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IMDbPro

Ilya Naishuller

  • Director
  • Producer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,0001021
Ilya Naishuller
Director Ilya Naishuller, who broke out with his groundbreaking, POV action movie 'Hardcore Henry' (2015), is back with action buddy comedy 'Heads of State' starring Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Jack Quaid. Naishuller explains what he needs on set to tackle a globetrotting film of this scale.
Play clip4:59
5 Things 'Heads of State' Director Ilya Naishuller Needs on Set
4 Videos
13 Photos
Ilya Naishuller is a film director, actor, producer, screenwriter and the frontman of indie rock band Biting Elbows, founded in 2008. From 8 to 14 he studied in London, and later graduated from the British International School in Yasenevo. Naishuller dropped out of the Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting, then entered university in New York, but did not graduate. In March 2013, Ilya directed the Biting Elbows' "Bad Motherfucker" YouTube video with over 45 million views.

In 2015, Naishuller wrote and directed the action movie "Hardcore Henry" with Shalto Copley, Hayley Bennett, Danila Kozlovsky, Dariya Charusha and Svetlana Ustinova; and also produced and co-directed the TV series "Barvikha." He shot a video for The Weeknd's "False Alarm" in 2016, a video for the group "Kolshchik" in 2017, and recently directed the hit action-comedy "Nobody" starring Bob Odenkirk in 2021. Naishuller married actress Dariya Charusha in the summer of 2010.
BornNovember 19, 1983
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornNovember 19, 1983
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,0001021
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Photos13

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    Known for

    Hardcore Henry (2015)
    Hardcore Henry
    6.7
    • Director
    • 2015
    Bob Odenkirk in Nobody (2021)
    Nobody
    7.4
    • Director
    • 2021
    Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Heads of State (2025)
    Heads of State
    6.4
    • Director(directed by)
    • 2025
    Biting Elbows: The Stampede (2011)
    Biting Elbows: The Stampede
    6.7
    Music Video
    • Director
    • 2011

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Director



    • Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Heads of State (2025)
      Heads of State
      6.4
      • Director (directed by)
      • 2025
    • S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl (2024)
      S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
      7.4
      Video Game
      • motion capture director
      • 2024
    • Danila Poperechniy: FUN/LIFE (2023)
      Danila Poperechniy: FUN/LIFE
      7.1
      • Director
      • 2023
    • Filipp Yankovskiy, Darya Balabanova, and Danila Kozlovsky in Karamora (2022)
      Karamora
      6.1
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2022
    • Biting Elbows: Boy Is Dead (2021)
      Biting Elbows: Boy Is Dead
      6.9
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2021
    • Bob Odenkirk in Nobody (2021)
      Nobody
      7.4
      • Director
      • 2021
    • Leningrad: Tsoi (2018)
      Leningrad: Tsoi
      5.5
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2018
    • Leningrad Feat. Glukoza & ST: Ju-Ju (Zhu-zhu) (2018)
      Leningrad Feat. Glukoza & ST: Ju-Ju (Zhu-zhu)
      6.9
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2018
    • Leningrad: Voyage (2017)
      Leningrad: Voyage
      7.9
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2017
    • Leningrad: Kolshchik (2017)
      Leningrad: Kolshchik
      8.1
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2017
    • Biting Elbows: For the Kill (2016)
      Biting Elbows: For the Kill
      7.3
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2016
    • The Medic
      6.6
      Short
      • Director
      • 2016
    • The Weeknd: False Alarm (2016)
      The Weeknd: False Alarm
      8.2
      Music Video
      • Director
      • 2016
    • Geoff Ramsey in Rooster Teeth Shorts (2009)
      Rooster Teeth Shorts
      7.8
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2016
    • Hardcore Henry (2015)
      Hardcore Henry
      6.7
      • Director
      • 2015

    Producer



    • Anastasiya Talyzina and Yura Borisov in Centaur (2023)
      Centaur
      6.9
      • general producer
      • 2023
    • Molodoy chelovek (2022)
      Molodoy chelovek
      6.5
      • producer
      • 2022
    • Serj Tankian - Elasticity (2021)
      Serj Tankian - Elasticity
      7.0
      Video
      • producer
      • 2021
    • The Marathon of Desires (2020)
      The Marathon of Desires
      5.1
      • producer
      • 2020
    • Leningrad: Zoloto (2018)
      Leningrad: Zoloto
      6.8
      Music Video
      • executive producer
      • producer
      • 2018
    • I Am Losing Weight (2018)
      I Am Losing Weight
      6.4
      • producer
      • 2018
    • Leningrad: Voyage (2017)
      Leningrad: Voyage
      7.9
      Music Video
      • producer
      • 2017
    • Hardcore Henry (2015)
      Hardcore Henry
      6.7
      • producer
      • 2015

    Actor



    • Idris Elba, John Cena, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Heads of State (2025)
      Heads of State
      6.4
      • Polish Cop
      • 2025
    • Molodoy chelovek (2022)
      Molodoy chelovek
      6.5
      • Bank manager
      • 2022
    • Soldaut (2021)
      Soldaut
      6.6
      TV Series
      • Interviewer
      • 2021
    • The Execution (2021)
      The Execution
      6.7
      • Suspect
      • 2021
    • Bob Odenkirk in Nobody (2021)
      Nobody
      7.4
      • Hitman Anatoly
      • 2021
    • Hardcore Henry (2015)
      Hardcore Henry
      6.7
      • Timothy
      • Higher-Self Merc
      • Henry
      • 2015
    • All at Once (2014)
      All at Once
      6.7
      • Armourer
      • 2014

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos4

    5 Things 'Heads of State' Director Ilya Naishuller Needs on Set
    Clip 4:59
    5 Things 'Heads of State' Director Ilya Naishuller Needs on Set
    John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Idris Elba Take Our Big Bad Buddies Quiz
    Clip 9:35
    John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Idris Elba Take Our Big Bad Buddies Quiz
    John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Idris Elba Take Our Big Bad Buddies Quiz
    Clip 9:35
    John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Idris Elba Take Our Big Bad Buddies Quiz
    Super Bowl 2021 Spot
    Trailer 0:31
    Super Bowl 2021 Spot
    Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:34
    Trailer #1

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 6′ 0½″ (1.84 m)
    • Born
      • November 19, 1983
      • Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]
    • Spouse
      • Darya CharushaJuly 31, 2010 - present
    • Parents
      • Viktor Naishuller
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Article

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      His first-person-POV music video Biting Elbows: Bad Motherfucker (2013) attracted approximately 33 million views on YouTube and another 21 million on Vimeo. The reactions were enthusiastic, for example director Darren Aronofsky wrote a Tweet, calling it "So well done" and Samuel L. Jackson wrote "This is some Buck Wild shit!". Timur Bekmambetov contacted Ilya Naishuller through Facebook and offered to produce a feature film in the same style.
    • Quotes
      [on Hardcore Henry (2015)] The balance is that you do everything you can practically and then you help it with CG. You don't do everything with CG and help it practically. I love practical stuff and I love all the prosthetics and things with real, physical weight. I love designing that stuff. Actually, I don't design it. I talk about it with my designer and he does his concepts. There are about 1,800 CG shots in the movie, which is a huge number. But it's all augmentations. There's practical blood, but we added a little more so it's more visible. There is wirework, so we had to hide all the wires. But the stunt man really is jumping from that bicycle at fucking high speeds and [landing] on the top of a van and he needs the wires and there's the shadow of the wires that we have to take out. There were 70 shots where you see [a lighting rig] and that had to be taken out. That was time consuming and obviously not too cheap. [2016]

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