Biography
Sofya Skya is an American and Russian film actress, acting coach, founder of the immersive creative space Real Art Studio and the RAS Acting School.
Born on 12 August 1987 in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg, Russia).
At the age of nine, interested in ballet and modern dance, Sofya Skya enrolled in the Vaganova Ballet Academy. At twelve she moved to Ufa for further ballet training, where she graduated from The Rudolf Nureyev Choreographic College.
Having received an invitation from the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Sofya Skya started performing main roles and solo parties in such ballets as the "Swan Lake", "La Bayadere", "Snow White", "Esmeralda" and "Raymonda".
In 2005 Sofya Skya won the main crown in the competition "Russian Grace", and she also had the honor to open the third Moscow's Vienna Ball.
The attention of American filmmakers to the future actress came after her dance performance at the finals of the competition "Mrs. America" (Tucson, Arizona), where she was invited on the rights of the owner of the title "Mrs. World" to pass the crown to the new winner. It was there for the first time when one of the Paramount Pictures producers invited Sofya to take part in the casting for the filming of the second part of the film Flashdance.
To boost her professional skills, in 2008 Sofya enrolled in professional acting courses at Baron Brown Studio (Los Angeles, USA), was trained by Lisa Milillo, a well-known acting coach in the industry and a producer of such TV and film projects as "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "Churchill", also had some training with a famous Hollywood trainer Michelle Danner at Larry Moss studio. In the meantime, she took some private classes with vocal coach Vida Simon.
Professional achievements greatly influenced the decision to stay in the US, where Sofya's interests were represented by the DDO Artists Agency, one of the leading agencies promoting and supporting young and experienced film, theatre actors. Roland Joffe, a director and screenwriter, was among the colleagues to uphold this decision.
Like many young actors, Sofya was casting and subsequently got her first role in the screen adaptation of Edgar Poe's Ligeia (2009); later appeared with a supporting role in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler by John Kent Harrison (2009). Working on the set with Hollywood actors like Christian Slater, Mark Dacascos, Wes Bentley, Anna Paquin, Michael Madsen, Cole Hauser, Ben Cross, Eric Roberts аnd Danny Trejo, Sofya gained an invaluable professional experience.
According to Sofya Skya, essential factors considered in choosing a career were: feeling the support of close ones, who insisted on the further development of the talent, self-confidence, and gained experience, including unexpected opportunities and perspectives as well. Thanks to the rich and multifaceted inner world, the actress has a wide range of creativity. Although the altered priority for self-fulfillment was in favor of the cinema, Sofya's love for dance hasn't been diminished. Owing to the ballet background that has been developed over the years, several films have directly used the image of the dancer, literally adapting. Sofya easily gets into characters that differ dramatically in character as well as in stage image.
The birth of a child in 2015 allowed her to devote more time to the family and think about the implementation of not only "on-the-set" ones.
Sofya keeps working on the set and has founded an immersive creative space Real Art Studio, which has launched the RAS Acting School to train actors by Sofya Skya's author program based on personal experience gained through studying at Hollywood's renowned teachers and acting in films.
In the spring of 2020, Sofya and FprBuro launched the project #ActorsTalk, where Sofya and representatives of cinema from all over the world conduct weekly live talks on IG, discussing hot topics of the industry "with no intermediaries" giving personal thoughts, and sharing life and professional experience "here and now". At the same time, the audience has a unique opportunity to get engaged in the live talk with the best professionals of the industry, to ask interesting questions, and get answers.
A film Once There Was a War, with Sofya in the main role of Anastasia Golovina, was presented within the program "Russian Trace" at 42nd MIFF in October 2020.
Born on 12 August 1987 in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg, Russia).
At the age of nine, interested in ballet and modern dance, Sofya Skya enrolled in the Vaganova Ballet Academy. At twelve she moved to Ufa for further ballet training, where she graduated from The Rudolf Nureyev Choreographic College.
Having received an invitation from the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Sofya Skya started performing main roles and solo parties in such ballets as the "Swan Lake", "La Bayadere", "Snow White", "Esmeralda" and "Raymonda".
In 2005 Sofya Skya won the main crown in the competition "Russian Grace", and she also had the honor to open the third Moscow's Vienna Ball.
The attention of American filmmakers to the future actress came after her dance performance at the finals of the competition "Mrs. America" (Tucson, Arizona), where she was invited on the rights of the owner of the title "Mrs. World" to pass the crown to the new winner. It was there for the first time when one of the Paramount Pictures producers invited Sofya to take part in the casting for the filming of the second part of the film Flashdance.
To boost her professional skills, in 2008 Sofya enrolled in professional acting courses at Baron Brown Studio (Los Angeles, USA), was trained by Lisa Milillo, a well-known acting coach in the industry and a producer of such TV and film projects as "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "Churchill", also had some training with a famous Hollywood trainer Michelle Danner at Larry Moss studio. In the meantime, she took some private classes with vocal coach Vida Simon.
Professional achievements greatly influenced the decision to stay in the US, where Sofya's interests were represented by the DDO Artists Agency, one of the leading agencies promoting and supporting young and experienced film, theatre actors. Roland Joffe, a director and screenwriter, was among the colleagues to uphold this decision.
Like many young actors, Sofya was casting and subsequently got her first role in the screen adaptation of Edgar Poe's Ligeia (2009); later appeared with a supporting role in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler by John Kent Harrison (2009). Working on the set with Hollywood actors like Christian Slater, Mark Dacascos, Wes Bentley, Anna Paquin, Michael Madsen, Cole Hauser, Ben Cross, Eric Roberts аnd Danny Trejo, Sofya gained an invaluable professional experience.
According to Sofya Skya, essential factors considered in choosing a career were: feeling the support of close ones, who insisted on the further development of the talent, self-confidence, and gained experience, including unexpected opportunities and perspectives as well. Thanks to the rich and multifaceted inner world, the actress has a wide range of creativity. Although the altered priority for self-fulfillment was in favor of the cinema, Sofya's love for dance hasn't been diminished. Owing to the ballet background that has been developed over the years, several films have directly used the image of the dancer, literally adapting. Sofya easily gets into characters that differ dramatically in character as well as in stage image.
The birth of a child in 2015 allowed her to devote more time to the family and think about the implementation of not only "on-the-set" ones.
Sofya keeps working on the set and has founded an immersive creative space Real Art Studio, which has launched the RAS Acting School to train actors by Sofya Skya's author program based on personal experience gained through studying at Hollywood's renowned teachers and acting in films.
In the spring of 2020, Sofya and FprBuro launched the project #ActorsTalk, where Sofya and representatives of cinema from all over the world conduct weekly live talks on IG, discussing hot topics of the industry "with no intermediaries" giving personal thoughts, and sharing life and professional experience "here and now". At the same time, the audience has a unique opportunity to get engaged in the live talk with the best professionals of the industry, to ask interesting questions, and get answers.
A film Once There Was a War, with Sofya in the main role of Anastasia Golovina, was presented within the program "Russian Trace" at 42nd MIFF in October 2020.
© SOFYA SKYA, 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.