Honored Artist of Russia Vasily Glebovich Zotov is known not only for his film roles and theatrical works. Many characters from television series, animated films and video games speak in his voice.
Childhood and youth
Vasily was born in 1974 in Moscow. He received his secondary education in the capital's school №80, however, after he was expelled, he began to attend evening school №9. Zotov earned his first money as a courier, combining work life with study.
The family of the future actor was not surprised by his choice of profession. Indeed, for the mother of Tatyana Vasilyeva, creativity also once became the main thing in life. The actress served for two decades at the Pushkin Theater, and then was engaged in voice acting for films. In 1997, the young man graduated with honors from the Shchepkin Theater School and began his creative biography at the Maly Theater. Vasily took part in the performances of the renowned collective while still a student. The external data of the novice actor and his bright personality did not go unnoticed. Over time, he improved and received the best roles in the classical repertoire.
Small theater
The actor made his debut in the tragedy of Alexei Tolstoy "Tsar Boris", he played the role of Prince Cherkassky. And his first significant theatrical work was the role of the devoted knight, Count Henri d'Albret in "Secrets of the Madrid Court". The popularity of the artist was brought by the image of Ferdinand created by him in Schiller's "Treachery and Love".
In 1999, Zotov appeared on the stage of the theater in the guise of Guidon in Pushkin's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan," and then took the stage as Milon in Fonvizin's The Minor. Spectators and theater critics fell in love with the actor for his impulsiveness and nobility, as well as for his ability to put the concepts of "honor" and "love" above all else.
All subsequent roles brought success and recognition to Vasily. He managed to stop being a hostage to his own appearance, the directors offered the actor images that allowed him to reveal the entire palette of colors of his talent. In Ostrovsky's play "Labor Bread" Zotov took the stage in the role of Georges Koprov, a cynic and a mot who wastes his life, who easily rips off a girl in love with him to the bone. The result is a very convincing image, charming and scary, because the hero is not familiar with the concept of "labor money".
In 2002, the Maly Theater staged Shakespeare's play The Efforts of Love. The performance was presented as a musical in which young artists demonstrated their vocal talent and plasticity. Vasily added new colors to the image of the King, and therefore the character turned out to be bright and comedic. After Shakespeare's character, Ostrovsky's hero appeared, who is rightfully called the "Russian Shakespeare". Vasily got the role of Yegor Glumov in the play "For Every Wise Man, Enough Simplicity". This is perhaps one of the most difficult male playwright images. Having studied human weaknesses, he enters high society and finds an approach to everyone. The hero easily manipulates people, but after being exposed, he feels great relief and arouses the sympathy of the public, because Glumov is not a complete scoundrel. Thanks to the ability to equally excellently portray endless romantics and incredible cynics on stage, Vasily got the role of Henri in "The Cardinal's Cloak". His hero is faced with a difficult choice: love and quiet family happiness or the opportunity to gain power and take the French throne.
Zotov, distinguished by excellent texture, had to play military and noblemen. The actor was remembered by the audience as Prince Narumov in Pushkin's The Queen of Spades, Prince Belsky in Tolstoy's Killer Whale and Mortimer in Schiller's Mary Stuart.
The talent of the actor grew and developed every year. The Maly Theater presented him with many more bright and unforgettable roles in the works of classical and modern authors.
Movie roles
The filmography of the actor Zotov has more than 2 dozen works. His film career began with the role of Vanyatka in the series Young Russia (1982). The next time the actor appeared on the screen only in 1998, in the film-parable of Karen Shakhnazarov "Full Moon Day". This was followed by the television series: "Secrets of the Investigation" (2001), "Return of Mukhtar" (2004), "Stargazer", "Bullet-Fool" (2009-2011) and a number of other works.
In 2018, the actor got the lead role in the short film Magic Above All. His hero Alexei Bakhrushin is the head of the guard of the Department of Magic and Witchcraft, who has lost the ability to conjure. The tape became the diploma work of a graduate of VGIK, director Ekaterina Krasner.
Professional dubbing
In 1990, Vasily took part in the dubbing of the American film Miller's Crossing, and since 2005, scoring for films, television series and cartoons has become an important part of his creative life. The protagonist of the famous English TV series "Sherlock" speaks in his voice. In total, Zotov participated in the scoring of three dozen feature-length films and TV series, as well as 11 cartoons. He worked with film studios: "Pythagoras", "SV-Double", "Ark-TV" and others.
For the past decade, the actor has been involved in voice acting for video games. His heroes include The Therapist in Spider-Man, Priest and Henry Green in Assassins Creed, Cedric in The Witcher 2, and many others.
Personal life
Vasily Zotov was married to his colleague, Maly Theater actress Tatyana Skiba. They met at one of the rehearsals of the play "Treachery and Love". In 2004, his wife gave birth to his son Valery. However, this marriage was not too happy for the actor, and the family broke up.
Today the artist continues his active creative activity. He acts in films and is engaged in professional dubbing. Performances with his participation do not leave the stage of the theater, to which he has been faithful for more than two decades. As before, the performances, where Vasily Zotov is involved, will be sold out. "Masquerade" based on the play by Lermontov, "Heart is not a stone" by Ostrovsky and "The Queen of Spades" by Pushkin gather full halls of enthusiastic spectators.
