When Volodymyr Zelenskiy was growing up in southeastern Ukraine, his Jewish family spoke Russian and his father once forbade the younger Zelenskiy from going abroad to study in Israel. Instead, Zelenskiy studied law at home. Upon graduation, he found a new home in movie acting and comedy — rocketing in the 2010s to become one of Ukraine’s top entertainers with the TV series “Servant of the People."
In it, he portrayed a lovable high school teacher fed up with corrupt politicians who accidentally becomes president.
