Little Kolja Andrej Chalimon withdrew from the world of film. What does he look like today and what does he do professionally?

Andrej Chalimon was born in 1990 in Russia. When he was five years old and attending kindergarten, Nikita Sergejevich Mikhalkov’s talent scouts, hired by father and son Svěrak, came to their school to find a Russian-speaking boy for the upcoming film Kolya. The casting was held at the Czech embassy in Moscow, and little Andrej won the role among the little boys.

He flew to Prague with his mother and sister and filmed a film about his life here, for which he was awarded the Czech Lion for an actor in a supporting role. Kolja was also nominated at the Oscars and was the only Czech film to win the statuette for the best feature film not spoken in English. It was presented in a total of 43 countries.

Photo: MrPanyGoff / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Promotional poster for the film Kolya in Russia.

Despite his young age, thanks to the intense experiences of filming, he remembers and remembers it well, even though he experienced rough moments even for a small boy, when he felt great pain when he was pinched by a subway door, or when the crew gave him a toy, which they then destroyed to force him crying in scenes where it was needed.

After filming, he returned to Russia with his family. Even as a result of the ongoing Russian economic crisis at the time, he returned to Prague in 1998 after a few years and entered elementary school in anticipation of other roles. However, they did not come, Andrej only acted in commercials, and when the family did not receive permission to extend their stay, they returned to Moscow in 1999.

During his school years, he played in several Russian series, in the Italian film Prima la musica, poi le parole (1998), and he only got a bigger film role once in the film Greenhouse Effect (2005).

Photo: Fulvio Wetzl / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Andrej Chalimon in the Italian film Prima la musica, poi le parole (1998)

After high school, Chalimon applied to study acting and production at the Moscow Theater Academy, but was not accepted. His last role was in a Russian series in 2015, and he finally hung up acting.

After Koljo, I acted in Russian films as well as in an Italian film and an American western. In the end, however, there was not so much interest in me, in Russia, after 2006, the film format began to change. Sitcoms are filmed in studios. And I had to go somewhere further and choose another profession. Yet.

Finally, he graduated from the Faculty of Public Administration. During his studies, he earned extra money in film production and also as a manager of an electronics store. After school, he went through several jobs – a personnel officer for the soldiers or an official in the administration of Moscow tunnels and subways. He is currently 34 years old and runs a Swiss watch shop. He still tries to flirt with acting, participates in some auditions from time to time, but so far without success.

Andrej is still single and childless, so far he hasn’t found the right kindred spirit in his life.

It is interesting that years later, in connection with the war in Ukraine, Zdeněk Svěrák filmed a spot to support the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic, where he used lines from the film Kolya. Unfortunately, the message of the almost 30-year-old film is now relevant again.

The following quotes from the film appear in the spot: “If you remember, I told you about you Russians: You steal suitcases and foreign territory. And unfortunately it’s true. You shoot at peaceful towns and drive people from their homes. Now we have a little boy like you, Koljo, standing outside our door. He arrived this morning from Ukraine with only his mother. How can we leave them there?’