- Born
- Birth nameSofya Andreevna Shchetinina-Arzhakovskaya
- Height5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
- Sofya was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. She studied ballet at age 9 while attending the elite Vaganova Ballet Academy. From ages 10-12, Sofya studied modern dance then returned to classical ballet from ages 13-16. At 17, Sofya became a professional ballerina where she was discovered by talent agents. She won many beauty contests and competitions and starred on the talk show circuit. She opened the Venice Ball in Moscow where she met her future husband, Russian industrialist Sergey Veremeenko. They married quickly, and at age 18, Sofya entered the Mrs. World pageant in St. Petersburg, Russia, and won the title.
The international media quickly discovered her and suggested that she learn English and head to Hollywood, where she began landing TV roles and quickly moved to the big screen.- IMDb Mini Biography By: John House
- SpouseSergey Veremeenko(2006 - present)
- She was Mrs. World 2006. She was the first Russian to win the competition.
- She is fluent in Russian, her native language, and English, which she first learned in school. She subsequently began to study English in more depth when, at the suggestion of friends, she decided to pursue an acting career in America. She has continued to study English with language teacher and accent coach Kelly Reiter at Kelly's studio in Los Angeles, California, USA. Sofya is notable for speaking English without a Russian accent.
- When she first entered the public eye in Russia as a ballerina in her mid-teens, she was known under the surname Arzhakovskaya, which is her mother's maiden name. When she first entered acting in Russia, she shortened it to the stage name Skaya. This is unusual in that she, in fact, entirely dropped the surname itself -- Arzhakovskiy (masc.) / Arzhakovskaya (fem.) -- keeping only the feminine ending, -skaya, rather than modifying the surname. When she began her acting career in America, she further shortened it to Skya.
- She studied fighting techniques for the Shadows in Paradise movie continuing to improve new skills in Assassins Run.
- Sofya likes poetry and launched her video project dedicated to reading Russian poetry of the beginning of XX century in order to popularize it among young audience.
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