Biography
Marina Fedunkiv was born in the Urals. Her father was a musician, worked at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater, and taught at a music school. Mother worked in a restaurant as a production manager. The future star spent her childhood in Ukraine with her grandparents, who raised her. It was there that Marina decided to become an artist. She grew up very active, was involved in amateur performances, performed in a choir and ensemble, and attended a theater group, where she staged skits herself. After graduating from school, the girl returned to her homeland and entered the Perm State Institute of Art and Culture (PGIIC). Fedunkiv got into an experimental course, and then she was expelled for incompetence. “Usually in theater universities there is one main teacher for a course, but I entered the acting and directing department of the Perm Institute of Art and Culture for an experimental course, where there were three main teachers: the first was classical, the second taught commedia dell’arte, and the third taught avant-garde theater. : We went to see him at the municipal theater. Soon this theater was given a new building, and our teacher began to assign us to whitewash, paint and wash something. He presented exploitation in the following way: they say, this will be our studio, our nest, and now you will equip your nest yourself. When I was sent to paint a toilet, I was indignant: “You know, I didn’t come here to study as a painter! I don’t have time to equip nests, I want to gain knowledge.” He and I had a very strong quarrel, I said a strong word, turned around and left. And I was expelled from the first year for professional incompetence,” recalls Marina. Then she went to work at a vegetable warehouse: “I sorted fruits and vegetables, and later offered to sell apples from the car. The office is private, we traded without permission. They gave me a truck, and we started driving to the city center. When the police showed up, they ran away: I knocked on the driver, he accelerated, and the boxes fell. However, there were no serious chases - that’s how everyone traded back then. I sold apples in this way: I named one price to richer people, but I could give them to retired grandmothers for next to nothing. The queue did not understand what was happening, there was intrigue. So I gained invaluable experience at the vegetable farm... I came to the institute already seasoned: I had something to play and someone to play,” says the actress. Two years later, Marina Fedunkiv was reinstated at the university. She was accepted into a paid course taught by director and theater teacher Viktor Afanasyevich Ilyev.
KVN
Since the late 1990s, Marina actively played in KVN and wrote scripts for student humorous projects. In 2002, together with the Dobryanka team, she became the winner of the KVN First League and advanced to the Major League. “We got into the Dobryanka team, made it to the Major League... Ours differed from most teams in its good drama. How did others perform in music competitions? A song, a string and another song. And we even had a plot with a plot, a climax and a denouement, so it was difficult for the directors to cut our performances. They said about us: “The Dobryansk Moscow Art Theater has arrived again.” But we always had a minimum of props, at most three chairs or, for example, an accordion. Looking at the teams carrying with them a picture, a basket, a piece of cardboard, we talked to each other: “Can you imagine if we came up with a performance that would require so many things? After all, we wouldn’t be able to show this number, because due to the unique absent-mindedness of all participants, we would lose half of it on the way!”
One day, before a performance, our sound engineer lost the CDs with the music we were supposed to perform to! We no longer knew what to do, the guys from RUDN University suggested: “Let us play you what you say and record it quickly! The quality, of course, will be rubbish, but there’s no time for fat.” And then the guys from the Minsk team “ChP” came running to us and found our discs in the toilet! They handed them over with the words: “We are not a state of emergency, but you are a state of emergency.” Yes, a lot of funny things happened, but everything was from the series “there is something to remember, nothing to tell the children.”
Thanks to KVN, we met many future colleagues from “Real Boys” and “Comedy Woman”. The director of “The Boys” Zhanna Kadnikova studied at my institute, a year older. She played in the Parma team of the Perm Territory, which was also part of the KVN Major League. If we didn’t know someone personally, we still saw each other’s performances and knew everyone in absentia. When I came to Comedy Woman, Sasha Gudkov said that he and Natasha Medvedeva ran to our performances. Once we were sitting on the balcony and laughing so hard that Gudkov’s glasses slipped off his forehead and fell into the hall,” says Fedunkiv. The actress is a multiple laureate of the Student Spring festival for drama and acting.
First successes
Marina Fedunkiv's family did not approve of her passion for dramatic art. The parents insisted that their daughter acquire a “serious” profession. However, the freedom-loving Marina did not listen to the advice of her father and mother. After graduating from school, she became a student at the Perm State Institute of Culture and Art. In her first year, Marina became involved in a loud scandal; she had a conflict with her teacher. The girl was expelled, but she was soon able to recover.
While still a student, Fedunkiv began playing in KVN. Marina also wrote scripts for student comedy projects. The girl received her diploma in 1998. In 2002, her team “Dobryanka” qualified for the KVN Major League.
Theater
In 2010, the premiere of the play “Lucky Number” (“I’m looking for a wife. Inexpensive!”) took place, where Marina played the main character’s mother. Also involved in the enterprise are Natalia Medvedeva, Oleg Vereshchagin, Ekaterina Skulkina and Kristina Asmus.
The actress takes part in Svetlana Permyakova’s production of “Non-flying weather, or the Mating season of penguins” based on the play by Alexei Shcheglov.
Theater works
Entreprise:
- “Lucky number” / “Looking for a wife. Inexpensive!
- “Non-flying weather, or mating season among penguins”
Filmography of Marina Fedunkiv
Marina is an active and hardworking person. And of course she is very talented! In 2008, she began acting in the sketch series “Give You Youth!”, she lived then in Perm, and did not move to Moscow for a long time - she did not want to leave her mother and father. Her parents, she says, simply “kicked” her out of the house and forced her to move - she couldn’t miss the chance to become famous!
When the sequel to “Real Boys” was not filmed for some time, Fedunkiv did not sit idly by. The main work was in “Comedy Woman”, but at the same time she played in the play “I’m Looking for a Wife. Inexpensive!
“Time to collect.”
After an incomprehensible dismissal from the Comedy Club, together with singer Anna Pletneva (ex-soloist of the Vintage group), she starred in the series “Girlfriend,” which was very well received by fans. Then they recorded a song and released a video of the same name.
There were also filming in episodic roles in the films: “Kindly”, “Casual Relationships”, “Corporate Party”, “Graduation”, “Deffchonki”. The roles were sometimes tiny, but “Aunt Marina” always played them brilliantly and was remembered by the audience.
She also has her own television project - the miniseries “Muzova, or lessons from celebrities.” In it, Marina brilliantly parodies the host of the “House 2” project, it’s easy to guess who.
Cinema
Since 2010, Marina has been acting in films. Her debut work was the role of Kolyan’s mother in the TV series “Real Boys”. Life stories of the Perm guy Kolyan and his friends - auto mechanics Antokha and Vovan. According to her, she simply “scratched” the work in this project: “I just rudely imposed myself then! I had a lull on the creative front, but I knew that Anton Zaitsev was coming up with an interesting series about Perm boys, and I absolutely loved his idea! I thought that it would either be a real bomb, or people wouldn’t understand anything at all, but I myself was completely delighted.
I began to besiege this fortress. But there was no role for me: in the first versions of the script, no Kolyan’s mother appeared - the main character had a grandmother. But I couldn’t play Kolya Naumov’s grandmother, he and I are ten years apart, and I began to persuade Zaitsev to exchange the pensioner for his mother. She suggested making the mother a walking woman, portrayed her - everyone laughed, but decided that this was too much. I pushed through my ideas, told stories from my life, came up with phrases and words for the role. Here my mother-in-law helped me a lot, all sorts of “proshmande” and “swine” from her vocabulary: in her youth, she and her husband, working at a factory, lived in a barracks, where they were surrounded by interesting personalities with a specific vocabulary. And this heroine’s character is similar to my mother.” Then there were shootings in the films - “Country in Shope”, “Graduation”, “Roads”, “Corporate Party”.
"Time to Collect"
The actress played Zhenya’s friend Shura in the melodrama “Time to Collect” by Vladimir Ustyugov, released in 2014. Plot: Evgenia works as a physical education teacher at school and is raising her adult daughter Masha alone. She dotes on children, works tirelessly, tries to stir up lethargic colleagues and introduce everyone to a healthy lifestyle. Teachers laugh at Zhenya’s initiative, and schoolchildren have long dubbed her “a mint.”
Zhenya’s efforts are not appreciated by her daughter either. High school student Masha longs for a “beautiful life” and condemns her unmercenary mother.
One day a millionaire, the owner of “newspapers, first love,” comes to the city. The main roles in the film were played by Natalia Antonova, Alexey Makarov and Ekaterina Volkova.
"Weak Woman"
Marina appeared as Shura in the four-part film “Weak Woman” directed by Vsevolod Aravin. Plot: Lucy is a “real woman”: a wonderful housewife, a caring mother and an exemplary wife. However, life with a despotic husband is by no means sugar, and after his betrayal it completely turns into a series of gray everyday life.
Imagine the heroine’s happiness when that same love came to her. Her chosen one, Alexander, is also not free, but it seems that he has been waiting for Lucy all his life... Having lost their heads, the lovers succumb to their feelings and soon decide to get married.
Having learned about the betrayal, the husband kicks Lucy out of the apartment, the son turns away from her, and the mother reproaches her for her recklessness. But the heroine could not even imagine that the main tragedy awaited her ahead. While rushing to her, Alexander dies in a car accident.
Will Lucy be able to build a new life, left alone in poverty, without education, support and with a broken heart? The artist’s partners on the set were: Glafira Tarkhanova, Pavel Novikov, Kirill Grebenshchikov, Dmitry Mulyar, Elena Koreneva, Yulia Chiplieva, Elena Finogeeva, Andrei Tashkov. Then she starred in such projects as “Nezlob”, “Deffchonki”, “War of the Sexes”, “Zomboyashchik”.
"Granny of easy virtue"
In 2020, Fedunkiv received an invitation to the comedy “Grandmother of Easy Virtue,” directed by Marius Weisberg. Her heroine is nurse Tonya. Plot: The master of disguise Sanya, nicknamed “Transformer,” pulled off a bunch of scams, accurately portraying dozens of characters. But this time he stole from the wrong people... Now the guy has very bad people with guns on his tail. Sanya decides to lie low in the guise of an elderly relative. And when it seemed to him that he was in a hopeless situation, a new twist of fate gives him love and hope to turn into a decent person. Taking part in the filming were: Alexander Revva, Glyuk'oza, Evgeny Gerchakov, Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Natalya Bardo, Philip Kirkorov. Two years later, the actress starred in the sequel – “Granny of Easy Virtue-2. Elderly Avengers." In the second part of the popular comedy, viewers will once again meet the charming swindler Sasha Rubenstein and a team of pensioners who have now moved to Moscow. But their happy life comes to an end when the bank in which all the old people’s savings are kept is bankrupted by the unprincipled oligarch Borodin. Sasha and the “organized pension group” are uniting again to take revenge on the offender. The creative ensemble included: Alexander Revva, Mikhail Galustyan, Dmitry Nagiyev, Roman Kurtsyn, Natalya Bardo, Elena Valyushkina, Evgeny Gerchakov, Maria Gorban.
A television
In 2008, Marina moved to Moscow and began trying herself on television. Among her first projects are the humorous sketch shows “Give You Youth!”, “Everything Our Way,” “Ural Dumplings Show” and “Valera TV.” In 2013, the actress was invited to the popular show Comedy Woman, where she worked for three years. Her stage partners are Ekaterina Skulkina, Nadezhda Sysoeva, Natalya Medvedeva, Tatyana Morozova. Then Fedunkiv moved to a project called “Love is..”. After this, the artist hosted the television program “Everything is Simple” on one of the Russian TV channels.
“Invite me to the wedding!”
In 2020, Marina Fedunkiv became the host of the new entertainment show “Invite to the Wedding!” on the channel "Russia 1". The TV star and her team will organize wedding ceremonies for the heroes.
The program involves not only the best wedding presenters in Russia, but also people with unique abilities, illusionists, laser and light show artists, musicians, parodists and comedians.
Actor career
Still, KVN became a good entry point into the world of television for Marina. In Moscow, she began to try herself on the STS TV channel, where the humorous show “Everything is our way!” was broadcast; Fedunkiv was invited to this project as a screenwriter.
But such a bright and talented actress could not write scripts all her life; she was invited to a small role in the comedy project “Giving Youth”, where she showed her extraordinary abilities.
In 2010, the TNT channel invited Marina to play the most colorful role in the series “Real Boys” - Kolyan’s mother. It was 100% true to the role. Marina borrowed her trump words that she says in the series from her mother-in-law.
In 2011, Fedunkiv auditioned as a resident of “Comedy Woman”, took part in one episode, and since 2013 she has become a permanent actress of this project. Marina already has several film roles in films:
- "High school graduation";
- "Corporate";
- "Deffchons."
Already, many are saying that such a juicy and colorful comedic female character has not been seen in Russian cinema since the times of Tatyana Peltzer and Faina Ranevskaya.
Personal life
The actress was married twice. Her first chosen one was a classmate from Perm, Sergei Shchelchkov. They lived together for twelve years. “My first husband was my classmate from the Perm Institute of Culture. But he was overcome by envy - he still couldn’t get over the fact that I was playing in KVN. I had to get a divorce,” she says.
The second husband is Mikhail, an entrepreneur. It is known that they met by chance - Marina and her sister were late for celebrating her own birthday. While trying to catch a taxi, she met Mikhail, who offered to give her a ride. A relationship began between them, and then they registered their marriage. In the summer of 2017, the actress announced that she had divorced her husband. She cited faded feelings as the reason for the divorce: “We parted on a good note, without scandals or reproaches.” Marina has no children yet. She does not deny that she is ready for a new relationship.
The beginning of a creative journey
The road to the big stage for Fedunkiv turned out to be thorny and winding. After being expelled from the institute, she had to look for a job. She got a job as a sorter at a vegetable warehouse, and then became a seller selling apples from a car. Having earned money for her studies, she returns to college, but in a paid department. After graduating in 1998, she got a job as the director of a student club and began playing in KVN.
As part of the Dobryanka team in 2002, Fedunkiv entered the KVN Major League. This program became her big launching pad. Here her comedic talent was noticed and her first popularity came. The actress was remembered by the audience for her striking performances.
During this period, before starting to participate in successful projects and star shows, Fedunkiv worked as a mass entertainer on a ship, as a conductor, as a night nanny, and changed several other jobs that had nothing to do with creativity.
In the Dobryanka team, she becomes the director of the team, combining this position with the leadership of the student KVN. Performances in the popular program brought Marina her first recognition. She receives awards for “Best Drama” and “Acting.” Producers who noticed the actress invited her to try out for new projects.
Marina began her first tests on television in 2008. During this period, she came to Moscow and passed the casting to participate in the series “Give Youth.” She got a cameo role. In the show “Everything Our Way,” Marina tried herself as a screenwriter.
Interview
About the roles
“I’m not only a character actress, I can also play dramatic roles. It's no secret that it's much harder to make someone laugh than to make someone cry. I took a difficult path, started to make people laugh, but I don’t want to limit myself to this path. Anyway. Maybe someday we’ll roar... from diversity.”
About plans
“In fact, I perform not only as a comedian, but also play in plays, act in films, and some people know me as a blogger. Of course, I set certain goals and achieve them. Without a challenge, a person marks time and begins to grow old. And this is not part of my plans.”
About your favorite teacher
“I went to the department to find out what was what and get to know the teacher, about whom I had heard a lot of good things, but had never seen. I approach the department, and the door is closed: all the teachers are in class. Finally, some puny guy appears, I ask him: “Can you tell me if Viktor Afanasyevich Ilyev will be there today?” He: “What did you want?” - “Recover.” I talked to him and told him in detail why I was expelled. Then I ask: “Is this Ilyev adequate in general? Can I talk to him like a human being?” - “I think so. Why should he be inadequate? - “Well, you never know. Our “man of art” can be unpredictable.” And then a familiar teacher comes and says to my interlocutor: “Viktor Afanasyevich, the girls have come to you here to recover. You have to decide who you’ll take.” And he replies: “I already took it.” God, I was so ashamed!!! I told him everything!
He became my favorite teacher, and I became his favorite student. Already when I graduated from the university, Viktor Afanasyevich invited me to host his anniversary evening. He told all his subsequent students about me, forgave me a lot of things, he knew me so well and understood me... For example, I was always late for classes. Viktor Afanasyevich forgave, but with one condition: a creative apology was required. This rule applied to everyone, but I came up with the most convincing good reasons. Others, if they were late, did not come in, but waited for me in the corridor, I flew in with a creative apology, and they quietly followed me in a line. Usually I waddled to the institute, and ran the last part of the way so that shortness of breath appeared: they say, you see how I was in a hurry, how I rushed to study. One day she rubbed red lipstick over her hands and, out of breath, said: “Can you imagine, a hot water pipe burst! I wiped it, scooped it out, and the water was just boiling water!” Viktor Afanasyevich immediately became worried: “Have the plumbers come? How did you leave the apartment?!” I forgot that nothing I say in the morning should be believed.”
About the surname
“This is a very old Bulgarian surname. I can’t name the exact century when there was a Bulgarian settlement in Ukraine, but there was one, and I got this surname from him. Not only is it considered a mistake, my last name is often mistaken for a man’s. During tours, this has happened more than once: we are settling into hotel rooms, and the administrator, having glanced at the names in the documents, counts us: “It seems like you must have another man. Where is he?" I have to “confess” that “another man” is actually me...” Based on materials from Wikipedia and websites: kino-teatr.ru, tele.ru, uznayvse.ru, 24smi.org, starhit.ru, ufa.bezformata.com.
Filmography: Actress
- Happiness! Hello! (2018)
- Granny of easy virtue 2. Elderly Avengers (2018)
- I want ice cream! (2017)
- Manyashino Lake (2017)
- Grandmother of easy virtue (2017)
- Zombiebox (2017)
- Girlfriend (2016), TV series
- War of the Sexes (2015)
- Weak Woman (2014)
- Corporate (2014)
- Roads (2014)
- Graduation (2014)
- Time to Collect (2014)
- Deffchonki (2014)
- Nezlob (2014)
- Country in Shope (2013)
- How conscience came to Ivan Ivanovich (2013)
- Real boys (2010-2019), TV series
