He was born into an artistic family. His father, Adolf Ilin, was a famous actor in The Sverdlovsk Theater and then in The Mayakovsky Theater in Moscow. Vladimir graduated from The Sverdlovsk Theater School in 1969, and afterwards worked in various theaters in Moscow and Kazan. From 1974 through 1989, he was an actor at The Mayakovsky Theater. His first movie role was as a child, when he played a boy named Gaydn on local TV. Despite that, he did not debut on the big screen until 1986, when he played Roman in Moy lyubimyy kloun (1987) ("My Favorite Clown").