Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been on many stages before entering the political industry, from acting and comedy to dancing, which eventually paved the way for his political career
The current president of Ukraine is widely recognised for his previous career path, which comes as a shock to many.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 47, is now known for his presidency of Ukraine. He became the country’s sixth president after being elected in 2019 with 73 per cent of the vote. Since the invasion of Ukraine from Russia, his leadership has been praised worldwide, and many now see him as a major global leader.
At 17, the father of two started his entertainment career when he joined a team participating in the KVN, a Russian variety show. A few years later, his team won the competition, which led them to create Kvartal 95, a comedy group that spent most of its time in Moscow and performed across many Russian-speaking countries.
In 2003, Kvartal 95 publicly quit the variety show and became an entertainment production company founded by Zelensky and his team. They began producing many television shows, which eventually led him to take up acting. The production company went on to produce films, comedy shows, and cartoons.
Zelenskyy was the face of Kvartal, but his wife, Olena Zelenska, 47, played a key role behind the scenes when he brought her in as a scriptwriter. The pair initially met in college where he was a law student and she was studying architecture, she was hesitant to change career paths at first, but became a key writer for the brand, helping create the success.
One of his most famous roles was in 2015 when he starred in Servant of the People, a political comedy series created by Kvartal 95. In it, he played the role of a high school teacher who unexpectedly became the president of Ukraine after a secretly recorded video of him ranting about corruption went viral. While his entry into politics didn’t quite happen this way, life did imitate art, and ironically, he later ran for president and won.
He also starred in many love comedy films, which were box office hits in Ukraine, like 8 First Dates, Office Romance, and Love in the Big City. Kvartel 95’s first full-length film turned out to be a great success across Ukraine and Russian-speaking countries, which helped cement his popularity in the industry.
In addition to acting, he became quite known for other forms of entertainment when he became the voice for the Ukrainian version of Paddington Bear and took on the country’s version of Strictly Come Dancing, called Dancing with the Stars, in which he showed off his dancing skills and won the competition.
Clips of his performances resurfaced online since he became president, which led to some judgement. However, people enjoyed his lighter side and felt they could connect to him.
In March 2018, employees of Kvartal 95 created a political party with the same name, Servant of the People, and Zelensky announced he was running for president on 31 December 2018.
What initially started as a career in comedy and entertainment swiftly turned into the political industry, where he now faces serious challenges and has become the voice of Ukraine.
Although his life before may come as a shock, he is one of many presidents that have come from a completely different industry, much like Donald Trump who built his career through TV and media before running for office with their story challenging the traditional idea of what makes a political leader.
