Olga Kurylenko

Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko (born 14 November 1979) was born on 14 November 1979 in Berdyansk, a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Her father, Konstantin Kurylenko, is Ukrainian. Her mother, Marina Alyabusheva, teaches art and is an exhibited artist. Marina's father was a Russian factory worker, and her mother, Raisa, was a Belarusian doctor. Kurylenko's parents divorced when she was three years old. Growing up poor, she lived in a small house with her maternal grandparents, Marina and their relatives. Kurylenko rarely had contact with Konstantin, meeting him for the first time after the split at the age of eight and later at the age of thirteen.

Career

Kurylenko moved to Moscow at age 15. At age 16, she moved to Paris. In 1996, Kurylenko signed a contract with the Paris-based Madison modelling agency where she met her publicist Valérie Rosen. The following year, by the age of 18, she had appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle magazines. While working as a model in Paris, Kurylenko supported her mother in Ukraine.

She also appeared on the covers of Madame Figaro and Marie Claire magazines. She became the face of brands Bebe, Clarins, and Helena Rubinstein. and appeared in the Victoria's Secret catalogue. In 1998, she features in the music video of French Raï style singer Faudel called "Tellement Je T'aime".

One of her first acting appearances was in Seal's music video "Love's Divine" in 2003, but her film career truly began in France in 2004 when she shot her first feature film, The Ring Finger, for which she received the certificate of excellence award at the 2006 Brooklyn International Film Festival for her performance. She next starred in the Paris, je t'aime (2006) segment opposite Elijah Wood. That same year, she was selected to be the face of Kenzo's new fragrance, Kenzo Amour. She has appeared in all subsequent Kenzo Amour advertisements.

Kurylenko quit modelling in 2006, after more than ten years of working in the industry, and moved on to acting. In the film she plays the role of Bolivian Secret Service agent Camille Montes, who teams up with Bond to stop a terrorist organization and avenge the death of her parents. Russian politician Sergey Malinkovich wrote an open letter to Kurylenko. In it he said: "In the name of all communists we appeal to you ... deserter of Slavic world. The Soviet Union gave you free education, free medical care but nobody knew you would commit an act of intellectual and moral betrayal and become a movie girl of Bond, who in his movies kills hundreds of Soviet people and citizens of other socialist countries." and on the cover of the February 2009 issue of the Ukrainian edition of Maxim. In Ukraine the mayor of Berdyansk suggested naming a street after her in early 2008, and she and her mother met Ukraine's First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko in President Victor Yushchenko's family country house. She also appeared in Oblivion, a science fiction film starring Tom Cruise and directed by Joseph Kosinski. Kurylenko played Alice Fournier in the spy thriller November Man. In 2014, Kurylenko starred in the historical drama film The Water Diviner alongside Russell Crowe (who made his directorial debut), Jacqueline McKenzie and Jai Courtney. She also played the headmistress in Vampire Academy. She later acted in films such as Momentum, Mara and The Bay of Silence.

In 2017, she appeared in Armando Iannucci's political satire film The Death of Stalin as the Soviet pianist Maria Yudina. The film was a critical success and starred Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, and Jeffrey Tambor. The following year she starred in Terry Gilliam's epic adventure film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce where it premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. She also appeared as Baroness Roxane de Giverny in The Emperor of Paris, and as the Russian spy in the Rowan Atkinson led comedy film Johnny English Strikes Again (2018).

In 2021, she starred in the action thriller film Sentinelle. In the same year, she played Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow. In October, she was cast in comedy heist film High Heat alongside Don Johnson.

Personal life Kurylenko acquired French citizenship in 2001, which she called "a practical decision" because it was easier to travel with a French passport without a visa, as opposed to travelling with a Ukrainian passport. In 2006, Kurylenko married American mobile phone accessory entrepreneur Damian Gabrielle, whom she divorced the next year. She moved to London in 2009. Kurylenko has a son

Filmography Film

Television

Video game Year Title Role NotesRef. 2008 007: Quantum of Solace Camille Montes (voice)

Awards and nominations + List of Olga Kurylenko award nominations and awards won Year Awards Category Recipient ResultRef. 2005 Brooklyn International Film Festival Best Actress The Ring Finger 2008 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actress Quantum of Solace 2009 Empire Awards Best Actress Quantum of Solace 2012 Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Cast Seven Psychopaths 2012 San Diego Film Critics Society Award Best Performance by an Ensemble Seven Psychopaths