Formerly some venerable film directors were unwilling to work with Yevgeni Mironov because of his allegedly peevish temper. Seemingly, just do what the director says, and get new roles. However Yevgeni was of a different opinion: “I am neither made of plasticine nor wax. I dislike it when an actor becomes material for modelling. I can participate in the creative process in full measure only, on a par with the director. If it does not happen I either stop the collaboration or use cunning to have my own way.” Naturally, not many would agree with such distribution of roles, and thus Yevgeni was not very popular among film directors who preferred not to get involved with the “inconvenient and way-out” actor. As time went by the situation saw considerable changes: today Mironov is one of the most in-demand actors of Russia. However, along with actor’s fame he has gained the reputation of the king of hysteria.

Yevgeni Vitalyevich Mironov was born on November 19, 1966 in Saratov. Till the age of 14 he lived in the Svetly settlement of Saratov region. Yevgeni dreamt of becoming an actor since his childhood. As a schoolboy he attended a drama circle and learned playing accordion in a music school. After finishing school in 1982 he entered Saratov Drama College named after I. A. Slonov. He graduated from the college with excellence: teachers considered him to be one of the most gifted students.

After the college Yevgeni went to Moscow and managed to meet with Oleg Tabakov, who admitted him to the second year of the MXAT School studio. After graduation Mironov became an actor of Oleg Tabakov’s theatre studio (also known as Tabakerka).

Yevgeni Mironov took part in play productions of other theatres and directors as well. One of his most remarkable theatre roles was the part of Orestes in the legendary Oresteia staged by Peter Stein in the Russian Army Theatre and touring in Europe with triumph.

Mironov debuted in cinema in 1988 with Aleksandr Kajdanovsky’s feature Zhena kerosinshchika (Kerosene Salesman's Wife (1988). The up-and-coming actor was noticed after appearance in a range of quite different films, including the army drama Delay - raz! (Do It - One!) (1990) by Andrei Malyukov, the war film about 1941 Pered rassvetom (Before Sunrise) (1989) by Yaropolk Lapshin, and the political feature Zateryannyy v Sibiri (Lost in Siberia) (1991) by Aleksandr Mitta.

The actor gained unanimous acclaim of general public and accolades of critics after starring in the film Lyubov (Love) (1991) by Valeri Todorovsky. The role brought him a number of cinema awards, both national and foreign, and the title of the best actor of 1992. Yevgeni Mironov was not outshined by film celebrities in Pyotr Todorovsky’s eccentric comedy Ankor, eshchyo ankor! (Encore, Once More Encore!) (1992), which ensured the actor’s popularity. Afterwards Mironov was featured by Mikhail Shvejtser, Denis Yevstigneyev, and Nikita Mikhalkov.

Yevegni Mironov’s indisputable creative success was in Vladimir Khotinenko’s drama feature Musulmanin (The Mussulman) (1995) where the actor played probably his best film role till date.

One should also mention Mironov’s image of Khlestakov in the comedy Revizor (Inspector) (1996) directed by Sergei Gazarov. The renowned actor never stops looking for new creative material and new characters to try on, and in spite of being often engaged in various film projects, fruitfully plays in theatre as well.

In December 2006 Yevgeni Mironov was appointed the director of the State Theatre of Nations.

Resources:
    saratov-kultura.ru
    art-agentur.com
    peoples.ru