Perfecting 'Strangers' with a Russian twist

November 14, 2006 Warner Bros. is on a roll in Russia with a local version of its 1980s TV hit "Perfect Strangers," featuring two local actors playing reincarnated versions of the show's original central characters Larry and Balki -- but with the new monikers of Andrei and Ivan. Artem Semakin, who plays Andrei (and is known to Russian audiences for his role in CTC comedy "Born Ugly"), says during a pause in the frantic production pace on the Russian set, "The American actors have that accuracy which is so necessary in a sitcom: accuracy of tempo and pauses." Ivan is played by Anton Eldarov, who also is well known to Russian audiences from his role in military drama "Soldaty" (also on Ren-TV).

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