In 2000, he had lead roles in both Valery Akhadov's Don't Offend the Women and Pavel Lungin's The Wedding, as well as Alexander Atanesyan's action thriller 24 Hours.

He won the best actor prize at the Golden Ram film festival for his part in The Wedding.

Before becoming a screen regular, he was a stage actor at the Minusinsky theater, where he worked after graduating from the Culture Institute in Kemerovo.

Although he had initially planned to attend the Culinary Institute, Panin went on to further his education as an actor, graduating from Moscow's legendary MKhAT in 1991 and taking up residence at the MKhAT Chekhov theater with his wife, Natalya Rogozhina.

His stage work includes Three Sisters (Soleny), The Miserly Knight, Marriage, Deadly Number, and a private production of Winter.