Childhood and youth
Andrei Rudensky was born into the family of a military man and a commercial worker in January 1959. In Sverdlovsk, where the family lived, Andrei graduated from school. Even then, the guy had the idea of trying to enter a theater university.
However, her parents, as they say, “killed” her in the very bud. They were convinced that acting was an extremely frivolous activity that could not even be called a profession. Therefore, Rudensky went to enroll in the local metallurgical technical school, from which he graduated with honors. His specialty was “rolling production.”
I remembered something...
Published by Andrei Rudensky Friday, December 28, 2012
Andrei Rudensky in his youth
During his studies, Rudensky began attending a drama club. He was so carried away by acting on stage that he decided to continue his studies for the opportunity to continue to appear on the stage of the theater.
Andrei Rudensky, having entered the architectural institute, spent almost all his free time playing in improvised performances at the theater studio at the Sverdlovsk Youth Palace. His repertoire was complex - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ray Bradbury. With each performance, the theater attracted the young artist more and more.
Everything was decided when the capital’s Maly Theater arrived in Sverdlovsk on tour. Together with the troupe, the director and mentor of the Shchepkinsky School, Viktor Korshunov, came to the city. Rudensky dared to approach the master and ask to listen to him. He agreed and immediately invited the young man to come to Moscow, where he would be enrolled in the 2nd year of “Sliver”. So in 1981, the biography of Andrei Rudensky took a sharp turn.
Studying at Sliver
While studying at the Sverdlovsk Architectural Institute, the young man spent most of his time in the theater studio that worked at the Youth Palace, often neglecting couples for this. Actor Andrei Rudensky actively played in amateur productions; the plots of the performances with his participation were taken from the works of Dostoevsky, Bradbury, and Sartre.
Once, the troupe of the capital’s Maly Theater visited Sverdlovsk, including director Viktor Korshunov. Andrei, plucking up courage, asked the celebrity to listen to him. Korshunov considered the young man talented and agreed to assist in his admission to the 2nd year of the Shchepkinsky School without exams. Of course, Rudensky took advantage of this unique opportunity and decided to move to Moscow.
He studied at Shchepka until 1984; his classmates were many future stars of Russian cinema, for example, Valyushkina, Kozakov, Domogarov.
Personal life
There were three marriages in the life of the popular artist. All of Rudensky’s chosen ones had nothing to do with the world of theater and cinema. Neither Andrei Rudensky nor his ex-wives say why these unions fell apart. Divorces have never been accompanied by loud scandals or mutual accusations. The actor also did not have time to have children.
According to the celebrity, it is difficult for him to communicate with a business woman. In the fast pace of life, it is difficult for a woman to maintain the charm that Andrei so values in representatives of the opposite sex. In his chosen one, he is attracted by the combination of intelligence and beauty.
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At his age, he is still waiting for that one woman who will be even remotely like his mother. Therefore, the personal life of Andrei Rudensky is the subject of close media attention. Each of his companions attracts great interest, because she can become the soul mate that the artist has been looking for for a long time. Andrey Viktorovich does not maintain a personal page on Instagram, so his photos are posted mainly on the accounts of friends and colleagues.
At one time, news was spreading about the artist’s unconventional orientation. The Russian screen star Oleg Menshikov was credited as his chosen one, but the actors themselves did not comment on such speculation. Andrei’s fans also found his hobbies unusual: the man loves to cook gourmet dishes, and he also grows orchids at home. In his youth, Rudensky often sewed his own clothes.
Theater and films
On the course of Viktor Korshunov, where such future stars of Russian cinema as Alexander Domogarov, Elena Valyushkina and Kirill Kozakov studied, Andrei Rudensky learned the basics of the craft until 1984.
Despite his obvious talent and academic success (the student was paid an increased scholarship), after “Sliver” Andrei was not expected anywhere. For some reason, his external characteristics (with a height of 193 cm, weight is 80 kg) scared off the theater management - he was recommended to go act in advertising or work as a model.
After poking around the capital's theaters, Rudensky eventually did just that: he got a job as a model for Vyacheslav Zaitsev. It’s not that the actor liked this work, but he still benefited from it. The future artist got used to the camera lens, learned to master facial expressions and play the desired state of mind without words.
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Andrei Rudensky and his roles
The cinematic biography of Andrei Rudensky began when he was 26 years old. The debut role was offered by Lenfilm director Viktor Titov, who undertook to film the 14-episode film “The Life of Klim Samgin.” It is noteworthy that Titov consciously took a risk: he gave the main role to a little-known artist. He even had to overcome the resistance of Goskino, where they were extremely wary of this choice of director.
Filming started in 1985. The role seemed bright to Rudensky, because he had to play a person between 17 and 40 years old. In addition, Samghin is a complex hero. Initially, it was impossible to understand whether it was positive or negative.
The film was released and made Andrei Rudensky recognizable. And it’s not just that the film had a star cast. Valentin Gaft, Alexander Kalyagin, Natalya Gundareva and Sergei Makovetsky appeared here. Rudensky coped with the image, and the film received positive reviews. However, after the role of Samgin, which became the artist’s calling card, they were in no hurry to offer him new roles.
Only the beginning of the 90s brought good news to Andrei Rudensky. He starred in the film “The Sea Wolf”, where he played Humphrey Van Weyden. Then the artist appeared in the TV series “Demons” based on Dostoevsky’s novel of the same name, where Igor Talankin invited him to play the role of Stavrogin.
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Andrei Rudensky in the film “Sultan of My Heart”
After filming this film, the actor’s career again took a long break. Due to the crisis that Russian cinema was experiencing, Andrei Rudensky was unclaimed for 7 years. He was saved by the New Drama Theater, on the stage of which the actor played romantic heroes.
The bright streak began when the artist received an unexpected offer from Krzysztof Zanussi. He invited Rudensky to star in the project “Brother of Our God.” Andrei Viktorovich’s colleagues from seven countries played in this film.
And only after this premiere Rudensky began filming regularly in his homeland. By that time, the crisis in cinema was over. Directors began producing serials en masse, which were very popular among Russian viewers.
Andrei Rudensky, who always wanted to play characters from Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, willingly agreed to play in the series. And it’s not that he was afraid of remaining unclaimed, he was just sure: he could play well in melodrama.
The first series with the participation of Andrei Rudensky was called “Stop on Demand.” His hero Sergei Klenin, although a prosperous businessman, is also an intellectual and an aristocrat. However, the latter quality was automatically projected onto Rudensky’s heroes.
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Fencing lesson with actor Andrei Rudensky
Then there were “Maroseyka, 12”, “Kamenskaya”, “A Free Woman”, “Time to Love”, “Turkish Gambit” and a great many other popular series that made Rudensky a real star of Russian cinema. As a rule, his heroes are negative characters.
Although lately they have become more and more romantic. In the melodramas “Under the Sign of the Virgin” and “Stepfather,” Andrei’s heroes are positive, suffering and courageous. The audience liked Father Pavel performed by the artist in the series “Special Purpose Prison.” The range of images into which the artist transforms is expanding, just as Rudensky dreamed.
In 2020, the premiere of the film “Provocateur” took place, where Rudensky appeared in the title role. In the biographical drama "Sorge" he played SS officer Eigen Ott. Further, the artist’s filmography was replenished with works in the projects “Hunting the Devil” and “He Who Reads Minds.” In the series “Sultan of My Heart,” Andrei Viktorovich embodied the image of the main character’s father on the screen.
Biography
Rudensky was born on January 26, 1959 in the capital of the Urals - Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).
His father was a military man, and his mother worked in trade. Andrei was an ordinary child, everything was like everyone else: kindergarten, school. Having received a certificate, the future actor was thinking about entering the theater, but his parents were categorically against it. The young man had to go to study at a metallurgical college. He graduated with honors with a degree in rolling production. It’s hard to imagine that Andrei, having such an aristocratic appearance, could work at a factory.
Already while studying in college, he began attending a theater group. It was then that theater and acting captivated the young Rudensky . After graduating from college, Andrey enters the architectural institute.
He spent all his free time in the theater studio, which belonged to the City Youth Palace. Rehearsals and performances. Each new role convinced the young man more and more that acting was his calling .
Andrei's life changed dramatically after the Maly Theater arrived in their city . The team of the capital’s site toured the Russian regions together with their artistic director, and part-time teacher of the Shchepkinsky School, Viktor Korshunov.
Rudensky could not miss such a chance, and asked the theater master to listen to him. Korshunov was amazed by the young man’s performance and invited him to study at Shchepka , enrolling him immediately in the second year of a theater university. In 1981, the aspiring actor went to Moscow to study.
Andrey's classmates were Alexander Domogarov, Elena Valyushkina, Kirill Kozakov. During his studies, the future actor gave his all , even receiving an increased scholarship.
After graduating from the Shchepkinsky School in 1984, the certified artist could not get a job in the theater . The directors of the theater stage were embarrassed by his model appearance and beauty. Many of them advised him to become a model or act in commercials.
Having received several job refusals, the actor gets a job as a model for Vyacheslav Zaitsev. It was here that he got used to camera lenses and honed his facial expression skills.
He first appeared in films at the age of 26. The director of Lenfilm, Viktor Titov, decided to shoot a multi-part film “The Life of Klim Smagin” . He deliberately gave the role of the main character to the young and unknown actor Andrei Rudensky . The latter agreed without hesitation.
The actor’s colleagues in this project were Valentin Gaft, Sergei Makovetsky, Alexander Kalyagin and Natalya Gundareva. After the release of the film, Andrei became recognizable , and he did his job perfectly, brilliantly playing the image of the main character. The film received positive reviews. There was recognition, but no new job offers.
The actor began acting in films again in the early 90s . The films “The Sea Wolf” and “Demons” interrupted a long period of lack of demand. But not for long.
After the filming of “Demons,” Russian cinema began to experience difficult times. Rudensky is not invited anywhere, all that remains is work at the New Drama Theater , where the actor plays romantic heroes.
Seven years later, the actor receives an unexpected invitation from Krzysztof Zanussi , who invites him to star in the film “Brother of Our God.” Only after this work, his film career in Russia begins to gain momentum.
The crisis in Russian cinema was over, and the cinema needed new actors. The series were in great demand among viewers. Of course, the actor dreamed of playing complex roles based on the characters of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky , but he also liked working in TV series no less.
“Stop on Demand” was Rudensky’s first work in TV series. The actor played the role of an intelligent and successful businessman Sergei Klenin. This was followed by the projects “Maroseyka 12”, “Kamenskaya”, “Time to Love”, “Turkish Gambit” and many other television series loved by viewers. It was the series that brought Andrey national love and fame .
In most cases, the artist plays negative characters. Recently, Rudensky's characters have become more romantic, courageous and wise . Vivid examples of melodrama are “Under the Sign of the Virgin,” “Stepfather” and “Special Purpose Prison.” The actor is constantly developing in his skills, expanding the diversity of his images.
The actor’s personal life is under the close attention of journalists. After all, at the moment, the man is free.
He was married three times. All the spouses had nothing to do with stage and cinema. Family life, for some reason, didn’t work out for either of them . The actor has no children.
Meanwhile, Andrey absolutely loves growing flowers, cooks, and even sews. She enjoys designing her own apartment . And yet he hopes to meet his soulmate.
Andrey Rudensky now
In 2020, with the participation of Andrei Rudensky, the war film “Black Sea” was being prepared for release, in which the actor again tried on the jacket of a Wehrmacht officer. He presented another image in 2020 in the fantastic project “Draft”. His partners in the film were Nikita Volkov, Evgeniy Tkachuk, Olga Borovskaya, Severiya Janusauskaite, Evgeniy Tsyganov.
Filmography
- 1987 – “The Life of Klim Samgin”
- 1994 – “Roman alla russa”
- 2003 – “Another Life”
- 2003 – “Cavaliers of the Starfish”
- 2006 – “Cool Games”
- 2006 – “Special Purpose Prison”
- 2009 – “Life is getting better”
- 2010 – “Everything for you”
- 2010 – “Hide and Seek”
- 2011 – “Retribution”
- 2013 – “Beautiful to Death”
- 2017 – “Ghouls”
- 2017 – “Sorge”
- 2017 – “Hunting the Devil”
- 2018 – “Embassy”
- 2018 – “Sultan of my heart”
Frame by frame
“The Life of Klim Samgin” - this series of perestroika times introduced the world to film actor Andrei Rudensky. The 26-year-old unknown actor was brought to the main role through the thorns of the censors by Leningrad director Viktor Titov.
Over the course of 14 episodes, the hero lived his life from 17 to 40 years. The actor coped brilliantly with his debut task and forever became recognizable in the world of cinema.
They say that after this debut television project, Andrei’s parents finally came to terms with his choice and recognized their son’s talent in acting.
Moreover, his mother admitted that in her youth she herself dreamed of becoming an actress, but, unlike her son, she herself did not have the courage to go against the will of her parents.
Still from the film “The Sea Wolf”
But his spectacular appearance again played a cruel joke on the actor: now everyone recognized him, but no one was still eager to take him on.
The ice broke only in the early 90s. Humphrey Van Weyden in the film “The Sea Wolf”, Stavrogin in “The Possessed” - it would seem that the roles went, success came. But the crisis of the 90s happened, and cinema plunged into oblivion for seven years, along with the actor who just straightened his shoulders.
The whole country had to survive during that period. Andrei Rudensky survived as an actor with romantic roles in the new drama theater of the capital.
The white streak began on the third attempt, but they managed to not only catch it, but also win it over for decades.
The project “Brother of Our God”, the film “Wolfhound of the Gray Dogs” and a whole series of television serial projects and films:
- Kamenskaya;
- Maroseyka, 12;
- Turkish gambit;
- Free wife;
- Catherine. Takeoff.;
- The Empire is under attack;
- Special purpose prison;
- Under the sign of Virgo;
- Stepfather;
- Novel in Russian style;
- Another life;
- Tango for three;
- Prediction;
- Retribution;
- Ghouls;
- Beautiful to death;
- Cool games;
- Provocateur;
- Life is getting better;
- Anything for you;
- Hide and seek;
- Yesenin;
- Cell;
- Lord of the Puddles.
Still from the series “Stop on Demand”
And the first of the series was “Stop on Demand.” The love square performed by Dmitry Pevtsov, Olga Drozdova, Andrei Rudensky and Anna Bolshova impressed the country so much that the creators had to film the second season of the series due to the aspirations of viewers who flooded the director with requests. Businessman Sergei Klenin, one of the main characters of the film, was performed by Andrei with brilliance, intelligence and notes of aristocracy.
Many will say that acting in soaps is the lot of unlucky actors, but Rudensky has a different opinion: to play well in a melodrama, to make the viewer believe you - isn’t this the skill of impersonation.
And if previously the bulk of Andrei’s roles were negative handsome men, in recent years he has been trusted with more complex and multifaceted characters.
In total, the actor has more than 70 films, TV series and television projects in his arsenal.
