Irina Apeksimova

Apeksimova was the child of classical musicians, Victor Nikolaevich Apeksimov and Svetlana Yakivna Apeksimova (passed away in August 2015). Irina was the second child in the family; her older brother Valery later became a jazz composer and pianist in the United States.

In addition to her many roles in Russian films, Apeksimova played in the 1997 Hollywood Val Kilmer vehicle The Saint. She starred in the 1999 film The Book of Masters, the first Russian film by an arm of The Walt Disney Company (the CIS division).

Apeksimova was graduated in 1990 and joined the studio at the Moscow Art Theatre, where she stayed until 2000. In 1994, she won the Best Actress Award at the Paris Film Festival for her role in the film October (Октябрь).

After living in Volgograd for a year, Apeksimova had shed much of her Odessa accent, and applied for a third time to the Moscow Art Theater School. She was accepted and admitted in 1986 into Oleg Tabakov's class. At the school, Apeksimova became friends with fellow student Valery Nikolaev, and later married him. Her class, which also included Vladimir Mashkov and Yevgeny Mironov, was considered especially brilliant.

Irina Victorovna Apeksimova (Russian: Ири́на Ви́кторовна Апекси́мова , born January 13, 1966, Volgograd, RSFSR, USSR) is a Russian stage and screen actress. Director of the Taganka Theater (since March 2015).