He became a priest at the peak of his career, and then returned to the screen: Ivan Okhlobystin is 60 years old

Actor, screenwriter and director Ivan Okhlobystin turned 60 on July 22. During his career, he managed to become one of the most shocking figures in Russian show business.: star in dozens of films, gain national fame thanks to the role of Dr. Bykov in Interns, take priestly orders, and then return to the cinema. The most striking turns of his biography are described in the Izvestia article.

Ivan Okhlobystin: childhood, education and first roles

The actor was born on July 22, 1966 in the Tula region. The boy's father worked as a military doctor. He participated in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet-Finnish and Korean Wars and was promoted to the rank of colonel of the medical service. After retiring, Ivan Okhlobystin Sr. got a job as the chief doctor at the Polenovo recreation center, where the future actor would later be born.

At the time of his son's birth, Okhlobystin Sr. was 60 years old, while the boy's mother, Albina (nee Belyaeva), was 19. She was a student at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, where she studied economics as an engineer. The family lived near Maloyaroslavets, then moved to Moscow.

The parents' marriage did not last long, and soon after the divorce, Ivan stayed with his mother. Until the age of 12, he lived in a village near Maloyaroslavets with his maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, while his mother completed graduate school. Then the family moved to Moscow, and Albina married Anatoly Stavitsky for the second time, and gave birth to another boy, Stanislav, Ivan Okhlobystin's half—brother.

After graduating from high school in 1983, Okhlobystin went to study computer operator at a vocational school. However, the following year he decided to enroll in the directing department at VGIK. After the first year, Ivan was drafted into the army, where he served for two years in the rocket forces in Rostov-on-Don. After returning, Okhlobystin recovered at the institute and continued to study directing.

At that time, many future stars of cinema and show business studied with him, for example, Tigran Keosayan, Fedor Bondarchuk, Alexander Bashirov, Rashid Nugmanov, Bakhtiyor Khudoinazarov and others. Roman Kachalov and Renata Litvinova studied in a parallel course at the screenwriting faculty.

For the first time on movie screens, the actor appeared in the role of Misha Strekozin in the film "I Promise to be!" (1983) Vyacheslav Maksakov. In his senior year, in 1991, Okhlobystin starred in the title role in the film directed by Nikita Tyagunov "The Foot" about the consequences of the Afghan war. For this work at the festival "Molodost-1991" he won the prize for the best role.

Ivan Okhlobystin in the film "The Foot" directed by Nikita Tyagunov

Photo: Global Look Press

In 1992, Okhlobystin graduated from directing in the workshop of Igor Talankin and continued to build a career. His first screenplay for the film "The Freak" directed by Roman Kachanov was highly appreciated by critics and nominated for the Green Apple, Golden Leaf award, and his first feature-length directorial work "The Arbitrator" won the Kinotavr award in the category "Films for the Elite".

Among the actor's first projects are "Over Dark Water" (1992), "Giselle's Mania" (1995), "The Shelter of Comedians" (1995), "A Man for a Young Woman", "Midlife Crisis" (1997) and others.

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At the same time, Okhlobystin tried himself as a playwright. In 1996, the premiere of the play "The Villainess, or the Cry of the Dolphin" directed by Mikhail Efremov based on the play by Okhlobystin took place at the Moscow Art Theater. After that, Okhlobystin's second play, Maximilian the Stylite, was staged there, which director Roman Kachalov filmed in 1999.

In the late 1990s, Okhlobystin also worked as a journalist. He did a number of reports for Stolitsa magazine, but quickly became disillusioned with the publication, calling it a "brothel." Then the artist got a job on the staff of the weekly Vesti. In addition, he became a co-founder of the Political News Agency and was engaged in political PR management. Okhlobystin was also the host of the religious TV show "Canon" on TV-6.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov

In 1999, Okhlobystin seriously decided to enter politics. He planned to run for deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation on the federal list of the ecological party "Cedar", but due to a conflict with the leadership of the party withdrew his name from the party list. Then he ran for the State Duma as an independent candidate in the Tushinsky single-mandate constituency No. 200 (Moscow), but received only 4.07% of the vote and did not enter parliament.

Why did Ivan Okhlobystin become a priest

In 2000, Okhlobystin left cinema and a turbulent secular life, and in 2001 he was ordained a priest in Tashkent. At first, he served in the Tashkent and Uzbekistan dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, but at the end of the year he returned to Moscow, as his wife could not stand the hot climate. In the capital, he served in the church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Zayatsky, and since 2005 — in the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God in Sredny Sadovniki.

Okhlobystin explained his decision to become a priest as a sincere spiritual search and the realization that he was led to faith by "need and unresolved life issues." According to him, it was the dictate of fate, although he himself believed that he was not educated enough internally for such a high destiny.

In 2007, Okhlobystin returned to the film industry, explaining the need to feed a large family. This decision caused a flurry of criticism on social media, where the artist was accused of hypocrisy. In November 2009, the actor appealed to Patriarch Kirill with a request to temporarily release him from priestly ministry due to financial difficulties in his family and the inability to combine cinema with church rules. In February, the patriarch granted his request.

Ivan Okhlobystin's return to cinema and the role of Dr. Bykov

In 2010, Okhlobystin gained national popularity due to the role of Andrey Bykov, head of the therapeutic department, in the comedy series Interns. The character quickly became popular, and the project was a resounding success. The sarcastic, sarcastic, burr-voiced doctor with aggression problems became a special highlight of the sitcom. "Interns" was published for 6 years.

The series tells about the work of four inexperienced interns who constantly get into ridiculous situations, for which they receive reprimands from the head, Andrey Evgenievich Bykov. He has a complex character and a special pedagogical approach. Bykov's best friend is venereologist Ivan Natanovich Kupitman. Anastasia Konstantinovna Kisegach, the head physician of the hospital, who has a romantic relationship with Bykov, is in charge of all of them.

The actor liked the role of Dr. Bykov so much that he decided to return to the cinema for good. Since December 2010, he has been blogging on Facebook (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation) on behalf of his character, where he interspersed the facts of his own biography with the events of the fictional hero's life.

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The family of Ivan Okhlobystin and his views on life

Since 1996, Ivan Okhlobystin has been married to actress Oksana Arbuzova. They met in the early 1990s while studying at the Mayak Art Club at VGIK. According to the actor's own recollections, when he came to the club, he noticed that "all the girls there were with boyfriends, and only one with two," but this did not bother him.

"I, such an impudent man, came up and said: "Mademoiselle, why don't we take a romantic trip around Moscow at night?" She thought about it, drank the glass of vodka in front of her, put it down, and said, "Why not? Just promise to take me home!" he said in an interview.

Since then, Ivan and Oksana have never been apart, they got married a month after they met. During the years of marriage, the couple had six children: daughters Anfisa, Evdokia, Varvara and John, as well as sons Vasily and Savva. The eldest daughters Evdokia and Anfisa grew up, got married and became parents. To date, Okhlobystin has three grandchildren.

Director, screenwriter, actor and public figure Ivan Okhlobystin with his wife Oksana

Photo: Global Look Press/Natalia Shakhanova

The actor confessed that he is a very gentle father and grandfather, especially in front of girls.

"Absolutely powerless in front of girls. They've been twirling me around like a steering wheel on a stick, and they're twirling me around. And the guys too. I'm very soft," he said.

According to the artist, he works tirelessly to support his huge family. Because of his constant work, he doesn't spend as much time with his grandchildren as he would like, and therefore considers himself not the best grandfather.

Interesting facts about Ivan Okhlobystin on his 60th birthday

The artist's life is full of unpredictability and unexpected turns, so there are plenty of interesting facts in his biography. Izvestia selected the top 7 interesting facts about the artist.

• Okhlobystin has a mini-collection of rifles at home, and he is a member of the Union of Hunters and Fishermen of Russia. In addition, the actor is fond of jewelry, creating cyberpunk jewelry, and has a degree in chess.
• In his youth, Okhlobystin was a biker, was fond of rock and got a lot of tattoos. However, after a serious accident in which he barely survived, he stopped using motorcycles.
• In the 2010s, Okhlobystin worked as the creative director of Euroset, and later held a similar position at Baon.
• After returning from the army and being reinstated at VGIK, Okhlobystin actively participated in public activities. Soon he took up the post of secretary of the Union of Cinematographers, a position that involves serious organizational and representative work.