978 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Yuri Shibanov

Yuri Shibanov was born in the town of Gornyak in the Donetsk region. However, he spent his childhood in Pskov. It was here, as a schoolboy, that he started playing in the Comedy Club of the KVN (Club of the Funny and Inventive). Even then, those around him noticed his main quality - determination. As time passed, he finished school and art school, and he also finished with the Comedy Club. At that moment, circus unexpectedly entered his life. He recalls, "I met a man who said that there was a circus in Pskov. I started doing clowning and celebrated Maslenitsa (Russian holiday) here. Thanks to the circus, I met the charming woman Olga Guslinskaya. She is a mega person! She shaped my dream. I was planning to go to the army, and she advised me to enroll in the variety department..." Yuri decided to apply to St. Petersburg. He hitchhiked to the northern capital because he simply didn't have the money. Yuri submitted his documents to the admissions committee of the Buff Theater. During the audition, instead of reading prose, he told jokes, sang the song "Uteka" by the group "Mumiy Troll" ... However, all his efforts were in vain - the committee did not appreciate it. Of course, Yuri was disappointed, but he decided to apply to the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts (formerly LGITMIK). He recalls, "In the academy, I met teacher Marina Borisovna Alexandrovskaya. I entered the auditorium (I was the last in the top ten). I started telling jokes and such... They asked me to read a children's poem. And I started: "Near Lukomorye, there is a green oak...". I got to the mermaid and said, "The mermaid hangs on the branches". They asked, "Are you here to entertain us?" - "You know, I applied to the variety department, but they cut me off." - "Why?" - "I sang 'Mumiy Troll'." - "I see. Okay," said Marina Borisovna. - "Then I will give you tasks. Enter the auditorium. Look at the ceiling. Imagine that it is painted black...". She chose me from the top ten and one more girl..." Yuri Shibanov studied at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts for two years. Then, as the actor himself says, the course began to fall apart, and he decided to go to Moscow... He chose GITIS as his new place of study. He really wanted to transfer to the course of Petr Naumovich Fomenko. However, when Yuri arrived, he learned that Fomenko was focused on work at the theater, and the course was being led by Petr Naumovich's student, Sergey Zhenovach. It was not easy to get accepted by Zhenovach - he was against transferring and advised Yuri to apply through general admission. And again, exams, auditions... Overcoming all this, Yuri still enrolled in GITIS, which he graduated from in 2005. After graduating from the institute, Yuri Shibanov became an actor at the Theater Studio of the Performing Arts. Here he is involved in performances such as "As You Like It" (William Shakespeare), "Marienbad" (Rebecca, World Matchmaker), "Oblomovshchina..." (Taran). Yuri Shibanov admits that he loves theater, but even more so, he adores cinema. Why? "For me, everything is faster in movies. I'm not talking about TV shows. I'm talking about movies where the director works with you. The rehearsal period in the theater can last for six months... The thrill in the theater is different. You forget what you played before. You play today. And in a new way. Bad theater is when a person "sticks to the scheme". That happens in musicals. But a musical is a different genre. A musical is almost like a show. And now they are turning theater into a show... That's why most theaters are deadly boring now. And boredom is because a person "sticks to the routine". In the fiftieth performance, you shoot past your partner, and he shoots past you. It doesn't touch anyone..."

Yuri Shibanov's first film work was in the series "Empire Under Attack," where he played the tiny role of the terrorist Maluta. Literally the next day after filming in "Empire Under Attack," Yuri was approved for the role of a Zenit fan in the popular series "Streets of Broken Lanterns," also known as "Menty" ("Cops"). And half a year later, Yuri played the Zenit fan again, but this time in "Uboynaya Sila" ("Lethal Force").

In the following years, Yuri Shibanov periodically appeared in episodes of various films and series. He played in Karen Shakhnazarov's film "The Rider Named Death," in the series "Black Raven" and "Poor Nastya," and made another appearance in "Streets of Broken Lanterns" (fortunately, in "Cops," each new episode was directed by a different director, and they simply did not know that Shibanov had already appeared in this series). A more notable role was given to the actor in the series "Shtrafbat" - the Red Army soldier Pavel Burykin. And then there was a turning point in Yuri Shibanov's film career... The series "Soldiers" became a starting platform for many previously unknown actors. In this regard, Yuri Shibanov was lucky, as he was invited to play the role of Renat Fakhrutdinov. His character is unusual. Fakhrutdinov is a Tatar, from somewhere near Bugulma. And the peculiarity is that he serves for the second time! After serving in the airborne troops, he went back to the army, this time in place of his younger brother, who looks very much like him. This was decided by their parents, all because his brother's fiancée was pregnant. So Renat had to go through the path from "spirit" (rookie) to "dembel" (veteran) again...

Interestingly, when Yuri Shibanov was approved for the role of Fakhrutdinov, the actor knew nothing about the series "Soldiers." And this is despite the fact that the series already had a huge rating! The thing is, Yuri deliberately does not watch television.

Yuri Shibanov fondly remembers his work on "Soldiers": "I realized that I got into the right groove. A fairytale began. It was an incredible time working with a powerful team. And the texts were strong. It was the third and fourth parts of 'Soldiers.' And then the money-making began. The quality dropped significantly. Arlanov left together with us in the eighth part. He started shooting 'Kadetstvo' on 'STS'... At first, Arlanov shot 'Soldiers' quickly but in detail. And then the race began. They could shoot one episode in two days. The producers rushed, the channel rushed: 'Guys, ratings, ratings!' They shot from one take. I entered the makeup room, read a stack of texts, and immediately memorized them. The papers were in my boots. We shot from nine in the morning until six to eight yesterday non-stop in the makeup room with a half-hour break for lunch. It was physically difficult. But after earning money on 'Soldiers,' I rented an apartment in Moscow for a year and lived on the money I earned." Every fairytale has an end. Sergeant Fakhrutdinov finished his service and left the series, and Yuri Shibanov left with him. Currently, he occasionally appears in some TV series, organizes corporate events, and in his free time, he writes his book, where he describes his dream.