Actor Roman Popov Dies, Remembered for Humor and Resilience

Artist Roman Popov found solace in humor throughout his life. Jokes helped him cope with life«s difficulties. Even when Roman learned he had brain cancer, he continued to joke and believe in the best.

Roman Popov passed away on October 28, 2025. This article looks back at the key projects he was involved in.

“I was skinny, wore glasses, had a lisp, and was a nerd”

Roman was born into a family of ecologists, and his childhood was spent in Yoshkar-Ola. At school, Popov was often laughed at, and sometimes it escalated into outright bullying. To protect himself, Roman started making jokes about himself.

“I was skinny, wore glasses, had a lisp, and was a nerd and a straight-A student. So I was the perfect target. To get rid of bullying, you have to laugh at yourself better than anyone else. That way, you disarm your opponent,” he later said in an interview.

For years in school, Roman not only absorbed knowledge but also honed his skills as a humorist. When he enrolled in the Pedagogical Institute and joined the KVN (Club of the Funny and Inventive) team, everyone immediately noticed his talent. From an outsider who had to defend himself, Popov turned into a star and the most popular guy.

“I had what’s called ‘star sickness’ during my student years, while playing KVN. If it had come to me now, it would have been harder,” Popov believed.

Roman entered university with thoughts of two things: that he would become a psychologist and that he deeply loved his girlfriend Yulia, whom he had started dating in school. Gradually, all of that faded into the background, or even further.

“You’re tall, slim, with perfectly defined cheekbones, a pierced rock musician. Hundreds of beautiful girls are in front of you. And I paid attention to everything that moved. And everyone around tried not to move,” Roman joked.

He broke up with his girlfriend and changed universities one after another, never settling anywhere for long.

“First university—academic leave because of KVN. Second—expelled for the same reason. I enrolled in a third but left on my own—also for KVN,” the humorist listed.

Only when he moved with his parents to Sochi did his life slowly start to settle into a calm routine.

“This erased all previous mistakes”

In Sochi, Roman continued with KVN and simultaneously started working as a host: birthdays, weddings—at any event, he kept practicing his jokes and delighting people. One day, he ran into his school love—that same Yulia—on the street.

“At that moment, ‘Loving You’ is playing in my head, you know? And there were no kisses or hugs. We just talked and walked through the park, down the street. Held hands, talked, talked, talked about what had happened to us over those five and a half years,” Roman recalled in an interview.

Popov confessed his feelings to Yulia, and six months later, she moved from Yoshkar-Ola to Sochi to be with him. Soon after, they got married.

“I made the rightest move. Married the best woman in the world. And this erased all previous mistakes,” Roman reflected many years into their life together.

In 2010, Roman was still working as a host, and his wife was pregnant. Life went on as usual until Popov was hit with an offer from his friend Oganes Grigoryan. His KVN partner was fired up with the idea of auditioning for the show ‘Laughter Without Rules’ and risking it to conquer the capital.

“I said: ‘Dude, are you serious? My child is due any day now. And you’re offering me some auditions? Listen, we’re adults, former KVN players who have conquered the wedding market in Sochi, hosting weddings, banquets, and making a living from it,’” Roman recalled his words.

However, Grigoryan did not back down. His wife also supported Roman, and he, waving his hand, agreed to take the risk.

“From that moment, my life would never be the same again”

Grigoryan and Popov never made it to that audition—it had already ended by then. Their team ‘20:14’ was accepted into the third season of ‘Comedy Battle’ (16+). This was the first step toward nationwide popularity.

“In the third season, there was a prize of ‘Residency in Comedy Club,’ which, I admit honestly, I wasn’t striving for. We just did what we did because, as my dad once said: ‘Do what you must, and come what may.’ In the third season, we got a Comedy Club contract, became residents. That, probably, from that moment, my life was never the same again,” Roman shared.

Despite the success, Popov was not a member of Comedy for long; he wanted something else. He started going to auditions and in 2014 found himself trying out for the series ‘Policeman from Rublyovka’ (16+).

“I came to the audition where screenwriter and director Ilya Kulikov was sitting, and he just said to me: ‘Read the text.’ I read it, and two minutes later, Ilya wiped away tears and said: ‘Everything’s great, thanks.’ Apparently, just how I saw Mukhich and how the series creator saw him coincided. That’s all,” Popov believed.

After the first episodes, Popov instantly gained nationwide popularity he couldn’t have dreamed of. But unlike in his youth, this time Roman did not lose his head and always chose his loving wife and two children over his career.

“Ahead is chemotherapy. We’ll fight!”

In 2018, when his wife was pregnant with their third child, Roman had a seizure. The actor was taken to the hospital.

“I had an MRI, and they found a surprise in my brain. In the temporofrontal lobe, they found a tumor that, apparently, was pressing during sleep, so the condition passed somehow. The doctors said it could be benign or malignant. They said that in any case, surgery was needed,” Roman recounted.

In November of that year, the actor underwent surgery and by the end of 2019 achieved remission. After what he went through, Roman loved life even more—his main goal became to delight his family and all people. He continued to act in comedies, perform in theater, and actively engage in charity work supporting people also fighting cancer.

“I really want to work and I really want to live,” Roman confessed to his fans.

In 2025, the disease reminded him of itself. The actor started having seizures, and his vision gradually began to deteriorate.

“The disease returned in a different form, but it’s also a grade three astrocytoma. There’s a complication with vision. The right eye—0%, and the left—300%. Ahead is chemotherapy. We’ll fight!” the actor remained undaunted.

In September, Popov underwent another course of chemotherapy. Besides vision problems, the actor started hearing poorly and had difficulty moving. In October, Roman’s condition worsened; he fell into a coma from which he never emerged.