Like many celebrities who go by other names, Misha Collins isn't the actor's real name. Collins was born Dmitri Tippens Krushnic, and his name has an interesting backstory. "My mother went to Russia when she was in college. She had a boyfriend named Misha, and much to my father's chagrin, she named me after him," Collins told Every Joe in an interview in 2008. "And the last name, Krushnic, goes back six generations in Canada, and we're not sure where they came from, could be Russian or Ukrainian or Polish."
Collins then clarified that he isn't Russian, even though his mother wished he was. "She was a hippie...she wanted to bring communism back to America," he joked. Though Collins is white, he has played ethnic minorities in the past and did not enjoy the experience. "I played a Serb on '24' for several episodes and the producers of the show came in to talk to me, like 5 episodes in. Denzel Washington had just won an Oscar and they said, 'Isn't it great that minorities are finally getting recognition at the Oscars? It's great for people like you and for Denzel Washington,'" he told the outlet. "I said, 'I'm sorry, but I don't think I qualify. I'm a white guy from Massachusetts."
Collins' experiences as a white man may not have helped him with his roles, but he could relate to other people's struggles growing up in a single-parent household with his brother.
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