Biography
Valeria Shkirando was born and raised in the cultural capital of Russia. Her parents had nothing to do with the world of cinema and theater. Lera was the youngest daughter in the family - she and her sister Lisa are two years apart. Elizaveta chose a completely different profession for herself - she is a designer, works at the computer company Ubisoft in Sweden.
Since childhood, Valeria sang very well, studied at a music school, theater clubs and studios, and participated in performances. As a teenager, she organized a rock band that performed at school celebrations at the humanitarian gymnasium where she studied.
“For me it was never a question of what to do and what profession to go into,” says the actress. — As far as I can remember, I have always sung somewhere, while at school I studied in the ensemble “Pilgrim”, went to theater clubs in Pushkin and Pavlovsk, to the theater-studio of plastic arts “Sorcerer”.
The girl graduated from school as an external student, since after the tenth grade she entered the acting department of RATI-GITIS in the workshop of Valentin Teplyakov. After studying in Moscow for a year as a drama theater and film artist, Valeria decided to return to St. Petersburg. She transferred to the local theater academy (SPbGATI), where, on the course of Vladimir Podgorodinsky, she received a related profession as a musical theater artist.
Childhood and youth
At the appointed time, Valeria went to school. But studying was quite difficult for the girl. The exact subjects were especially slow: mathematics, chemistry, physics. There was some zest about Lerochka that captivated school teachers. That highlight was the artistry. This is what gave Valeria the opportunity to be the prima of the school theater studio.
Valeria also had absolute pitch. This natural ability allowed the girl to study at the same time in the music school. It is important that Valeria was the leader of a rock band during her school years . She, as they say, “gave a lot of heat” at school discos.
It is clear that, having remarkable acting and musical abilities, a person will definitely connect his professional life with creativity. This is what happened in the case of Shkirando.
Having received a matriculation certificate, the girl successfully passed the entrance tests to the capital's GITIS. After studying there for a year, Valeria decided to transfer to St. Petersburg State Academic Theater of Theater Arts, because she considered that the specialty “musical theater artist” was more advantageous. The course that Lera switched to was supervised by V. Podgorodinsky. In 2011, SPbGATI was successfully completed.
Theater
During her student years, the aspiring actress collaborated with the St. Petersburg theaters “On the Neva” and “Rock Opera”. She also took part in the programs of the Theater Center on Kolomenskaya.
“I completed the course of Vladimir Ivanovich Podgorodinsky, the artistic director of the Rock Opera Theater,” recalls Valeria. — When I entered, musical theater was very close to me. And it’s great luck that I was able to come into contact with this direction. Despite the fact that my life is now flowing in a different direction, musical theater is still close and interesting to me. I also have some directing experience - the musical and dramatic play “Carmen”, in which wonderful artists and musicians played, including my beloved classmate, close friend and talented artist Gleb Drachev.”
After graduating from the institute, from 2011-2013, the actress served in the Buff Theater. During the same period, she received training from Broadway director and Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall and Hollywood trainer Ivana Chubbuck. Currently working in the On.Theater laboratory.
In an interview, the artist shared: “Now I’m playing in the Director’s Laboratory “On.Theater.” There is no permanent troupe, no permanent directors. I was lucky to work with director Oleg Molitvin in the play “Paralysis” based on the play “Look Back in Anger” by John Osborne. The playwrights rewrote it for our modern reality, and, in my opinion, it turned out very interesting and topical. I also play in the theater project of Makedonia Kiselev “Love of Skotoprigonyevska”. This is a story based on “The Brothers Karamazov” - fragments of love lines from Dostoevsky’s novel.”
Roles in performances of SPbGATI:
- "Kiss me, Kat!" — Hetty
- "Romeo and Juliet" - Signora Capulet
- “Free Wind” - Clementine Maris
- “Woman’s revolt” - Marfa, wife of the collective farm chairman
Other roles performed:
- “Krechinsky’s Wedding” (St. Petersburg State Musical and Drama Theater “Buff”) - Lidochka
Valeria Shkirando now
In 2020, the actress played the main role of neonatologist Julia Yarvis in the melodrama “Foundlings.” The series takes place in a hospital equipped with a box in which you can anonymously leave a baby whose parents want to give up. The series is dedicated to such foundlings, who are examined, treated by hospital staff and sent to later life with adoptive parents or shelters.
Valeria Shkirando in the film “Crime”
In 2020, the actress appeared as the daughter of an official in the crime film “Crime,” which focused on the investigation of a complex case of the murder of a young girl, in which all the relatives of the deceased are suspected.
Also in 2020, the actress played the role of lawyer Angelina in another crime film, “Missing. Second wind". The film tells the story of a former operative (Alexey Komashko), who spent 18 years in a coma and, after recovery, returns to working on cases.
Cinema
The actress first appeared on the silver screen in 2006 in an episode of the popular TV series “Streets of Broken Lights-8.” Then there were no less famous television projects “Road Patrol-10”, “Secrets of the Investigation-10”, “Drug Traffic”, “Team”.
In 2013, the artist starred in the adventure film “All the Treasures of the World” by Alexander Efremov with Maria Kozakova and Andrei Bilanov.
"Battalion"
The star role of Valeria Shkirando was Princess Vera Neklyudova in Dmitry Meskhiev’s military drama “Battalion”. This is a historical picture about the heroic women's detachment created in Petrograd in 1917.
The actress says about her character: “In life, I really want to be like my heroine. And, of course, the feat of these women inspires us all. Personally, I learned a lot from Vera. I think that I will turn to this image within myself more than once - I will begin to correlate some things, think about what my heroine from the film “Battalion” would have done. In a sense, she is a kind of ideal for me.”
For filming the film, Valeria, not without regret, parted with her long hair. “The events on the site were as close as possible to the realities of that era. Before filming began, there were three months of preparation, we learned to shoot from different types of weapons. For the film, about three hundred actresses in crowd scenes and about 15 main characters cut their hair bald. For actresses, cutting their hair was an important decision. Agree that for a woman losing her hair is serious,” explains the artist.
Valeria adds: As for “Battalion,” it was incredibly difficult work. The film was equally difficult both psychologically and physically. There was not a single scene, not a single fragment, not even a frame where it was easy. We broke down, cried, froze, all emotions were on the edge. What you see in the frame - how we cry, how we shake - is all true. Therefore, what the actors have after the film, all these laurels, is deserved. It didn’t just fall out of the sky; there’s a lot of work behind it, though.”
The drama was played by: Maria Aronova, Maria Kozhevnikova, Maria Antonova, Yanina Malinchik, Mila Makarova, Irina Rakhmanova, Marat Basharov, Evgeny Dyatlov, Dmitry Shevchenko, Arthur Vakha and other famous artists.
After filming “Battalion”, Valeria Shkirando received offers from directors. Ivan Krivoruchko invited her to the melodrama “Beauty and the Beast” to play the role of the main character’s mistress. And Viktor Tatarsky gave the actress the leading role in his crime action film “Exchange.”
It is also worth noting his work in the film by Pyotr Olevsky “Trace of the Piranha” and the TV series: “Pregnancy Test” (Alina) and “Shaman” (Taya Vorontsova).
"Molodezhka"
In 2020, the popular series “Molodezhka” by Sergei Arlanov and Andrei Golovkov was released. The film tells about the life of the youth hockey club "Bears" from a small Russian city.
In the film, the artist got the negative role of Kristina Romanova: “My heroine in Molodezhka is a careerist, a rather cynical woman who goes to great lengths for some mercantile goals... And I was wondering: what is her motivation? Because I would never do that. But it was all the more interesting to create this image, which, I think, turned out to be very successful.
This series is generally quite popular among young people. The guys began to identify me with the heroine. It's kind of funny because I'm not like that at all."
At the same time, in Olga Land’s fantastic comedy “Challenge,” the actress managed to create a completely different image, about which she says: “I had a rather unexpected role there, but it was so consonant with me, precisely because I spoke on topics that had not yet been discussed.” for some reason to say... It was very cool.”
Later in Valeria Shkirando’s film career there were leading roles: in the melodrama “Foundlings”, the detective story “Missing. Second wind". And in 2020, the actress was offered to star in the first domestic film about superheroes, “The Defenders.” The girl played the role of Major Elena Latina, who led the mission of searching and recruiting a detachment of people with incredible abilities.
"Crime"
One of the actress’s last notable works took place in Maxim Vasilenko’s drama “Crime,” which premiered in the summer of 2017 on the Rossiya TV channel.
Plot: A brutal murder has been committed in a small seaside town: the body of an 18-year-old girl is found in the trunk of a drowned car. The investigation is entrusted to investigator Alexandra Moskvina (Daria Moroz), who is finishing her last days before leaving for the capital for a new duty station. Now she will have to stay and bring her new partner, Andrei Chistyakov (Pavel Priluchny), up to date.
The investigation immediately promises to be complex - and fully lives up to expectations. Many people are involved in the case: family, relatives, school friends and enemies, business acquaintances of the victim’s parents. Investigators are forced to develop several versions at once. Acute dramatic events involve more and more participants, the matter becomes more and more complicated. The personal lives of the investigators themselves are intertwined with the line of the main investigation. All the main characters come under suspicion.
Each new day of investigation is a new episode.
“Crime” turns into a complex psychological drama, raising questions of human values that concern everyone: loyalty and betrayal, cynicism and compassion, revenge and humility. One of the main questions that the film poses is whether the heroes will be able to save themselves and remain human?
Valeria in the series played the daughter of the capital's official Vitaly Rybakov, whose role was in turn played by Igor Kostolevsky.
In total, the actress has about forty diverse film works.
Actor career
During her student years, the Actress participated in the programs of the Theater Center on Kolomenskaya, from 2006 to 2007 she worked at the children's drama theater "On the Neva", and in the fall of 2011 Shkirando was accepted into the troupe of the Buff Theater in St. Petersburg, where the artist worked until 2013. Backstage: "Exchange." Blitz interview with Lera Shkirando The actress first appeared on the set in 2006: she got a cameo role in the 8th season of the popular TV series “Streets of Broken Lanterns.” By the way, 6 years later, Shkirando appeared again in this series (in season 11), but in the role of the young actress Anya Soboleva.
Valeria Shkirando on the stage of the theater
For a long time, Shkirando received episodic roles in various Russian and Ukrainian TV series, including “Road Patrol”, “Witness Protection”, “Secrets of the Investigation”, etc.
Until 2014, the actress played episodic roles in TV series
In 2013, they learned about the young actress thanks to the video of Sergei Shnurov’s group for the song “Bag”. The voice in the video belonged to Yulia Kogan, but the audience's attention was focused on the spectacular blonde Valeria. Leningrad – Bag (clip with Valeria Shkirando) Success in cinema came to the actress with the role of Princess Vera Neklyudova in the historical film “Battalion” (2014). To film the drama, Valeria, like Maria Aronova, Maria Kozhevnikova, Irina Rakhmanova, Yanina Malinchik and other actresses had to shave their heads. However, this is not the only case when Shkirando had to part with her hair: before participating in “Battalion”, the girl starred in an art-house film, where her heroine, dying of cancer, was shaved bald right in the frame. Vladimir Putin attended the premiere of the film and presented the actress with a bouquet of flowers.
“Battalion”: Valeria Shkirando with and without hair
After the release of the film, the actress began to receive many interesting job offers. Thus, Shkirando appeared in the series “Pregnancy Test” and played the main role in the mini-series “Exchange” (2014). The truly stellar role of the actress can be considered Kristina Romanova, the general producer of the Podolsk TV channel STK from the series “Molodezhka”.
In the photo: Valeria Shkirando
And in 2020, the actress was offered to star in the first domestic film about superheroes, “Defenders” - the girl played the role of Major Elena Latina, who led the mission of searching and recruiting a detachment of people with incredible abilities.
Valeria Shkirando in “The Defenders”
The actress also appeared in several commercials at different times and took part in the dubbing of the films Avatar and Strawberry Eggs.
Personal life
The actress is not married, although she has many fans. She, on the one hand, is very freedom-loving, and on the other, she approaches the issue of starting a family very responsibly. The artist believes that “family is a serious mutual work,” and does not rush things.
Lera lives separately from her parents, but she feels truly happy only in her home, where she and Lisa grew up in an atmosphere of love and mutual understanding. Despite the polarity of characters, the sisters are very friendly.
The artist shares: “My older sister Lisa is in many ways an example for me. She and I are wildly different, not similar either externally or internally, we work in different industries, and our lives are also completely different. But I very often listen to her opinion, “I censor myself as a sister.”
Movies
After graduating from theater school, Valeria Shkirando managed to work in several theaters in St. Petersburg. At first it was the “On the Neva” theater, it was replaced by “Rock Opera” and “Buff”. In 2013, the actress left the theater and focused on her film career.
The debut role of the aspiring actress on the screen is the image of Diana in the 8th season of the crime film “Streets of Broken Lanterns”. This was followed by a number of serial roles in the popular films “Witness Protection”, “Highway Patrol” and “Live First”.
In 2013, the actress starred in the video “Bag” by the Leningrad group. The video becomes a small film within a film: the video shows the process of creating a video with an eccentric actress who is constantly trying to influence the course of filming and change the props, actors and the course of the script.
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In 2020, Valeria Shkirando’s cinematic biography was enriched by the striking role of Alina in the melodrama “Pregnancy Test”.
Real fame came to Shkirando after the release of Dmitry Meskhiev’s military-dramatic film “Battalion”. This is a film about the heroic women's detachment created in Petrograd in 1917 by order of the Provisional Government. For the role in this film, the actress sacrificed her hair: Valeria was forced to shave her head.
As the artist admitted, at first she felt uncomfortable. Shkirando also admits that she would be happy to experiment with weight for her role in the film, as Renee Zellweger and Christian Bale did in their time (today it is still unknown what the actress’s weight is, fans only know that Valeria has a slim figure and height 170 cm).
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2015 is becoming a breakthrough year for the St. Petersburg actress. Her filmography is replenished with the melodrama “All This Jam,” the series “Shaman,” the saga “Family Album” and other projects.
Every year the actress’s repertoire expands, and new roles turn out to be more voluminous and significant. This concerns the melodrama “Foundlings,” in which Valeria played the main character, neonatologist Julia. Interestingly, during filming the performers had to deal with real baby artists.
Later, the artist’s collection included a dramatic role from the detective story “Crime,” starring Pavel Priluchny and Daria Moroz. Shkirando continued the criminal theme in the project “Missing. Second Wind”, where she played a lawyer.
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With great interest, the artist plunged into the imaginative world of the fantasy action film “The Defenders,” which was created along the lines of Hollywood superhero projects. But, unlike foreign blockbusters, the Russian film was about a squad of superheroes created in the USSR at the height of the Cold War.
2020 was a successful year for Lera in terms of her film career. The actress played the main role in the detective story “Duet by Right,” where she played together with Vera Shpak. Both heroines are involved in the investigation of complex crimes. The performer also appeared in the ensemble cast of the psychological drama “Sparta,” which was awarded the Golden Eagle Award.
Another high-profile project is the comedy series “Year of Culture,” in which Shkirando starred along with Alexander Yatsenko, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Alexander Lykov, Olga Medynich, and Maria Karpova. Valeria’s character is a strong woman who “carries” her alcoholic husband, son and elderly parents, while remaining an attractive person.
Interesting Facts:
- The actress took part in the filming of the video for the Leningrad group for the song “Bag”.
- He loves to cook and prefers French cuisine.
- Collects mitts. Valeria already has more than 50 pairs of various fingerless gloves.
- Among the actress's hobbies is traveling. She is literally in love with the Caucasus and dreams of traveling around the world.
- The artist has a four-legged “friend” of the Don Sphynx breed named Cat. Lera says: “In the morning, when she’s hungry, she takes a running jump on my face - and there’s no need for an alarm clock.”
Interview
About theater and cinema
“I really love theater as a process, as creativity, but I can’t stand it as an organization. I had experience working in different theaters, but I understand that at the moment this is not the place where I would like to be. I love the stage, the process of search and discovery. And, of course, “rehearsal is my love,” but the theater, it seems to me, often turns this process into a conveyor belt, a routine.
As for the filming process, this is a completely different story, a completely different art, a theater actor and a film actor are generally two different professions. In some countries they are even taught in different faculties.”
About the roles
“With every new character you encounter some obstacles and questions. There are roles that are difficult to perform purely physically. There are roles that are psychologically difficult to play. It can be difficult to understand a character's motivation."
“It’s very interesting to play negative characters, because you don’t just have to play a villain, but understand why he became like that, what his truth is, his essence. We consider him a villain, but for himself he is not a villain. He understands why he does this. This is also the actor’s task - to justify. You're like your character's lawyer. Well, I love negative roles, I really do. Maybe because in life I am a different person, sometimes I want this..."
About the profession
“For an artist it’s bad not to work, everything else is good. Any work: theater, cinema, and TV series is an opportunity to grow and develop, to work on oneself, to speak out, to discover and learn something. It is important to take a responsible approach to the choice of material, to understand why you are taking on this or that work.”
“The most important thing is to work hard and not feel sorry for yourself. If you are ready to work twenty-four hours a day for pennies for the sake of your profession, there is a chance that the profession will reciprocate your feelings and bring you both income and emotional return.”
“Any work for an artist is, first of all, an opportunity for professional growth. An artist without practice, who ignores work in TV series, theatre, plays and some other projects, simply loses his form.”
“I love working with good directors. The more diverse the things I act in, the happier I will be. I really love both comedies and dramas... In general, I’m interested in everything, and I’m ready for any experiments and proposals.”
About your favorite artists
Valeria admitted that her favorite actresses are Svetlana Kryuchkova and Frances McDormand: “For me they are ideal. Svetlana Kryuchkova is amazing and incredible, at any age and in any condition she is harmonious and beautiful. And I love Frances McDormand for her charisma, individuality, charm, sense of humor, and the power of self-irony.”
About hobby
“I have a hobby – badminton. This is both fitness and cardio exercise. Badminton is not as difficult as tennis, where you have to constantly be on your toes - this sport is more about play than work.”
About myself and rest
“A great way to relax is books and meeting friends.”
“I love the sea, but I never get into the water; I’d rather drink a cocktail in a cool place. I don’t suffer from the heat, my scourge is the cold. I love massage – all the negativity goes away.”
“I’m much more interested in exploring the world rather than lying on the beach.”
“Life is so short, and we waste time on nonsense. I just need the perfect jeans, a warm sweater, a white T-shirt, a backpack, sneakers and a credit card to travel and enjoy life.”
Valeria Shkirando - biography
Valeria Shkirando is a Russian actress who began actively acting in 2013. In a short time she managed to become famous. The actress began to be recognized after the release of the films “Battalion” and “Pregnancy Test”.
Childhood and youth
Valeria Shkirando was born in St. Petersburg on November 21, 1988. Her parents were not connected with the world of art, but Lera herself dreamed of becoming an actress from an early age. She believed that even an unusual surname, where the emphasis should be placed on the last syllable, would help her become a famous artist. There were two girls in the family - Lera and Lisa, and already at a tender age they differed sharply from each other in character and behavior. Lizochka, born two years earlier, was called a real angel by her parents; she was a calm and obedient girl. Lera often upset her parents with her behavior; this lively and daring little girl was incredibly active and mobile.
Valeria Shkirando
Lera’s studies were not going well; exact sciences were especially difficult for her. At the same time, school teachers did not skimp on good grades for Lera; they knew for sure that she was a future actress. The schoolgirl did not hesitate to show her undoubted artistry; it was visible to the naked eye. In addition, she was found to have good hearing and a wonderful voice. Lera enrolled in a theater club and attended music school. In high school, Shkirando performed at school discos to the accompaniment of her own rock band.
After finishing tenth grade, a bright, active girl goes to Moscow. She easily enters GITIS. But Valeria didn’t really like life in the capital; she returned to St. Petersburg and transferred to the local theater academy. In her hometown, Lera decided to receive the prestigious specialty of “musical theater artist.”
Movies
The young actress, who graduated from a theater university, began working in theaters in the northern capital. She served in the theater "On the Neva", in the "Rock Opera", in "Buffa". In 2013, the actress decided to end her theater career and focus entirely on cinema. She already had little experience; Lera was very young when she was invited to star in the film “Streets of Broken Lanterns” (2006). She worked in one of the episodes of the 8th season of this popular film. After that, she starred in several more TV series - in the film “Witness Protection”, “Live First”, “Highway Patrol”.
Valeria Shkirando in the video “Bag”
In 2013, Valeria was offered to star in the “Bag” video for the Leningrad group. This clip became a tiny movie within a movie. This video was the process of filming a video with a capricious, bitchy actress. This eccentric person constantly tried to influence the course of filming; she did not like the actors, the props, and the script itself. Two years later, Valeria was offered to star in the film “Pregnancy Test”. The actress was entrusted with playing the bright role of Alina here. The film was first shown on Channel One, and after that the young actress began to be recognized on the street.
Lera's real fame came from her work in the film “Battalion” by Dmitry Meskhiev. This is a historical film about a detachment of female suicide bombers, which was created by order of the Provisional Government. To play a role in this film, the actress had to shave her head. Viewers remember that shot in the film where the heroine gets her hair cut. But in fact, everything was not like that - at that moment the wig was being cut.
Filmography: Actress
- Duet by Right (2018), TV series
- The Legend of Kolovrat (2017)
- Secret City 3 (2017), TV series
- Mixed Up (2017)
- Father's Shore (2017), TV series
- Ray (2017), TV series
- Sparta (2017), TV series
- Missing. Second Wind (2017), TV series
- Crime (2017), TV series
- Defenders (2017)
- Foundlings (2016), TV series
- Roof of the World (2016), TV series
- Diggers (2016)
- Such Work (2015), TV series
- Family Album (2015), TV series
- Sea Devils. Smerch -2 (2015), TV series
- Molodezhka (2015), TV series
- Londongrad. Know ours! (2015)
- Woman in Trouble 2 (2015), mini-series
- Challenge (2015)
- All This Jam (2015)
- Shamanka (2015), TV series
- Pregnancy test (2014), TV series
- Trail of the Piranha (2014), mini-series
- The Exchange (2014), mini-series
- Beauty and the Beast (2014)
- Battalion (2014)
- All the Treasures of the World (2014), TV series
- Alien District-3 (2013), TV series
- Team (2013), TV series
- Tail (2012), TV series
- Culinary (2012), TV series
- Streets of Broken Lanterns-11 (2011), TV series
- Secrets of investigation-10 (2011), TV series
- Drug Trafficking (2011), TV series
- Witness protection (2011), TV series
- Highway Patrol – 10 (2011), TV series
- Did you call the doctor? (2011)
- Interrogator (2010), TV series
- Live first (2009), TV series
- Streets of Broken Lanterns-8 (2006), TV series
First successes
By the time she graduated from school, Valeria Shkirando had already firmly decided to connect her life with cinema and theater. The talented girl was gladly accepted into GITIS, but she never graduated from this university. Longing for his hometown forced the future star to transfer to the St. Petersburg Theater Academy.
Having received her diploma, the aspiring actress joined the creative team of the Theater on the Neva, then collaborated for some time with Buff and Rock Opera. As a result, she decided to focus on her film career, and this choice paid off.
Valeria Shkirando made her debut in the series “Street of Broken Lanterns.” She appeared in one of the episodes of the eighth season in the role of the episodic heroine Diana. Then the actress starred in the TV series “Witness Protection”, “Live First”, “Highway Patrol”. For the first time, the television project “Pregnancy Test” helped her to make herself known. In this melodrama, Valeria embodied the image of the extraordinary girl Alina.
