Irina (Russian: Ирина) is the fictional mistress of crime boss Valentin Zukovsky and works as a singer at Zukovsky's nightclub in St. Petersburg, Russia. A minor character in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, she is portrayed by English actress and singer-songwriter, Minnie Driver. The character also appeared in the John Gardner's accompanying novelization of the film.
Biography[]
GoldenEye[]
Irina is the mistress of crime boss Valentin Zukovsky. She works as a singer at Zukovsky's club in St. Petersburg, but appears to be completely tone deaf. When James Bond visits the club, she is singing "Stand by Your Man" by American singer Tammy Wynette along with some other girls. She is so terrible that Bond likens their voices to a cat being strangled. Zukovsky then tells Irina to "take a hike", causing her to leave the stage while giving him a gesture of profanity.
Alternate Continuities[]
GoldenEye (novelisation)[]
In John Gardner's 1995 novelization of the film, Irina's name is spelled Irena. She worked as a singer at her boyfriend Valentin Zukovsky's club Valentin's, in St. Petersburg. She and a few other girls were onstage singing "Raining in Baltimore" by Counting Crows, but due to their having learned the song phonetically and knowing little to no English, it came out a laughable attempt, while Zukovsky's old rival James Bond arrived at the club. She continued her act until part way through the song "Memories" when Zukovsky told her to "take a hike" and she stormed off the stage swearing.
Behind the scenes[]
- This is a notable early role for British actress Minnie Driver. Despite being a memorable part of the film, she is uncredited.
- This character, and some of the others, hint at a darker side of the Russian mafia, i.e. people trafficking and the sex trade. Zukovsky appears to be heavily involved in this.