Chernobyl cast: Who plays Mikhail Gorbachev in Chernobyl?
CHERNOBYL on HBO and Sky Atlantic has an extensive cast playing a selection of historical figures. But who plays Mikhail Gorbachev in Chernobyl and what else has he been in?
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Chernobyl on HBO and Sky Atlantic’s first episode sees the then leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, take part in a meeting where it is decided to hush up the tragic events. Mikhail Gorbachev is played in Chernobyl by David Dencik, who has appeared in a number of other big-name TV and film projects. Dencik is from Sweden, making him one of a number of the Chernobyl cast members who are actually Scandinavian playing Russians and Ukrainians in the HBO and Sky co-production.
Who plays Mikhail Gorbachev in Chernobyl?
Danish-Swedish actor David Dencik plays Mikhail Gorbachev in Chernobyl.
UK viewers probably know the 44-year-old actor best from BBC series McMafia, where he played Boris Godman, the uncle of lead character Alex (played by James Norton).
He also starred alongside Nicole Kidman in season two of China Girl, where he played Alexander ‘Puss’ Braun, the villain of the series.
Netflix viewers may also recognise Dencik from recent Swedish drama Quicksand.
He is due to star in the new James Bond film as Waldo, a crucial villain role.
Other major film projects Dencik has appeared in include the Michael Fassbender film The Snowman, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo alongside Daniel Craig and the 2001 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Back in Scandinavia, he has appeared in cult films like Men & Chicken and We Are the Best!
Gorbachev in Chernobyl is not the first real-life figure Dencik has played in his near two-decade-long acting career.
In Genius, National Geographic’s biopic about Albert Einstein (Geoffrey Rush), Dencik played fellow physicist Niels Bohr, while in 2013 series The Borgias, he played Cardinal Orsini.
Dencik is just the latest in a long list of people who have donned the Russian leader’s port wine stain to play Mikhail Gorbachev.
The actor who has played Gorbachev most frequently is David Lloyd Austin, who has played the USSR premier three times.
He first played the politician in Rocky IV, then reprised the role in spy spoof The Naked Gun and in the Christopher Plummer TV series Counterstrike.
Other actors who have played Gorbachev include German actor Udo Samel, who played him in series Deutschlandspiel and Hank Azaria, who voices him in an episode of The Simpsons.
In 2012, it was announced that Spectre actor and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz would be playing him in a film called Reykjavik.
Mikhail Gorbachev himself has revealed that he will be watching Chernobyl and he is sure to have an opinion of Dencik’s portrayal of him.
He told Russian radio station Govorit Moskva: “I have not [watched it yet]. But I will definitely try to watch it.”
Chernobyl is streaming on NOW TV now.
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