Yekaterina Starshova: Life After 'Daddy's Girls'
Today, the Puppet in Yekaterina Starshova is sometimes unrecognizable
From the nation«s darling Puppet from the sitcom »Daddy«s Girls» to a soloist in global ice shows: Yekaterina Starshova has made one of the most dramatic U-turns in Russian TV history. While millions predicted a brilliant acting career, she calmly scored 100 on her university entrance exams, turned her back on cameras, dropped out of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine at Moscow State University, and moved to the UK to dedicate her life to professional figure skating. Here«s how a little girl with a plush toy named Bubliк outgrew her most famous role, survived early burnout, and found true freedom on the ice.
It turns out that if you obediently eat porridge, you can become a TV star at a young age
«I Ended Up at the Casting by Accident»
However, you can allow yourself a bit of childhood at any age
Yekaterina Starshova never even had time to dream of becoming an actress. Born into a family of figure skaters, she was on skates from the age of three, and the ice always attracted her more than film sets. But a couple of years later, everything changed.
Over time, Yekaterina realized that besides natural sciences, it wouldn«t hurt to improve her English. »With a language, traveling the world is much more convenient,« the girl said. And it certainly came in handy
Katya grew up an artistic child, and in 2007 a family friend invited her to audition for a new series called «Daddy»s Girls.« The directors were looking for a spontaneous, sincere girl for the role of the youngest sister. Out of hundreds of applicants, they chose Katya, seeing in her the perfect embodiment of Puppet.
For figure skaters, a pair is often not just about working together
— That I ended up at the casting by accident is true,« Starshova said in an interview. — It happens to me periodically. And the older I get, the more I think that accidents are not accidental.
Now Yekaterina has completely different «sisters»
Accidentally or not, at age five Katya was approved for the role, and soon «Daddy»s Girls« turned an ordinary girl into a screen superstar.
— I was five. I think no one asked me. Even if I had said «yes» or «no,» I couldn«t have understood the scale, what it was and what it would lead to,» the grown-up Puppet admitted. — My only responsibility was to eat the porridge my grandmother made.
Her grandmother also helped Starshova prepare for filming. Five-year-old Puppet couldn«t read yet, so her grandmother would read all the lines to her, and the girl would pick everything up on the fly.
— It turned out that I memorized not even my own lines. And everyone on set, I think, loved me for that, because I always knew everything,« Starshova said.
«I Was Infuriated by That Role»
Despite her lack of professional experience, Katya played naturally. Her funny lines, childlike logic, and touching relationship with her screen father (Andrey Leonov) became the sitcom«s calling card.
At the height of «Daddy»s Girls« popularity, Starshova»s face was everywhere. She became the main star of children«s advertising, representing vitamin brands, chocolate, cosmetics, and major toy store chains.
Despite such fame, Starshova didn«t stop at filming alone.
— Besides filming, I was already skating and taking classes at a studio called the Center for Aesthetics and Beauty «Katyusha.» There I did everything possible: dancing, singing, recitation, and acting. All of that was there and probably helped me a lot in playing Puppet,« Starshova said. — And I think my sense of responsibility appeared simply because I had a lot to do and had to be everywhere on time.
Later Katya admitted: due to her heavy workload, she missed out on childhood.
On the other hand, she didn«t deny herself anything.
— The money issue was resolved by my parents receiving it. And if I needed something, they always bought it. And if I needed something big, they just saved up. Essentially, the money went to them, but I had everything I asked for,« Starshova said.
Over time, Yekaterina changed her rhetoric and admitted that working on «Daddy»s Girls« drove her crazy.
— I was infuriated by my role. Especially as a teenager, when I was such a teen,« Starshova says today. — Firstly, people saw a different person in me, and the real me went unnoticed because I had nothing to do with the character I played. Secondly, I didn»t feel involved, that it was my achievement or the result of my work. Filming wasn«t my initiative. And I wanted to be associated with an activity I had chosen for myself.
«I Wanted Something Different»
As a result, Yekaterina chose science for herself. She was deeply interested in chemistry and biology, seriously interested in medicine and pharmaceuticals. Her interest in natural sciences manifested in high school when she decided to prove to everyone that she could fulfill herself outside the film industry.
— I wanted something more serious, strict, responsible. And at school I simply fell in love with chemistry and biology, I was very interested in studying it, and I decided I would go into this field,« Starshova explained her decision. — I initially wanted to become a doctor, but I had a difficult admission story. I did well on the exam, I got two hundreds in chemistry, biology, on the Unified State Exam, but I did poorly on the additional entrance test at Moscow State University (the internal exam for the major — Ed.).
After failing the additional test, the girl faced a choice: either go into general medicine at any university or stay at Moscow State University but in pharmacy. She redirected her documents to become a pharmacist and became inspired by a new goal — to study pharmacy, engage in serious laboratory research, and in the future develop new medications.
— I wanted to dive into formulas, into technical stuff, and so I decided to go there,« Yekaterina explains. — Maybe, by contrast, I just wanted something different.
Despite her genuine interest in chemistry and biology, after a few courses Katya realized that routine scientific and pharmaceutical work in closed laboratories didn«t give her the drive she got from movement. She decided to withdraw from Moscow State University, honestly admitting to herself: »I just don«t want to go into this field, I»m bored, I want something more alive, more creative.«
«It»s Part of My Achievements«
Yekaterina found something «more alive and creative» by returning to the ice. And with ice shows she has traveled half the world.
Also, thanks to figure skating, she got a boyfriend — her ice partner Vasily, with whom she competed. This ice tandem grew into a romantic relationship that lasted about six years.
Now the girl prefers not to publicize details of her personal life.
In spring 2022, she moved to the UK. Now Yekaterina performs in ice shows around the world, including large-scale evening programs at luxury hotels and tours on major cruise liners.
Despite turning her back on cinema, in 2023 she made a short exception: she briefly flew to Russia to film a cameo as the grown-up Polina Vasnetsova in the sequel «Daddy»s Girls. New« (12+). But she doesn»t plan to fully return to the film industry. By her own admission, she feels much more natural on the ice than on a film set. However, she doesn«t regret her experience at all.
— I think one shouldn«t try to build a personality from selective experience, but accept all of one»s experience as a whole,« Yekaterina says. — I was myself in every period of my life, because everything that happened to me is part of me. And Puppet is part of me and part of my achievements.
