Odin Biron

Odin Biron
Born
Odin Lund Biron

(1984-10-05) October 5, 1984 (age 40)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Citizenship
  • American
OccupationActor
Years active2009–present
Notable workInterns

Odin Lund Biron (born October 5, 1984) is an American actor,[1] best-known for his work in Russia,[2] where he played the character Dr Phil Richards in the popular medical sitcom, Interns[3] and the lead role of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Kirill Serebrennikov's feature film Tchaikovsky's Wife (2022).

Biography

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Born in Duluth, Minnesota,[3] Biron grew up nearby in rural Minnesota, moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his mother after his parents' divorce.[3][4] While studying at the University of Michigan, he studied at the Moscow Art Theatre on student exchange and was, unusually, invited to stay and join the incoming Russian class.[3][1] He has spoken about having had a romantic image of Russia, having known very little Russian on arrival;[3][1][4][5] being less able to communicate with other Russians, he focused on studying.[3] In one of his final student roles, he won an award[6] for his portrayal of Hamlet in a production that toured to New York's Baryshnikov Arts Center;[3][4] he drew the attention of the Gogol Center and plaudits from Viktor Ryzhakov [ru], artistic director of the Meyerhold Center and one of his former instructors.[3]

Landing a role in Interns in 2011, a top-rated Russian medical sitcom, raised Biron's profile substantially and he has spoken about being recognised in nightclubs and avoiding "celebrity events" as a result.[3] In a country where a large majority of the population view the United States "badly" or "very badly",[7] Biron is one of a few Americans in the public eye, yet the success of Interns has led to Biron being considered a heartthrob and very popular.[3]

Biron came out to his parents as a teenager and made no big secret of his homosexuality,[3] but Russia is very socially conservative on LGBT rights, with hostility towards legal recognition of same-sex marriage and support for laws discriminating against LGBT people.[8][9] The United States Department of State repeatedly raised concerns around LGBT civil rights in their 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.[10] His character on Interns was raised by two gay fathers,[1] though the treatment of the issue of sexuality on the show has been described as reinforcing the Soviet idea that homosexuality is a product of Western moral decay, rather than being used to promote more liberal values.[3]

It is very common for LGBT performers in Russia to avoid coming out, with an unspoken don't ask, don't tell arrangement between the entertainment industry and the mainstream press.[3][1][4] After the passage of 2013's Russian LGBT propaganda law, Biron's Interns co-star and former Orthodox priest Ivan Okhlobystin made international news with genocidally homophobic remarks made in a December 2013 talk in Novosibirsk,[11] leading Biron to consider leaving the show and Russian TV altogether.[3][12] As a result, he came out in an interview with New York magazine in early 2015,[3][1] to mixed reactions,[13] reported in the Russian press accompanied by mentions of Okhlobystin's remarks.[12] After an initial reaction leaving Biron with "a sense of physical danger, political danger", he initially left Russia.[1] He returned later without any apparent negative effect on his career,[1] though his friendship with Okhlobystin had become untenable after the former priest's reaction describing him as a "pervert" and a "sodomite".[1]

Biron lived in Moscow with his boyfriend, a Kazakh film director,[3][1][4] and has a brother who lives in Arlington, VA,[5] while his mother lives in New Zealand.[4] In an interview with Minnesota's Star Tribune in May 2015, however, he mentioned that he was back in the United States permanently and, as well as acting, was pursuing a Le Cordon Bleu culinary degree.[14]

From 2016 to 2022, he lived in Moscow and worked at the Gogol Center. Since 2022, he has lived in Berlin.[15]

Awards and nominations

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  • Named as a Best Actor in the 2009 Golden List while at Moscow Art Theatre, for his role as the title character in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 Rokery
2013 Dumplings Alex
2014 Spiral Sasha, Yakob's assistant
2015 12 Months: A New Fairy Tale Iyul
2017 Maximum Impact P.B. Floyd
2022 Tchaikovsky's Wife Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Petrópolis Philip Graham
2024 Limonov: The Ballad Ethan

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Ivan the Terrible The English ambassador
Capital of sin Prince Max
2011—2016 Interns Phil Richards 67th series
2019 Gold Diggers Vasiliy
2020 Optimists 2 Phillip Bradley
2022 Karamora Journalist
The Last Minister Edward Snowden Episode: "Citizen X"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rachel Donadio (April 10, 2015). "After Interns star came out in Russia, a mix of fury and shrugs". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  2. ^ Graham Gremore (February 10, 2015). "Russia's hottest American actor makes bold move by coming out publicly". Queerty. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Charly Wilder (February 9, 2015). "Russia's hottest American is ready to take a risk that could end his career". New York. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Jenn McKee (April 20, 2015). "Ann Arbor grad / Russian sitcom star at the center of 'coming out' controversy". The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Sofya Raevskaya (May 24, 2012). "Odin Biron: Russia has always fascinated me". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Театральная премия "Золотой Лист"" [Theatrical Award "Golden List"] (in Russian). Golden List. May 28, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  7. ^ Anna Arutunyan (June 6, 2014). "Anti-American sentiment growing in Russia". USA Today. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  8. ^ Tom W. Smith (April 2011). "Cross-national Differences in Attitudes towards Homosexuality" (PDF). NORC at the University of Chicago. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  9. ^ David M. Herszenhorn (August 11, 2013). "Gays in Russia find no haven, despite support from the West". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  10. ^ "Russia". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State. 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  11. ^ Vladimir Kozlov (December 13, 2013). "Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin: 'I would put all the gays alive into an oven'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Звезда "Интернов" признался в гомосексуализме и рассказал об издевках Охлобыстина" [The star of "interns" admitted to homosexuality and spoke about mockery from Okhlobystin] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. February 10, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  13. ^ Katie Zavadski (February 10, 2015). "Russians react to American sitcom star's coming-out". Vulture.com. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  14. ^ Sharyn Jackson (May 27, 2015). "Actor Odin Biron: TV star in Russia, just another guy in Minnesota". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  15. ^ "Odin Biron, actor, Berlin | Crew United".
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