Svetlana Khodchenkova

Svetlana Khodchenkova is a Russian actress who began as a fashion model in Moscow in 1998. Born in Moscow and raised in Zheleznodorozhny, she started at the Moscow Institute of World Economics in 2000 but quit to pursue acting, training at the Shchukin Theatrical School, the Vakhtangov Theatre's school, from 2001 to 2005 in the class of Nina Doroshina and Alekandr Lyubimtsev. While a student she appeared in films by Stanislav Govorukhin and Viktor Merezhko and in Russian television series. She is known for roles in Blagoslovite zhenshchinu (2003) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). For her leading part in Mala Moskwa (2008), she was named best actress at the Gdynya Polish Film Festival, and in 2012 she won a COFCA Award for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Her stage work included productions with a Moscow independent project, among them Theatre with and without rules and Moulin Rouge Hospital, which earned critical praise.