Acting
Oct 26, 1983
Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Artur Smolyaninov
Acting
Biography
Artur Smolyaninov (born 27 October 1983) is a Russian stage and screen actor, as well as a musician. He is best known for his leading role as Oleg Lutaev in Fyodor Bondarchuk’s war drama The 9th Company (2005), and for his work in international productions such as The Darkest Hour (2011) and Redirected (2014), and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur (2026), in which he played a bit part. Smolyaninov was born on 27 October 1983 in Moscow and grew up in a creative family: his mother was a painter and art teacher, and his father taught music. He was drawn into movies almost by chance when, at fourteen, he was cast in Valery Priemykhov’s Who If Not Us (1998), a performance that won him a best teenage actor prize at the Artek International Film Festival. At sixteen he entered the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (RATI-GITIS) in Leonid Kheifets’s workshop, graduating in 2004 with roughly a dozen screen credits already behind him. Wider recognition came with The 9th Company, in which he played the orphaned soldier known as Lyuty ("The Fierce"). The role became his signature and brought him the MTV-Russia movie award and the Triumph Prize in 2006. From 2006 to 2022 he was a member of the Moscow Sovremennik Theatre company. His screen career expanded across Russian television and movies, including Heat (2006), 1612 (2007), Nirvana (2008), Burnt by the Sun 2 (2010), and the series The White Guard (2012). In 2022 Smolyaninov publicly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and left Russia, living first in Latvia and later obtaining Israeli citizenship. In January 2023 the Russian Ministry of Justice added him to its register of “foreign agents,” and in 2026 a Moscow court sentenced him in absentia to eight years in a penal colony. Since his exile he has continued to work in European productions, including a film shot in Estonia, and has hosted a Russian-language vodcast for Deutsche Welle.
Feature Films (58)
The final part of Mikhalkov's trilogy about Divisional Commander Kotov finds him returning home during World War II having been betrayed, narrowly escaped execution for treason and nearly reduced to dust in a prison camp. Only to discover that everything has changed and he will have to fight again for his name, for his honor, and for his love.
Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel
Three young Russian friends amuse themselves in a small seaside town with a series of minor adventures, some of which involve a new suit.
The Suit
Russian army recruits complete training and take their posting in late 1980s Afghanistan, where the insurgents are slowly gaining the upper hand.
9th Company
Yuriko, a daughter of Yakudza boss is lost in Russia. Here she finds Alexey - a young man who is trying to help her.
A Yakuza's Daughter Never Cries
Epic film about WWII, a sequel to Utomlyonnye solntsem (1994). Evil Stalin is terrorizing people of Russia while the Nazis are advancing. Russian officer Kotov, who miraculously survived the death sentence in Stalin's Purge, is now fighting in the front-lines. His daughter, Nadia, who survived a rape attempt by Nazi soldiers, is now a nurse risking her own life to save others. In the war-torn nation even former enemies are fighting together to defend their land. People stand up united for the sake of victory. Written by Steve Shelokhonov
Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus
Television & Series (13)
A post WWII criminal drama, masterfully filmed and produced. Fantastic performance, great historical details and ambience immerse the viewers into the atmosphere of post-war USSR. At the same time, the show has a modern edge thanks to the detailed characters’ psychology and backstory. The war is over but the life is far from being back to normal. It is now the war on crime and Lieutenant Denis Zhuravlev must unholster his gun and protect the safety of civilians. He has to go undercover and become a member of a brutal local gang. He is in and he’s risking his life to stop the murders and heists, but then the plot takes a very dangerous, unpredictable turn. The project is a true gem for audiences worldwide.
The Darkest Hour
The series takes place in a small Russian town where a deadly virus appears. Most of the inhabitants die, only a few people remain alive, who are affected by sleeping sickness: people cannot wake up on their own, and after two hours of sleep they fall into a coma.
Survivors
The main character of the series is the ambulance doctor Oleg Samarin. Friends and colleagues call him Samara. A rebel and an upstart, he argues with his superiors, makes jokes about colleagues and patients, and breaks all the rules and regulations! But Samara gets away with everything. He is a surgeon from God! Every day Samara and his team (paramedic Lena and driver Mikhalych) help people. Oleg’s patients are a motley gallery of characters and destinies, and sometimes Samara has to treat not only their bodies, but also their souls. But Samara himself has something to hide... Samara has a secret, the disclosure of which threatens him with the loss of his favorite job. But, as they say, everything secret comes out someday...
