Before becoming the president of Ukraine in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky, now engaged in a conflict with Russia, was a successful comedian. Back on an atypical course.
No one today ignores the name of Volodymyr Zelensky, engaged for several days in a conflict with Russia. But did you know that before becoming head of state and then warlord, the Ukrainian president had successfully distinguished himself in an acting career?
A law graduate, Volodymyr Zelensky got his start in comedy in 1997, when he created the comedy troupe Kvartal 95, at work in many café-theatres. Founder of a successful production company, the Ukrainian, who later officiated as the presenter of the very popular variety show Vetcherny Kvartal, also stands out by winning the Dance with the stars local.
But it was in 2015, with the Servant of the People series, that Zelensky became a major figure in Ukrainian entertainment. In what is the greatest television success in the history of his country, he embodies an honest history teacher who becomes despite himself… president! Its objective: to reform and undertake a major cleaning in the political class in place.
The premonitory Servant of the people, of which you can discover the first season on Arte.tv until May 18, is an inevitably disturbing series to discover in the light of current events. This fiction, of which Zelensky is one of the screenwriters, is in fact a pure comedy, often absurd, far from the dramatic news, very real this one, in which the Ukrainian is today immersed at the head of his country.
Quite atypically, the program served as a veritable launching pad for Volodymyr Zelensky towards the heights of power. In 2018, without any experience in politics, the latter indeed created a party called … Servant of the people, who sees him in particular, as on the screen, fighting against corruption. A year later, Zelensky becomes the youngest Ukrainian president in history.
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Apart from the Servant of the People series, which ran for three seasons, Volodymyr Zelensky distinguished himself in the feature film Love in a Big City and a few other popular comedies, including an incarnation of… Napoleon! Finally, note an experience in dubbing, since he lent his voice to Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian versions of the first two parts of the family saga.
The trailer for the “Servant of the people” series, available on Arte.tv: