The Real Meaning of the Word ‘Gopnik’ in Anora Reveals Igor’s True Intentions Aren’t What They Seem
Anora was one of the big winners of the awards season this year, with star Mikey Madison walking away with the Best Leading Actress Oscar at the 97th Annual Academy Awards, and the movie also winning Best Picture and Best Director. In the movie, Madison plays a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch and finds that his family doesn’t approve of their union.
The movie is a little bit of a Cinderella story with a dark twist, and as with many movies that have gone on to win an Academy Award, its win has made people start dissecting everything about Anora. It’s not just how it treats sex work that people are interested in, it’s the little things, including some words in Russian that people have become fixated on, because they don’t understand their meaning.
According to Baker, Ani’s character is from Brooklyn and is of Russian ethnicity. Her boss often sets her up with Russian-speaking clients. She ends up marrying Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch, though their fairy-tale romance ends up being anything but a fairytale. Ivan, however, isn’t the most interesting male character in Anora; that would instead be Igor, a hired henchman.
There’s a particular word used to refer to Igor, played by Yura Borisov, that fans have been wondering about. But what is a Gopnik in Anora? What does the word mean? Here’s what we know.
What is a Gopnik in Anora?
Gopnik is a derogatory Russian slang word that roughly translates to thug. Yura Borisov was asked specifically about the word in an interview with Vulture, and he explained it like this: “a strong, young guy, living on the streets — I mean, he has a house, but mostly he lives on the streets, fixing some problems. He’s very aggressive and very stupid.”
However, according to Anora director Sean Baker, Borisov was very interested in whether his character was actually a Gopnik. “He kept on asking me ‘Is my character a Gopnik?’ A gopnik is, like, a hoodlum,” Baker recalled to NPR. “And we said, ‘You might be perceived as a gopnik, but we actually think that you’ve been, because of economic reasons or whatever, forced to take certain jobs that have put you in a situation where you come across as one, because you’re used as the heavy.'”
The director also added that Borisov really elevated the character he had on screen, making him even more than he originally envisioned. “I have to thank Yura for elevating what I had on the page. People really fell in love with his character.”
For his role as Igor in Anora, Borisov was nominated for multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
