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Jobless Russian Actor Gets Audition for Guy Ritchie After Filming Squat Video

With three years of unsuccessful auditions behind him, actor Leon Yanin had a long streak of bad luck. However, he is about to make a U-turn in life after prominent British filmmaker Guy Ritchie replied to his tongue-in-cheek message on social media.
Sputnik

An unemployed actor from Russia's Yekaterinburg received an audition invitation from director Guy Ritchie after he jokingly sent Jason Statham a video of himself doing squats.

The lucky man, called Leon Yanin, told Russian tabloid StarHit that he had challenged Guy Ritchie on Instagram to repeat weight training after him — just for the fun of it. The director recommended that Leon write Jason Statham, his favourite star, who also happens to be known for his ripped physique.

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Leon then filmed himself speaking to the actor in broken English and doing tire squats. He confesses that he did not expect anything from the endeavour, but Statham replied in a couple of days that he "passed the torch" to Guy Ritchie.

It took a while before Leon received a call from Ritchie's casting manager who invited him to come for an audition. It appeared that Ritchie was looking for a "bad Russian guy" for his new movie, which is slated to start shooting in Europe in spring.

According to the aspiring actor, his last job was a sales rep for a large Yekaterinburg-based firm but for the last three years, he has been "freewheeling". Leon realises that if he is successful, he will get a tiny role but believes that it could help him open the door to the industry he has been knocking on for so long.

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