Childhood and youth
Dina Aleksandrovna Korzun calls her childhood happy and serene. She was born in April 1971 in Smolensk. Dina’s mother combined work as a safety engineer at a hosiery factory with constant study: first at a technical school, then at an institute. The small family lived in a spacious communal apartment that united strangers into one friendly family. The children visited each other and organized joint concerts.
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Dina Korzun in her youth
Dina grew up as a gifted child. She drew beautifully, so her mother took her daughter to art school. There the girl mastered the techniques of graphics, sculpture and painting. Korzun also studied ballet and attended a modern dance studio (that’s why, with a height of 170 cm, her weight still does not exceed 60 kg).
In her youth, having received secondary education, she studied for a year at the art graphics department of the local pedagogical institute. But soon painting classes ceased to bring joy to the girl. Dina dropped out of university and went to Moscow. On her first try, she entered the Moscow Art Theater School and was enrolled in Alla Pokrovskaya’s course.
Childhood
The actress was born on April 13, 1971 in the city of Smolensk. She spent her childhood with her mother and numerous neighbors in a communal apartment.
We lived on the working outskirts, on a hill from where you could see passing trains on the opposite bank of the Dnieper.
Little residents of the communal apartment entertained their parents with concerts. A blanket served as a curtain, they made microphones from skipping ropes, placed several rows of chairs, and the postcards became tickets, each of which indicated the place and date of the upcoming performance with variety and circus acts, an intermission and a buffet.
None of the spectators were allowed to skip our performances. Even when there was football on TV, everyone had to sit and listen to children's songs.
The main place of work of the girl’s mother was a hosiery factory, where the woman was responsible for production safety. At the same time, she received vocational and higher education in educational institutions.
Dina Korzun as a child with her mother
Little Dina showed a talent for drawing. The girl began studying painting, sculpture and graphics at an art school. In addition, she studied at a ballet studio and studied modern dance.
Theater
Dina's stage career began in the mid-90s. Theatergoers first saw the actress on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov in the production of “Love in the Crimea.” The aspiring artist was incredibly lucky: she did not have to start from scratch and go through the crowd. Almost immediately, the girl began to be trusted with major roles. She played Katerina in The Thunderstorm and Sonya Marmeladova in Crime and Punishment.
Nevertheless, Dina Korzun quickly felt disappointed. She no longer believed that theater artists had a special mission in society. When she went on stage and saw the faces of the high school students who were forcibly brought to watch “The Thunderstorm,” she wanted to run away.
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Actress Dina Korzun
At first, the artist tried to give her all in order to send some spiritual impulse to the young audience, captivate them with the play and convey the essence of the play. But I soon realized that nothing was happening. In 2000, Dina Korzun left the theater. She returned to the stage later when she moved to London. In 2007, the Russian actress appeared on the stage of the Royal National Theater in London. In some performances she not only played, but is also a producer.
One of the brightest theatrical works of the 2000s was the charity play “Star Boy,” based on the fairy tale of the same name by Oscar Wilde. In this original project, Dina played all the roles.
Beginning of an actress's career
After graduating from university, Dina Korzun joined the Moscow Art Theater. From the very first days, she was simply practically overwhelmed with various roles. The young actress grabbed onto any of them and worked constantly. While still a 4th year student at the Moscow Art Theater School, she made her debut in the role of Lyubochka in S. Mrozhek’s production of “Love in Crimea.” For her, she received a prize at the Moscow Debuts festival for the best female role. Dina's talent allowed her to play Katerina in Ostrovsky's The Thunderstorm.
Along with her theatrical work, Korzun began to appear in her first film roles. Her debut took place in 1994 in the parable film by M. Podyapolskaya “She’s Inside the Walls.” Despite several other notable works of the actress in cinema, during these years not enough film lovers knew about her. Everything changed after the release of V. Todorovsky’s film “Country of the Deaf.”
Movies
A cinematic biography of Korzun started in 1994, when she was in her penultimate year at the Moscow Art Theater School. The aspiring actress made her debut in the short film “She’s Inside the Walls.” Cinema brought her recognition and a sense of satisfaction from her favorite work. In 1998, Valery Todorovsky’s cult film “Country of the Deaf” was released, which gave the artist the love and appreciation of the public. The role of a deaf dancer named Yaya brought the young actress a number of prestigious awards, among which the most striking are the Nika Award, Stars of Tomorrow and Golden Aries for a successful film debut.
At first, after the release of the film, she had to give 6 interviews a day. She said that the work, although difficult, was extremely interesting. Before filming began, she was consulted by a sign language interpreter. I also had to spend a lot of time in a boarding school for the deaf. The actress wanted to understand how people who hear only silence live, feel and think.
A few years later, the actress waited for a good and deep project. Polish-British producer and director Paweł Pawlikowski offered Korzun a role in his film Last Resort. Dina has reincarnated as a Russian girl, Tanya, who, together with her son, decides to move to her foreign fiance, but the young man never shows up for the meeting at the English airport. The heroine has to go to a refugee camp.
Posted by IVI Online Cinema on Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Dina Korzun in the film “Country of the Deaf”
The film received European recognition and prestigious prizes. Dina Korzun was also showered with awards at festivals in London, Bratislava and Gijon. But this wonderful picture about the fate of an emigrant from Russia was never shown in her homeland.
Later, a number of Russian projects appeared in the artist’s filmography. This is the drama “The Road”, where Gosha Kutsenko and Natalya Petrova became her partners. Together with Konstantin Khabensky, Dina starred in the melodrama “A Woman’s Romance”, and with Yaroslav Boyko in the film “The Theory of Binge.”
In the social drama “Kuka,” Korzun played the heroine Lena, who meets a 6-year-old girl living alone. The child, after a series of incidents, becomes her adopted daughter.
Another major and worthy role, played by Dina Korzun, went to her in 2004. This is an American psychological drama directed by Hollywood director Ira Sachs “Forty Shades of Sadness”. The actress reincarnated on screen as a Russian girl who lives in the American wilderness. She appeared on screen with famous artist Rip Torn. The film was awarded the Grand Prix at the famous Sundance Film Festival, and Korzun became a nominee at the Independent Spirit Film Festival.
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Dina Korzun in the series “Peaky Blinders”
The actress admitted that she dreamed of playing “a gallery of bright and powerful images.” But she was rarely offered such roles in her homeland. In 2014, the artist played Masha, an activist of the “Russian Mothers in Finland” movement, in the social drama “Son”. Dina’s partners on the set in the film about the clash of family values and politics were Arseniy Romashin, Maria Mironova, Juozas Budraitis and others.
A year later, Korzun starred in the 3rd season of the British series Peaky Blinders, associated with the “Russian” line. The filming was carried out in an atmosphere of secrecy: according to the terms of the contract, the actress could not disclose plot details. Dina's character was originally listed as the Duchess of Romanoff. But after the Russian woman signed her own photo posted on her Instagram account, the producers had to have a serious conversation with the performer and change the character’s name to Isabella.
According to Korzun, filming this project was not easy: the film contained many violent scenes, and any manifestation of violence was contrary to the actress’s principles of life. As a guest of the “Evening Urgant” program, Dina talked about how masterfully Cillian Murphy, who played the leading role in the series, worked on the set.
Charity
Korzun is a well-known philanthropist. She worked for several months as a volunteer in one of the orphanages in Nepal. Upon returning to Russia, a fateful meeting between Dina and Chulpan Khamatova took place at a charity concert. The two film and theater stars have since joined forces to help children with cancer.
Some time later, Korzun and Khamatova founded the Gift of Life charity foundation. This organization is dedicated to helping children with hematological, oncological and other serious diseases. Later, the artist left the project, but continued to collaborate with him. At the same time, the artist became the founder of the Gift of Life foundation.
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Posted by Gift of Life on Monday, January 2, 2017
Dina Korzun and Chulpan Khamatova
The actress often comes to Russia, where she holds charity events. In April 2021, at the Tretyakov Gallery, Dina organized an evening dedicated to the poetry of Igor Severyanin. The program was called “The Diary of His Soul.” The performance featured Silver Age poetry and classical music performed by Alexander Rudin, Andrei Korobeinikov and Dmitry Berlinsky.
Later, Korzun participated in the World Children's Games of Winners, which for the 9th time is organized by the Gift of Life foundation for its wards. In the fall, the actress attended ceremonial events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of her activities in Russia. The cosmetology company has been financially supporting the charity foundation for many years, helping to buy expensive medicines for sick children.
Personal life
Dina Korzun met her first husband, Ansar Hallulin, in her early youth, when she was studying at the Smolensk Music College. The student mistook the flared feelings for true love. But when the couple lived together for some time, Dina realized that she was in a hurry to get married. At the age of 19, the future star of “Country of the Deaf” gave birth to her first child, Timur. But the child not only did not strengthen the already fragile family ties, but also accelerated the disintegration of the family. When the son was one year old, the marriage broke up.
To continue building her career, Dina went to the capital. But the young mother could not take her tiny son with her into the unknown and an unsettled life. The baby stayed with his grandmother, who, so that Timur would not forget the life that gave him, hung her portrait above the crib. At first, Dina could meet with the heir no more than once every 2 months. But when she graduated from a theater university and was hired at the Moscow Art Theater, she immediately took the boy to the capital.
At this time, Korzun’s personal life took another sharp turn. The actress was married for the second time. This time her husband was her colleague Alexey Zuev. And again, misunderstanding and reluctance to give in to each other even in small things played a fatal role: the couple quickly broke up.
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Dina Korzun and her husband Louis Frank
Dina Korzun met a man with whom she managed to build a real strong and happy family within the walls of her native theater. Louis Frank, a Belgian by nationality, arrived in Russia at the invitation of Oleg Tabakov to thoroughly study the Stanislavsky system. The Moscow Art Theater School-Studio was perfect for this. Louis is a talented and multifaceted person. He is a photographer, composer, actor and director, and also the leader of the music group Esthetic Education.
The path to understanding turned out to be difficult. At first, the couple, between whom a spark quickly broke out, tried for a long time to change each other. The adjustment was difficult and was accompanied by quarrels and disagreements. But one day, Dina and Louis realized that if they continued to try to “fit” each other to their standards, they would lose love. And she was already born - they were incredibly drawn to each other. They were burdened by separation when they quarreled. And then the couple agreed to accept each other as they are.
Together with her husband, Dina Korzun moved to London. Timur, who met Louis Frank at the age of 4 and got used to him, did not mind either. In Britain, the couple gave birth to two charming girls, who were named Itala and Sophia. The age difference between the sisters and their half-brother is 20 years.
In Britain, Dina Korzun found herself. She continued to act in films, go on stage and remembered her youthful passion for drawing, even completing painting courses at the London Art Academy.
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Dina Korzun without makeup
In an interview, Korzun admitted that over time she came to an understanding: the profession of an actress is not the most important thing in her life. She enjoys taking care of her family, raising children, taking care of her husband, drawing, and working in a charitable foundation. And most importantly, Dina Korzun feels like a happy and self-sufficient person.
Korzun combines business trips with vacations for children. Londoners, as the mother of her daughters calls them, enjoy spending summer days in the village in Bashkiria, where Dina’s relatives live. Korzun studies Hare Krishna philosophy and maintains close relations with the preacher and writer, leader of the international movement Alexander Gennadievich Khakimov. Judging by the photo from the actress’s Instagram account, the guru is a frequent guest of Dina Korzun.
In 2021, during the period of self-isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Korzun presented the project “The Laws of a Happy Family Life,” in which she shared the secrets of harmonious relationships between spouses and between parents and children. In an interview, Dina noted that in many ways she was taught to live in peace with her family by her children, who repeatedly gave her wise advice in an adult way.
The youth of Dina Korzun
After graduating from school, the woman entered the Smolensk Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Art and Graphics. At first she was very interested in painting, but over time she began to realize that this was not her path. Tormented by doubts about her own future fate, she dared to take a drastic step and went to the entrance exams to the Smolensk Music School. To everyone's surprise, she successfully entered the acting department.
During her studies, Dina Korzun married a theater director from Moscow. After moving to the capital of Russia, she gave birth to her son Timur. After the birth of her first child, Dina entered the acting department at the Moscow Art Theater School. Since studying took up virtually all of the aspiring actress’s free time, the son had to be sent to his grandmother in Smolensk, where he spent his childhood years.
