Olga Kurylenko


Olga Konstiantinivna Kurylenko is a Ukrainian-French actress and model. She was discovered as a model in Moscow at the age of 13. She moved to Paris to pursue a modelling career at the age of 16 and started her acting career in 2005. She found success as an actress for her role as Nika Boronina in the film adaptation of the video game Hitman, and then mainstream prominence with the role of Bond girl Camille Montes in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. More recently she starred in Stephen S. Campanelli's Momentum, Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, alongside Tom Cruise in Oblivion, with Russell Crowe in The Water Diviner, alongside Rowan Atkinson in the spy comedy film Johnny English Strikes Again and The Room.

Early life

Kurylenko was born in Berdyansk, Ukraine, then Ukrainian SSR. Her father, Konstantin, is Ukrainian, and her mother, Marina Alyabusheva, who teaches art and is an exhibited artist, was born in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, and is of Russian, Buryat and Belarusian ancestry.
Her parents divorced when she was three and she was raised by her single mother. Kurylenko rarely had contact with her father, meeting him for the first time after the split when she was eight, and later when she was thirteen.

Career

Kurylenko moved from native Berdyansk to Moscow at 15. At the age of 16, she moved to Paris. In 1996, she signed a contract with the Paris-based Madison modelling agency where she met her publicist Valérie Rosen. The following year, by the age of 18, she had appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle magazines. While working as a model in Paris, Kurylenko supported her mother in Ukraine.
She also appeared on the covers of Madame Figaro and Marie Claire magazines.
She became the face of brands Bebe, Clarins, and Helena Rubinstein. She has also modelled for Roberto Cavalli and Kenzo and appeared in the Victoria's Secret catalogue.
In 1998, she features in the music video of French-Algerian Raï style singer Faudel called "Tellement Je T'aime".
One of her first acting appearances was in Seal's music video, "Love's Divine" in 2003, but her film career truly began in France during 2005. She received the certificate of excellence award at the 2006 Brooklyn International Film Festival for her performance in L'Annulaire, and also starred in the Paris, je t'aime segment "Quartier de la Madeleine opposite Elijah Wood. That same year, she was selected to be the face of Kenzo's new fragrance, Kenzo Amour. She has appeared in all subsequent Kenzo Amour advertisements.
In 2007, she starred in Hitman alongside Timothy Olyphant. She had a minor role in Max Payne as Natasha. She played Bond girl Camille Montes in the 2008 James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. In the film she plays the role of a Bolivian Secret Service agent named Camille, who teams up with James Bond to avenge the death of her parents.
She was featured on the cover of the December 2008 issue of the US edition of Maxim magazine and on the cover of the February 2009 issue of the Ukrainian edition of Maxim. In Ukraine the mayor of Berdyansk suggested naming a street after her in early 2008, and she and her mother met Ukraine's First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko in President Yushchenko's family country house.
Kurylenko appeared in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, shot in fall 2010 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She also appeared in Oblivion, a science fiction film starring Tom Cruise and directed by Joseph Kosinski. Kurylenko played Alice Fournier who is the main subject of the spy thriller November Man.
In 2014, Kurylenko starred in the historical drama film The Water Diviner alongside Russell Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie and Jai Courtney. She also played the headmistress in Vampire Academy.

Personal life

Kurylenko acquired French citizenship in 2001. She married French fashion photographer Cedric van Mol in 2000, but the couple divorced four years later. She married American mobile phone accessory entrepreneur Damian Gabrielle in 2006, but that marriage ended in divorce in late 2007. Kurylenko moved to London in 2009.
Kurylenko and her former partner Max Benitz have one son, Alexander Max Horatio, born on 3 October 2015.
On 15 March 2020, Kurylenko announced she had tested positive for COVID-19. On 22 March, she said that she had completely recovered.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes
2005L'AnnulaireIrisDiane Bertrand
2006Paris, je t'aimeThe VampireVincenzo NataliSegment : Quartier de la Madeleine
2006The SerpentSofiaEric Barbier
2007HitmanNika BoroninaXavier Gens
2008À l'est de moiThe Russian prostituteBojena Horackova
2008Max PayneNatasha SaxJohn Moore
2008Quantum of SolaceCamille MontesMarc Forster
2009Kirot GaliaDanny Lerner
2010CenturionEtainNeil Marshall
2011There Be DragonsIldikoRoland Joffé
2011Land of OblivionAnyaMichale Boganim
2012ErasedAnna BrandtPhilipp Stölzl
2012To the WonderMarinaTerrence Malick
2012Seven PsychopathsAngelaMartin McDonagh
2013OblivionJulia Rusakova HarperJoseph Kosinski
2014Vampire AcademyEllen KirovaMark Waters
2014The November ManAlice Fournier/Mira FilipovaRoger Donaldson
2014The Water DivinerAysheRussell Crowe
2015A Perfect DayKatyaFernando León de Aranoa
2015MomentumAlex FarradayStephen S. Campanelli
2016The CorrespondenceAmyGiuseppe Tornatore
2017The Death of StalinMaria YudinaArmando Iannucci
2017Gun ShySheilaSimon West
2018Just a Breath Away AnnaDaniel Roby
2018The Man Who Killed Don QuixoteJacquiTerry Gilliam
2018MaraKate FullerClive Tonge
2018Johnny English Strikes AgainOpheliaDavid Kerr
2018The Emperor of ParisBaroness Roxane of GivernyJean-François Richet
2019L'InterventionJane AndersonFred Grivois
2019The RoomKateChristian Volckman
2019The CourierThe CourierZackary Adler
2019The TranslatorsKaterina AnisinovaRegis Roinsard
TBAEmpires of the DeepMichael French
Scott Miller		Post-production
TBAThe Bay of SilenceRosalindPaula van der OestPost-production

Television

Video game

Awards and nominations