Childhood and early years
The future artist was born in the Russian capital on September 8, 1971. His father, Georgy Epifantsev, was a famous film and theater actor who starred in the films “Foma Gordeev” (1959), “Gloomy River” (1969) and “Don’t Part With Your Loved Ones” (1979). Vladimir’s mother, Tatyana Epifantseva, was educated as an economist, but also came to art, becoming a decorative artist.
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Publication from Vladimir Epifantsev (@vse_o_genii) April 1, 2020 at 10:55 PDT
The boy's acquaintance with the theater occurred at the age of 3, when his father brought him to his native Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov, which became a second home for the artist. It was thanks to his parents that Vladimir joined the theater stage, largely drawing energy from his creative family.
Epifantsev grew up in an elevated atmosphere, which was not entirely natural for the Tushino district in north-west Moscow, in which he spent his youth. Volodya grew up restless and bully, loved Russian rock and for some time was even “shaggy.” Harmless pranks sometimes crossed reasonable boundaries and the guy ended up in the children's room of the police.
But he soon realized that if he continued to idle, he would go downhill, and his life would not end well. Then he tried to focus on sports and studies.
After graduating from secondary school, Vladimir went to a school for working youth, after which he worked for 2 years at a factory. During this time, he realized that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his parents and connect his life with a creative profession.
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Publication from Vladimir Epifantsev (@vse_o_genii) March 12, 2020 at 2:16 PDT
Let the path to fame turn out to be not so easy. Epifantsev decided to enter the Moscow Art Theater School, but did not pass the selection: largely due to the reputation of his father, who was not favored in the theatrical community for being too innovative.
He did not give up and submitted documents to the B.V. Shchukin Theater School, passed the competition and ended up in the workshop of actor Vladimir Ivanov. From the very beginning, the student tried to demonstrate an original approach to acting, which, however, was not very much appreciated by the teachers. Disillusioned with the educational system, he envied the stage experiments of his foreign colleagues.
After studying to become an actor and receiving a diploma in 1994, Epifantsev decided to continue his education and entered GITIS in the directing department of Pyotr Fomenko.
The beginning of a creative journey
In parallel with his studies at GITIS, Vladimir organized his own theater project “Prok-theater”. Limited on funds, he used the abandoned premises of an abandoned factory as a creative base. Thanks to his education as a director, Epifantsev approached the production of his first projects with professionalism and responsibility.
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Publication from Vladimir Epifantsev (@vse_o_genii) March 9, 2020 at 4:56 PST
In 1994, the premiere of the play “Jesus Wept”, inspired by the paintings of Adrian Brouwer, took place, and soon the production of “The Plague Ball” based on the works of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was born. Later, Vladimir staged four more performances, including Romeo and Juliet.
It is interesting that Epifantsev acted not only as a director, but also always played the main roles in his productions. It is not for nothing that he is recognized as one of the most original directors of modern theater: Vladimir’s works have always been innovative and extraordinary, and therefore easily captivated audiences, especially connoisseurs of avant-garde art.
Vladimir Epifantsev's wife - Yulia Stebunova
Despite the fact that the famous artist never suffered from a lack of female attention, his first love overtook him when he returned from the army. Epifantsev’s chosen one was a colleague. With her he played roles in Romeo and Juliet. Surprisingly, the lovers got married a few days after the start of the relationship.
But this marriage did not last long. According to the actor, the reason for the breakup was youthful impulsiveness, which led to scandals. The marriage broke up a year later.
At the same time, Vladimir Epifantsev’s wife, Yulia Stebunova, does not refuse to work together with her ex-husband.
Questionable success on television
Having succeeded on the theatrical stage, Epifantsev decided to go on television, because there, in the harsh 90s, you could earn much more than performing on stage.
In 1997, he founded the television show “Drema,” which he hosted together with Anfisa Chekhova. As planned, the program introduced viewers to avant-garde novelties from the world of music, but soon the program turned into a psychedelic art performance: in between clips, Vladimir and Anfisa performed small skits.
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Ambitious projects did not find support from channel producers and ordinary viewers. On TV-6, the “Deconstructor” program lasted a whole year before it was closed; later Epifantsev took part in the filming of the programs “Muzoboz” and “Cultivator”, but due to his extraordinary views he did not find understanding with the management and was forced to leave projects.
Big screen appearances
In 1999, Vladimir starred in the arch-house film “The Green Elephant,” which still remains one of the most famous films with his participation. The project received extremely negative reviews from critics and was forgotten for some time until it gained popularity among Internet users in the late 2000s.
The leading actor himself denied participation for a long time, declaring that he got to filming literally by accident. Allegedly, he succumbed to the long persuasion of director Svetlana Baskova, and first agreed to act in the film. He was not happy with the result and even missed the premiere show. Nevertheless, among fans of the avant-garde, “The Green Elephant” has become a cult piece and is still popular today.
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Posted by Vladimir Epifantsev (@vse_o_genii) Oct 8, 2020 at 4:45 PDT
Epifantsev’s real popularity came with the premiere of the film “Lucky,” released in 2006. He played the role of the main character Vadim Uporov, exiled to the Gulag following a denunciation. A year later, he appeared as the director of a funeral agency in the black comedy “I’m Staying.”
In 2010, the multi-part film “Gangs” was released, where he again played the leading role. He developed the role of a person disappointed in life, so this time the artist got the character of a military man who decided to go into the criminal world.
A new round of fame began after filming in the Russian adaptation of the successful American series “Escape.” The show was warmly received by viewers, although it was not original, so the project was renewed for a second season.
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Publication from Vladimir Epifantsev (@vse_o_genii) March 17, 2020 at 12:12 PDT
The film adaptation of the famous novel “Generation P” by Victor Pelevin took a long time to reach the viewer: the filming process lasted for five years, which became a difficult test for the entire team.
For some time, Vladimir was ready to leave the project, but he found the strength to stay and did not regret it: the role of copywriter Vavilen brought him incredible popularity, and the work of the director and actors was warmly received by critics.
Filmography of actor Vladimir Epifantsev. Films starring him
From early childhood, the future actor appeared on the theater stage. When the boy was six years old, he was invited to play an extra in a play - he certainly agreed.
Of course, many readers are interested in the filmography of actor Vladimir Epifantsev. Films starring him will appeal, first of all, to those viewers who love non-standard directions in the art of cinema.
Vladimir Epifantsev’s debut as an actor can be considered “The Green Elephant,” filmed in 1999. Despite the fact that critics gave the film low ratings, it is still popular, especially among young people.
The next film is the series “Border. Taiga Roman. Here, Vladimir got the role of a man from the zone. It is noteworthy that after this, he often got “negative” roles. The actor had these in the films Antikiller 2 and Assassination.
After 2006, the filmography of Vladimir Epifantsev began to improve quantitatively and qualitatively. The actor got leading roles more and more often. For example, the movie “Lucky” brought him popularity among the general public. 4 years later, another series was released, where Epifantsev got the central character - “Gangs”. At the same time, “Escape” appears on television screens - a fairly well-known series among Russian viewers, which received various reviews from critics. In general, three seasons of this film were planned, but after the release of two, filming came to a grinding halt.
“Generation P” was filmed over the course of five years, where our hero again gets the main character. Several times, Vladimir wanted to refuse to participate in the project, but he decided to go to the end and not in vain - he received another wave of popularity. To date, Epifantsev has more than fifty roles in various films.
2008 turned out to be a difficult year for the actor. The whole point is that she filed a lawsuit in the name of Vladimir, based on the fact that he does not fulfill the agreed conditions. As he himself stated, he is not going to film in bad conditions. The film company won the case, and Epifantsev was forced to compensate for the damage caused - almost a million rubles. To pay such a penalty, the actor urgently sold his car and living space.
Personal life of Vladimir Epifantsev
The actor struck up an acquaintance with his future wife within the walls of the Shchukin School. Vladimir Epifantsev and his future wife Anastasia Vedenskaya quickly fell in love with each other and began dating.
The actor proposed to the girl when she was already late in pregnancy: he wanted the child to grow up in a legal marriage. They got married in 2004, and a couple of months later their first son was born, who was given the name Gordey. Four years later, a second boy was born, named Orpheus. The christening took place in the Church of Sophia of the Wisdom of God, and the scandalous actor Ivan Okhlobystin became the godfather.
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In family life, everything was not very smooth: after a series of scandals in 2020, the couple separated. They accused each other of infidelity, exposing details of their personal lives to public discussion. Anastasia quickly found someone else: Dmitry Tashkin, a participant in the “Dancing with the Stars” project, became her chosen one. And Vladimir himself became interested in a certain Yulia Semenova.
The ex-wife of Vladimir Epifantsev constantly wanted attention and romance, which he was unable to give her due to his hard work. Now the actor believes that she will finally get what she wanted for so long. Surprisingly, the former spouses never formalized their divorce.
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Anastasia demands money from her ex-husband for her sons; in addition, Epifantsev rents luxury housing for her and her lover. The couple’s relationship may seem complicated to ordinary people: Vedenskaya does not want a divorce and allows the children to communicate with their father, who lives with another woman.
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Publication from Vladimir Epifantsev (@vladimirepifantsev69) May 21, 2018 at 5:37 PDT
Now the 48-year-old actor lives with his young mistress. The new chosen one is the girl Julia, who is far from show business. The couple is not shy about showing their feelings for each other in public and share provocative photographs on their blogs.
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Posted by Vladimir Epifantsev (@vladimirepifantsev69) Sep 8, 2018 at 6:39 PDT
Many people are alarmed by Epifantsev’s behavior, but he has always been a real eccentric, so there is no need to worry about his mental health. In terms of his level of love for outrageousness, he can be compared with another famous freak, with whom he, by the way, is friends - Nikita Dzhigurda.
Vladimir Epifantsev is divorcing his wife on her initiative
It is worth noting that the artist Vedenskaya, as it turned out, had long intended to leave her husband and start a new life, but Vladimir constantly delayed the dissolution of the marriage. But at the end of September, the actors were still able to come to an agreement to file for divorce. The married couple also came to an agreement regarding the further education of their common children. It has been established that Anastasia and Vladimir have two sons: Orpheus (9 years old) and Gordey (13 years old).
The trial was scheduled to take place on October 18. However, at that time both actors were filming and were unable to appear in court for the divorce proceedings. Be that as it may, they will still be divorced. After a month, the spouses only have to come to court and pick up the approved divorce deed. After the divorce process is completed, Anastasia is going to buy a house in the Moscow region and move there with her children. Currently, the girl is preparing documents to receive a loan.
