After completing the seventh grade at school, Andreyev went to work as a mechanic-electrician at a сombine factory, where he started going to a local theatrical circle.

During the theater tour in Moscow, film director Ivan Pyryev offered him the role of Nazar Duma in Tractor Drivers (1939).

During the Second World War, Andreyev with Mark Bernes acted in the legendary Soviet film Two Soldiers (1943).

In the role of Ilya Zhurbin in A Big Family (1954), Andreyev demonstrated his ability to play psychologically-complicated characters.

The role of Vozhak in the film An Optimistic Tragedy became one of the defining performances of his career and one of its major highlights.