Danila Kozlovsky — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Danila Valeryevich Kozlovsky (Russian: Данила Валерьевич Козловский; born 3 May 1985; Moscow) is a Russian actor and director. Danila Kozlovsky's directorial debut Coach was released in 2018.

Kozlovsky was born in Moscow. His mother, Nadezhda Zvenigorodskaya, is a stage actress, and his father, Valery Kozlovsky, was a professor at Moscow State University specializing in marketing and mass communications. He is the second of three brothers, an older brother, Yegor, and a younger brother, Ivan. From a young age, Kozlovsky was placed in dance and music classes, learning to play the saxophone and the alto. During his early years, he frequently changed schools, potentially due to discipline issues. He made his big screen debut in 1998, playing the troubled sixth grader Denis on the Russian television series Simple Truths. After graduating from the academy in 2007, Danila Kozlovskiy was officially admitted to the staff of the Little Drama Theatre (Theatre de l'Europe). In 2005, he also received his first important film role – in the picture Garpastum. The film, set during the time of the First World War, tells the story of two brothers who wish to build their own football stadium. Kozlovsky received the Russian Guild of Film Critics "White Elephant Award" for the best male lead actor. Kozlovsky gained wider publicity in 2008 with his starring role in the film Black Hunters.

After Kozlovsky starred in the 2012 film Soulless he became a household name in Russia. He played the lead role of Max Andreev, a young ambitious executive manager who begins to reevaluate his priorities in life and career. The film was a hit and grossed $13 million. He received the National Golden Eagle Award for Soulless (2012, nomination "Best Cinema Actor"). The film was followed by a sequel in 2015, for which he won the Nika Award as best actor. Kozlovsky played the role of Yegor Dorin, in the 2012 film The Spy, based on the Boris Akunin novel. In 2013, he portrayed ice-hockey player Valeri Kharlamov in the sports drama Legend № 17. The film was a critical and box-office success, earning $29.5 million at the box-office. Kozlovsky starred in his first Hollywood film in 2014; he played Dimitri Belikov in the comedy-horror picture Vampire Academy. The year 2016 saw Kozlovsky star in five films – romantic comedy Status: non engaged, sci-fi action film Hardcore Henry, comedy film Friday, disaster film Flight Crew and historical action film Viking. Out of the aforementioned films, the most popular ones at the box-office were Flight Crew, earning $27 million, and Viking which grossed $34 million. He played Count Vorontzov in the film Matilda (2017), which told the story of the romance between Emperor Nicholas II and ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska. The film became controversial after State Duma deputy Natalia Poklonskaya led a campaign to ban the film on religious grounds. Also in 2017, it was announced that Kozlovsky will appear as Oleg of Novgorod in the sixth season of popular Canadian historical drama Vikings. In 2018, Kozlovsky played a supporting role in Dovlatov. The biographical picture about writer Sergei Dovlatov premiered at the 2018 Berlinale in competition.

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