March 3 (UPI) — In America, actors including Ronald Reagan, Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger have had careers in politics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also has a celebrity past.
Leading the Ukrainian resistance against Russian forces, Zelensky has refused to leave for safety, instead choosing to remain in Kyiv and face invading troops.
Before he was elected Ukrainian president in 2019, Zelensky worked as a standup comedian and television actor. He continued to perform standup while campaigning, and played a fictional Ukrainian president on the TV comedy Servant of the People, which ran from 2016 to 2019.
Channel 4 picked up the rights to air Servant of the People in the United Kingdom, The Hollywood Reporter reported Wednesday.
His first acting credit was a 2005 Three Musketeers movie in which he played D’Artagnan. Zelensky competed on the 2006 Dancing with the Stars Ukrainian edition, Tantsi z zirkamy, and won.
Zelensky performed the Ukrainian voice of Paddington Bear in dubs of the live-action films Paddington and Paddington 2. A Paddington 3 is in the works.
Zelensky was popular in a series of romantic comedies. Titles like No Love in the City and its sequel, Office Romance and Love in Vegas featured posters with Zelensky bearing a bouquet of flowers and preening before leading ladies.
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