Oksana Mysina

Oksana Mysina is one of Russia's most multi-faceted actors, working in feature films, television and theater. Since her cinematic debut in 1988 with "Miss Millionaress," directed by Alexander Rogozhkin, she has made her reputation by evolving her own unique style of mixing elements of tragedy and comedy into each of her roles while also achieving great psychological veracity. Critics, often struggling to describe Mysina's distinctive presence, have compared her to an enormous range of great actresses past and present, including Giulietta Masina, Meryl Streep, the legendary Russian actresses Faina Ranevskaya, Serafima Birman, Inna Churikova and others. However, as her career has developed, it has become clear that Mysina is a personality unto herself. The first film in which she achieved wide recognition was Vadim Abdrashitov's "Pyesa dlya passazhira" (Play for a Passenger, 1994), a winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1995. Her performances as a poetic suicide in Yury Moroz's "Kamenskaya" (2000) and a troubled single woman in Yelena Tsyplakova's 24-episode mini-series "Semeinye tainy" (Family Secrets, 2001) brought her national fame, while her interpretation of the empress Maria Fyodorovna in "Bednyj, bednyj Pavel" (Poor, Poor Pavel, 2003) has brought her numerous awards. Her talent for eccentric comedy was on display in "Pan ili Propal" (All or Nothing, 2004) while her knack for subtle comedy was evident in "Vyanet-propadaet" (Wilting-Losing, 2004). She presently has appeared in more than 20 feature and television films. In theater Mysina has performed to acclaim throughout the world, including such prestigious festivals as Avignon, the Berliner Festspiele, BITEF and others. Her performances of the title role in "Dear Yelena Sergeyevna" at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater in 1990 was instrumental in that show being named one of the season's top events by the Chicago Sun-Times. Following sold-out performances of her legendary one-woman show "K.I. From `Crime'" at Bard College's Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in 2003, this show was invited to perform at the Foundry Theatre in New York City in 2005. In addition to founding her own theater in 2001, the Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood, she has since 2003 fronted the rock band Oxy Rocks, handling vocals, performing on the violin and guitar and writing songs.