Ville Haapasalo

Ville Juhana Haapasalo (born 28 February 1972) is a Finnish stage and film actor who has worked in Finland and Russia. His acting career started in 1995, after finishing his studies in St. Petersburg. In 2003, he was honored with the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his role of Veikko in the film The Cuckoo directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin.

Haapasalo was educated in St. Petersburg at the Academy of Performing Arts of the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy. He studied there from 1991-1995. In his first year of study, he was mugged nine times. He knew no Russian when he began studying.

Haapasalo's career got a huge lift immediately after his graduation for his appearance in 1995 in a Russian comedy Peculiarities of the National Hunt. In 2002 he won the Best Actor award at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival, for his role in the Russian-made film Kukushka (The Cuckoo).

Although his fame comes mostly from film, he also writes for the screen, acts in theaters, and does TV cinema. He also appeared in Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications' 1998 campaign National Features of Driving instructing Russians on Finnish road rules. He is more widely recognized in Russia than in his country of origin Finland. Recently, however, he has hosted and starred in quite a number of travel shows on Finnish TV.

Haapasalo was born in Hollola, Finland. He speaks four languages fluently: Finnish, Russian, Swedish, and English. His hobbies include playing trombone, ice-hockey, skiing, and skating. He stands 1.85 m (6 feet ¾ inches), wears size 52, and has dark brown hair and green/gray eyes.

Ville Haapasalo married Saara Hedlund in 1995 and they currently reside in Helsinki, Finland.

Personal life

First wife Saara Hedlund Finnish actress, divorced, two children.

His second wife, Tina Barkalaja, director and creative director of RA Barkstel. Unregistered marriage.

Writer

• Luonto ja terveys (2006) (TV)
• Perjantai (2003) (TV)

• Actors.fl