Alim Kouliev


Alim Kaisynovich Kouliev is a Russian-American actor, theatre director and screenwriter of Balkar origin. Kouliev was born in Nalchik — a small city in USSR. His father was the Balkar poet Kaisyn Kuliev. His older brother Eldar Kuliev is a Russian film director and a screenwriter. His younger brother Azamat Kuliev is the Russian painter, living and working in Istanbul, Turkey. At the age of seven, Kouliev was influenced by Vladimir Visotsky an acclaimed Russian actor, poet and singer, one of his father's younger colleagues in a poetry field. Alim decided to become an actor.

Biography

He studied acting at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in Moscow. After serving in the Soviet Army, he continued his education at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, where he graduated from the acting class of Yevgeny Matveyev, an acclaimed master of theater and cinema. His classmate was Natalya Vavilova. Kouliev also studied stage directing at GITIS in 1981.
Ever since he was a student, Kouliev appeared on the professional stage. His first significant role on stage was Mercutio in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Aleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, where he also played Atavio in The Moods of Marianne by Alfred de Musset and Meleander in Maurice Maeterlinck's Aglavain and Selyzett. He broke into films starring as Joseph Codrero in Copper Angel with Leonid Kuravlyov, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Aleksandr Filippenko, Leonid Yarmolnik. He has twelve years of acting experience working in leading Moscow theaters and has had several roles in the famous Russian feature films. He has also performed extensively as an actor for radio and TV. Kouliev created many great characters in classic and contemporary productions, under the best Russian theatrical directors.
In 1991 his life changed dramatically. He moved to the United States.
After the long break in his career as an actor, Kouliev made his comeback. In Los Angeles, he became a key member of the theatrical troupe Dreamhouse Ensemble, where he played Sasha Smirnoff in Room Service and Uncle Tobit in Jimmy Christ. At the present time the producer-actor-director works in Hollywood with "The Master Project", his own stage adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita. The Staging of Master and Margarita has been Kouliev's long-cherished dream as a director. He vividly expresses himself in the Master Project as a mature and sophisticated painter of life.

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
1978Immured in glass
1984Copper AngelJose Codrero
1986JaguarCadet
1988All Costs PaidUrkaTV Film
1988The Story of One Billiard-RoomMustached Man
2001The Secret KGB Paranormal FilesEgyptian consulate courierTV Documentary
2008Standard Operating ProcedureInterrogatorTV Documentary
2008The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonCossack
2009Taxi DanceDmitry
2010Medal of HonorChechen FighterVideo game
2012I Love Your MovesKolyaVideo
2012A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan IIIRussian Cabbie
2014The November ManVoice
2015Bridge of SpiesRussian GeneralVoice
2015OleanderVictorTV Series. Season 1, Episode 2
2015The Secret Space DisasterMission DirectorTV Mini-Sieries.
2015El FreemanYuri
2016The AmericansInvestigating MagistrateTV Series. Season 4, Episode 3; Season 4, Episode 4
2016UnlovableKonrad
2018The Spy Who Dumped MeRussian ThugVoice
2019ConanAndy Richter lipsynkVoice
2019VoiceVoice

Stage

YeartitleRoleNotes
1977..And Tomorrow Is The FightSashkaMoscow Young Generation Theater, play
1977Stop MalakhovHooliganMoscow Young Generation Theater, play
1978Mozart and SalieriMozartRussian Academy of Theatre Arts, play
1981Romeo and JulietMercutioAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1982Aglovenn And SellezetMelleanderAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1982She Without Love And DeathCaptainAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1982Squareness Of CircleAbramAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1983Three MusketeersAthosAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1983The Moods of MarianneAttavioAleksandr Demidov Theater-Studio, play
1983Madame BovaryCharles BovaryGerasimov Institute of Cinematography, play
1983The Cabal of HypocritesBoutonGerasimov Institute of Cinematography, play
1984The Devil's DiscipleRichardGerasimov Institute of Cinematography, play
1984The Lower DepthsThe BaronGerasimov Institute of Cinematography, play
1984I Want To Be An ActorPashkaHermitage Theater, play
1985Brandenburg GatesSergeantHermitage Theater, play
2003Room ServiceSasha SmirnoffThe Dreamhouse Theater Company, Hollywood, play
2004Jimmy ChristUncle TobitThe Dreamhouse Theater Company, Hollywood, play
2008Master and MargaritaVolandMaster Project Production, Hollywood, actor, director, producer, play
2018Till Death Do Us PartManRussian Masters Theatre Projects Production, Hollywood, actor, director, producer, based on "Open Couple" by Dario Fo and Franca Rame play