Rade Šerbedžija

Rade Šerbedžija (born 27 July 1946) is a Yugoslav and Croatian actor, director and musician. He started in theatre, and became one of the best known Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s, for his stage and film portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law.

Of Serbian descent, during the breakup of Yugoslavia he moved abroad, where he became internationally known for his role as Boris the Blade in Snatch (2000) and his supporting roles in such Hollywood films as The Saint (1997), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Batman Begins (2005), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), etc. He also had a recurring role in season 6 of TV action series 24.

Šerbedžija is a four-time recipient of the Golden Arena for Best Actor, Croatia's highest filmmaking honors. He won the Critics Award for Best Actor at the 51st Venice International Film Festival for his performance in Before the Rain (1994). He also received the International Press Academy’s Mary Pickford Award, an honorary recognition “for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry” in 2019.

Early life Rade Šerbedžija was born on 27 July 1946 in the village of Bunić in the Lika region of Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia. His parents were ethnic Serbs who fought in the Second World War as Partisans. Šerbedžija was raised as an atheist.

Career

In Yugoslavia In 1969, he graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of the University of Zagreb, and then worked as a theatre actor in the City Drama Theatre Gavella and at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. While still a student, Šerbedžija started to play leading roles in films and theatre productions. His stage roles included Oedipus and Richard III. His performance as Hamlet in 1974 in Dubrovnik catapulted him into stardom. He had various notable roles in Yugoslav films, among others in Bravo maestro (1978), Journalist (1979), Banović Strahinja (1981), Kiklop (1982) and San o ruži (1986). in addition to being one of the most beloved. Prior to leaving his home country, Šerbedžija had starred in over 40 films.

Šerbedžija is a four-time recipient of the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the Pula Film Festival; in 1978 for Bravo maestro, in 1986 for Evening Bells (Večernja zvona), in 2010 for 72 Days (Sedamdeset i dva dana),

In 2000, Šerbedžija founded the Ulysses Theater with Borislav Vujčić on the Brijuni islands. In a co-production between the Ulysses Theatre and the National Theatre in Belgrade, for his role in the 2019 adaptation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Šerbedžija received the Zoran Radmilović Award, the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Orlando Award. The same year, he won his second Vladimir Nazor Award for “Lifetime Achievement - Film Art”.

International career

In 1988, Šerbedžija appeared in two films that were released in the West; Hanna's War and Manifesto.

Šerbedžija has had supporting roles in Hollywood films such as Mission: Impossible 2, Mighty Joe Young, The Saint, Eyes Wide Shut, Snatch, and Space Cowboys among others. He is usually known for playing villains.

He had a cameo in Batman Begins; he was asked to reprise his cameo role in The Dark Knight, but declined.

In 2001, he starred in a television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical South Pacific as French plantation owner Emile de Becque. He also appeared in the BBC spy-thriller show Spooks for one episode as a villain. In 2005 he played Captain Blake in Rupert Wainwright's remake of The Fog, and had a supporting role in the NBC science fiction series Surface. In 2007 he played Athos Roussos in Jeremy Podeswa's feature film adaptation of Anne Michaels' novel Fugitive Pieces.

His performance in the Canadian film Fugitive Pieces (2007) was nominated for a Genie Award and Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He portrayed Dmitri Gredenko, a former Russian Army General, on the sixth season of the hit Fox show 24, first aired in 2007.

He had a role in Shooter (2007).

In 2009 Šerbedžija was cast in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 as the famous foreign wandmaker Gregorovitch. In 2014, Šerbedžija appeared in six episodes of Downton Abbey as Prince Kuragin, a Russian exile and long-ago lover of the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, portrayed by Dame Maggie Smith.

He had a role in X-Men: First Class released in 2011, and in the 2012 film Taken 2.

In 2019, Šerbedžija was awarded the International Press Academy’s Mary Pickford Award, an honorary award “for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry”.

Other work Šerbedžija is also known for his poetry readings and music. He has released four poetry books and four music albums. He recorded the award-winning ballad "Ni u tvome srcu" with Bosnian vocalist Kemal Monteno. While in London, Šerbedžija stayed at actress Vanessa Redgrave's residence and the two became friends.

Personal life Šerbedžija married Ivanka Cerovac in 1969. They have a son, film director Danilo (b. 1971), and a daughter, actress Lucija (b. 1973). With his second wife, he has three daughters: Nina, Vanja, and Mimi. The girls grew up in London during their early years, then moved to California due to their father's acting career. The youth himself was from Lika, as was Šerbedžija. Šerbedžija has called himself "Yugo-nostalgic", and in 2011, said that times were better in Socialist Yugoslavia than now.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1967 Iluzija Mladic koji ubija Branka Black Birds 1968 Osveta Short film Seansa Gravitation Boris Horvat 1969 Dio è con noi Sedmina - Pozdravi Marijo Niko 1970 Papagaj Mladić Passing Days Red Wheat Južek Hedl Kainov znak Milan 1971 Putovanje na mjesto nesreće Vlatko Beggars and the sonsMatan Špalatrin Domobran kicoš 1972 Poslijepodne jednog fazana Obijesni mladić Rođendan male Mire Zvezde su oči ratnika Učitelj Rade 1973 Pelikani Živjeti od ljubavi Davor Begunec Ivan 1974In the registratureIvica Kičmanović A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja Joco / Hamlet Tojota Korola 1000 Obešenjak Nocturno Lucio Četnički oficir Kosta Barac 1977 Noćna skela Hajka Lado 1978 Bombaški proces Josip Broz Tito Bravo maestro Vitomir Bezjak 1979 Journalist Vlado Kovač Živi bili pa vidjeli The Return Komandir milicije Usijanje Tomo 1980 Vlado Ratko 1981 Tuga Duvanski put Tomo Banović Strahinja Abdulah 1982 Variola Vera Doktor Grujić Cyclops Ugo 13. jul Kapetan Mitrović Tamburaši Život i priča 1983 Zadah tela Pančo Vila Kvit posao Jozo Noć poslije smrti Lucio Klarić 1984 In the Jaws of Life Intelektualac Pejzaži u magli Lelin otac Una Professor Mišel Babić 1985 Life Is Beautiful Harmonikaš Horvatov izbor Krešimir Horvat 1986 San o ruži Valent Večernja zvona Tomislav K. Burbonski 1987 Die Verliebten Dušan Hudodelci Raka 1988 Zagrljaj Tartif Manifesto Emile Hanna's War Captain Ivan 1989 Čovjek koji je volio sprovode Hinko Seobe II De Ronkali 1990 Karneval, anđeo i prah Majstori mraka 1992 Dezerter Pavle Trušić 1993 Kontesa Dora Karlo Armano 1994 Magareće godine Narrator Before the Rain Aleksandar 1995 Urnebesna tragedija Kosta Two Deaths Colonel George Lapadus Belma Josip Papac 1996 Memento The Officer Broken English Ivan 1997 Nečista krv Gazda Marko Balkan Island: The Last Story of the Century Rusty Ivan Tretiak Mardenou the Greek 1998 Mighty Joe Young Andrei Strasser Polish Wedding Roman Prague Duet Jiri Kolmar 1999 Eyes Wide Shut Mr. Milich The Sweet Sounds of Life Bruno Maier Stigmata Father Marion Petrocelli 2000 Space Cowboys General Vostow Mission: Impossible 2 Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich Snatch Boris 'The Blade' Yurinov Je li jasno prijatelju? Milan Rajić 2002 Inspector Vigot 2003 Quicksand Oleg Butraskaya The Cruelest Day Miran Hrovatin 2004 EuroTrip Tibor Golemata voda Old Lem Rade Šerbedžija Live in Budva Himself Diplomat 2005 Imam Muaffak Batman Begins Homeless Man Captain William Blake Short Order Paulo Go West Ljubo 2006 Moscow Zero Sergei Maxim Sarafanov 2007 Balkanski sindrom Old Alen Hermano Carlos Avileda Tesla Narrator Shooter Mikhayo Sczerbiak / Michael Sandor Fugitive Pieces Athos Roussos Battle in Seattle Dr. Marić Say It in Russian Raf Larin Pravo čudo Toma L... Kot ljubezen Big Daddy Love Life Arie 2008 Quarantine Yuri Ivanov Simon McCullough 2009 Middle Men Nikita Sokoloff Thick as Thieves Nicky Petrovich/Victor Korolenko 2010 Lonesdale Kao Rani Mraz Stari Vasa Ladački 72 Days Mane Paripović Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Gregorovitch 2011 5 Days of War Col. Demidov Tatanka Vinko X-Men: First Class Russian General Shun Li and the Poet Bepi In the Land of Blood and Honey Gen. Nebojsa Vukojevich 2012 Onjegin Taken 2 Murad Krasniqi Don Rafael Cohen Ustanicka ulica Vraneš 2013 Cry of the Butterfly Ray The Double Frightening Old Man 2014 The Legend of Hercules Chiron Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge The Minister 2015 Tesla: Iznad maste Milutin Tesla Sparrows Tomislav 2016 The Porcupine Stoyo Petkanov Tesla Professor Petrov The Promise Stepan The Liberation of Skopje Gjorgjija Also director and writer 2017 Anka Biljeznik Hedgehog's Home Narrator (voice) Short film; Serbo-Croatian version The Executrix Arthur The Last Prosecco Desiderio Ancillotto 2018 Proud Mary Luka Murderous Trance Dr. Dabrowski What's This Country Called Now? Ismet Tabakovic Short film 2019 Caviar Pappy 2020 Fishing and Fishermen's Conversations Petar Hektorović 2024 Air Force One Down Rodinov 2025 The Pavilion Anjelo

Television Year Title Role Notes 1966 Prikupljanje hrabosti Skalper TV film Sedam sati i petnaest minuta Tomica TV film 1968 Maratonci 1 episode 1969 Meteor TV film Čamac za kron-princa TV film 1970 Sam čovjek Miniseries; 3 episodes 1971 Prosjaci i sinovi Matan Špalatrin 1974 Obraz uz obraz Himself 1 episode U registraturi Ivica Kicmanović 7 episodes 1975 Pesma Mića Ranović 6 episodes 1976 Kosta Barac 1 episode 1977 Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla 9 episodes 1979 Ivan Goran Kovačić Ivan Goran Kovačić TV film 1980 Sedam plus sedam Himself 1 episode 1982 Nepokoreni grad 1 episode 1983 Kiklop Ugo 4 episodes 1986 Putovanje u Vučjak Krešimir Horvat 14 episodes 2001 South Pacific Emile De Becque TV film 2003 Spooks Viktor Schvitkoy 1 episode 2005 Surface Dr. Aleksander Cirko 6 episodes 2007 24 Dmitri Gredenko 8 episodes Fallen Dr. Lukas Grasic Miniseries 2008 My Own Worst Enemy Yuri Volkalov 2 episodes 2009 CSI: Miami Alexander Sharova 2 episodes 2014 Downton Abbey Prince Kuragin 6 episodes 2016 The Five Jâkob Marosi Miniseries; 6 episodes 2017 Mata Hari Emil Guimet 2 episodes The Blacklist Dr. Bogdan Krilov 2 episodes Better Things Arnold Hall 1 episode 2018–19 Strange Angel Professor Filip Mesulam 12 episodes 2020 Strike Back Kalmedi 1 episode 2022 Slow Horses Nikolai Katinsky The Old Man Old Suleyman Pavlovic

Awards and nominations Institution Year Category Work Result Genie Awards 2009 Best Supporting ActorFugitive Pieces Monaco International Film Festival 2006 Best Actor Short Order New Zealand Film and TV Awards 1996 Best Foreign Performer Broken English Pula Film Festival 1979 Best Actor Bravo maestro 1986 Evening Bells Rome Film Fest 2007 Best Actor Fugitive Pieces Satellite Awards 2008 Best Actor in a Supporting RoleFugitive Pieces Tetouan International Mediterranean Film Festival 2012 Best Actor Io sono Li Vancouver Film Critics Circle 2008 Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian FilmFugitive Pieces Venice Film Festival 1994 Pasinetti Award for Best Actor Before the Rain