I bet the name Volodymyr Zelenskyy now rings a bell (in your ears)! Thanks to the infamous Russian invasion of Ukraine, the President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now become extremely popular, particularly through his press interviews and his front line activities alongside the Ukrainian military.
What is rather unknown to most people is that the Ukrainian president used to be an actor and a comedian before he was elected as the Ukrainian president. And in the wake of recent happenings, one of his successful comedy series has enjoyed a revival in popularity.
"Servant of the People," a series he starred in is currently aired on Netflix. The show featured a teacher — a role played by Zelensky. He became the president of the country after a tirade by the Ukrainian high school teacher against corruption sent the internet agog.
The series started streaming in 2015 and ran for three seasons. The last part aired in 2019. It was streamed on the 1+1 channel in Ukraine. There were also episodes uploaded to YouTube and on Netflix in 2017.
In 2021, the show was removed from the platform. But it seems Zelenskyy's global recognition in the face of the invasion of his country has motivated Netflix to re-add it to their platform.
Similarly, the series "Servant of the People" went on for three seasons. It ended when Zelenskyy contested for the presidency of Ukraine in 2019. While campaigning, he started a political party with the same name as the show.
The report gathered from The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Netflix has been given the license to reuse the episodes of the series. This they believe will give an insight into Zelenskyy's journey as a person and political figure. It will be particularly useful to people who do not know him until recent happenings between Russia and Ukraine.
The managing partner of Echo, Nicola Söderlund, in a released statement explained that the fictitious president happened to be an ordinary man, who matured into his role as a hero and an admired leader.
He further clarified that Zelenskyy and his people are faced with far more daunting realities. In fact, the circumstances are appalling compared to that of the comedy series. But it is undeniable that there are obvious similarities with the real-world situation. He later went on to describe "Servant of the People" as fascinating, important, and historic.
Netflix will be streaming the series in its original Russian language, but with English subtitles.
The 44-year-old Zelenskyy began to perform comedy as a teenager. He starred in and produced some other movies in Ukraine. In 2016, Servant of the People 2, a movie inspired by the series was released 2016. It featured Zelenskyy but it isn't currently available for viewing.