Steven Seagal would like to stay in the Primorsky Krai and play a slightly different role.
“With pleasure. I represent President Putin’s interests. I want to know more about Primorye and see more. And to become your governor!” the world-known actor, who arrived in Vladivostok to take part in international film festival, said when asked if he would like to be at the head of the local administration.
He also used his favourite argument referring to his origin. He stated that his father’s ancestors came directly ‘from here’.
But the problem is that Seagal often gives a different interpretation of ‘from here’. In Kyrgyzstan and Russia, he claims that one of his ancestors was a Buryat nomad, although in reality his father was an American Jew whose parents left St. Petersburg for the USA. His grandfather and grandmother were born in the territory of present Belarus in Brest and in Minsk, respectively. It was not until their arrival in the United States that the family shortened their surname from Siegelman to Seagal.
Moreover, the actor told Alyaksandr Lukashenka about his Belarusian roots when making a visit to his house Minsk. The host treated him to a home-grown raw carrot, and ‘Nico’ made plans to settle in Belarus. He did come to the country again, but it was just business. He also appeared in one of the promo films of the famous World of Tanks.
But now the actor seems to have opted for Russia. Therefore, no wonder that the performer of the part of Nico Toscani – a radical settler of all conflicts – is perceived as someone could tackle grave problem that Primorye is facing.
On September 20, amid the fraud scandal, the Primorye electoral commission had to cancel the results of the runoff election of the regional head. Two candidates – the acting head of Primorye Andrey Tarasenko (United Russia) and Andrey Ishchenko (Communist Party) participated in the elections. However, when 95% of votes had been counted, Ishchenko took the 6% lead. But as a result, Tarasenko came first. However, the legality of the pro-Putin candidate victory was questioned. The repeat election of Primorye governor are to be held within three months.
In theory, Seagal run in the election: two years ago Vladimir Putin granted him the citizenship of the Russian Federation. By now, he has already has some political and professional experience – in August he was appointed the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative on the US-Russia cultural ties. He also registered a sole proprietorship in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow.
