Mark Strong on Working With Ukraine to Help Schoolchildren and Joking With President Zelensky About ‘Dune’ Series Emperor Role

Mark Strong is lending his voice and fame to raise money to renovate a bomb shelter for 327 schoolchildren in Ukraine. The actor recently joined the Ukrainian government’s United24 fundraising platform as an ambassador and has signed on to help create a safe and secure space for children at a school in Uman to study without fear of missile attacks from Russia. in the midst of the ongoing war.

“They’re trying to continue their education, but the problem is they’re in an area where there’s a risk of ordinances falling on their heads,” Strong said. The Hollywood Reporter. “They have a (bomb) shelter, which all schools now have that are in danger zones, but it is in very poor condition. We need $60,000 to make it actually habitable so that if they are in danger, they can go there and continue their education. I feel very strongly that I want to be able to help some children who are in danger.”

Strong calls the fact that the war in Ukraine is approaching the two-year mark – Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022 – “outrageous and disgusting.” He added: “Every time I read the news and hear what’s going on there and how hard people are fighting to get back their sovereign country because… Putin has decided he wants it, it makes me just terribly sad.”

At least 1,500 of the country’s estimated 70,000 dead and more than 100,000 injured include children, according to a June estimate by Denise Brown, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. According to a report by Save the Children last spring, on average, more than 20 schools have been attacked every day in Ukraine, more than 450 educational facilities have been destroyed and the education of 5.5 million schoolchildren in the country has been disrupted.

Strong’s sincere hope is that concerned citizens around the world will continue to support the Ukrainian government and its fundraising efforts to help the population affected by the war and Russian aggression — even despite what he recognizes as “compassion fatigue,” which he calls it ‘a very real matter’. . Frankly, in this age of instant access to the media, everyone is fighting to be heard.” Strong is an ambassador for United24’s Education and Science platform, whose celebrity supporters also include Barbra Streisand, Liev Schreiber, Mark Hamill and Katheryn Winnick.

When he signed on to work at United24, Strong had a 40-minute video chat meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “He was really sweet. I was surprised that he took the time to talk to me,” Strong says of their conversation, adding, “We got along really well because he was obviously an actor and we laughed.”

That laugh was caused by Strong referring to the fact that he is currently shooting Max’s Dune: Prophecy series in Budapest. In that upcoming TV show, the actor plays Emperor Javicco Corinno. Strong said in their chat that before becoming the de facto president of Ukraine, Zelensky had “played the president of his country on a TV show he did. So I said to him that I’m currently playing the Emperor of the Universe on a TV show that I’m doing, and I actually asked him in a rather ridiculous way if I might actually become the Emperor of the Universe. day. He thought that was funny.”

Strong encourages anyone who would like to support United24’s fundraising efforts to visit this website u24.gov.ua.