Natalya Rudakova’s Rise from Street Discovery to Lead in ‘Transporter 3’

Natalya Rudakova, born in Leningrad in 1985 and later a hairdresser in Manhattan, was spotted on a New York street by French filmmaker Luc Besson. Besson encouraged her to take acting lessons and arranged an audition, leading to her first screen role as Valentina Vasilev in the 2008 action film *Transporter 3*, starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin. The film, written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Olivier Megaton, aired on TF1 on 4 August 2026.

Following the movie’s success, Rudakova shifted away from major blockbusters, focusing on independent cinema and television. She appeared in titles such as *The One* (2011), *A Novel Romance* (2011), *Before the Snow* (2015), *Coffee Cafe* (2017) and *Roads to Olympia* (2019), as well as several short films, building a modest but steady acting career.