Joanna Kulig (Polish: [jɔˈanna ˈkulik]; born 24 June 1982) is a Polish actress and singer. In 2018, she received the Best Actress Award at the 31st European Film Awards for her performance in Cold War. She is also a two-time Polish Film Award recipient for Best Supporting Actress (Elles) and Best Actress (Cold War).
Joanna Kulig | |
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![]() Kulig at 2019 Polish Film Awards | |
Born | (1982-06-24) 24 June 1982 (age 40) Krynica, Poland |
Alma mater | AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków |
Occupation |
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Years active | 1998–present |
Spouse | Maciej Bochniak (m. 2009) |
Children | 1 |
Kulig was born on 24 June 1982 in Krynica, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.[1] Her mother worked as a cook at a local kindergarten and her father was a folk poet.[2] She was raised with four siblings in Muszynka.[3] Her younger sister, Justyna Schneider, is also an actress and adopted their great-grandmother's surname to avoid confusion as their first names are similar.[4]
While still living in Krynica, Kulig graduated from the Frédéric Chopin First Degree State Music School where she studied piano.[5] At 18, she moved to Kraków, and enrolled at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School Complex, from which she graduated in singing.[5][6] In the meantime, she also completed the Kraków Vocational Technical High School for Hotel Administration.[7] In 2007, Kulig earned an acting degree with a specialisation in singing from the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków.[1] She was the first in her family to graduate from a university.[2]
In 1998, Kulig won an episode of the Polish television talent show Szansa na sukces by performing Grzegorz Turnau's song "Między ciszą a ciszą". She took part in the show's annual final, and came third.[1] Turnau later invited her to sing with him on his 2002 album Nawet.[1] Kulig also participated in season two of the Polish television talent show Idol in 2002. She was eliminated in the semi-finals.[1]
Kulig made her stage debut in 2006 as Hermia in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater in Kraków.[1] She made her film debut in 2007 in Grzegorz Pacek's film Wednesday, Thursday Morning, which earned her the Gdynia Film Festival award for Best Debut.[1] In 2011, she played Alicja opposite Juliette Binoche in Małgorzata Szumowska's 2011 film Elles, which earned her the Polish Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and another recognition at the Gdynia Film Festival for Best Supporting Actress.[1][8] She also starred alongside Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas in the 2011 drama The Woman in the Fifth directed by Paweł Pawlikowski.[1] In 2013, she appeared in Jacek Borcuch's drama Lasting, and in Pawlikowski's Academy Award-winning drama Ida.[9] The former earned Kulig her second Polish Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[10] She also played Sister Irena in Anne Fontaine's 2016 critically acclaimed drama The Innocents.[11]
Kulig's international breakthrough came in 2018 when she starred in Pawlikowski's historical drama film Cold War, in which she plays Zula, a woman in post-war Poland who joins a folk music touring group.[12] Mark Kermode of The Observer wrote that she "delivers a star-making performance of astonishing range and depth",[13] and Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle stated that "she takes the role of a lifetime between her teeth, chomps on it, pounds it into the ground and never lets go for a second."[14] Kulig received the Best Actress Award at the 31st European Film Awards,[15] and the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.[16] That same year, she played local priest's girlfriend with whom she gets pregnant in Wojciech Smarzowski's controversial film Clergy.[17] In 2019, Polish magazine Wprost ranked her fourth on its list of the 50 most influential Polish women.[18]
Kulig starred as jazz singer Maja in Damien Chazelle's 2020 Netflix musical drama series The Eddy.[19] She served as one of the jurors of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[20] She is next committed to star in Rebecca Miller's romantic comedy She Came to Me alongside Anne Hathaway, Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei and Matthew Broderick.[21]
In 2009, Kulig married film director and screenwriter Maciej Bochniak.[22] She gave birth to their son in February 2019.[23]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2007 | Wednesday, Thursday Morning | Teresa | |
2009 | Janosik: A True Story | Girl | Polish dub, choir |
2009 | I Love You So Much | Ewelina | Short film |
2011 | Los numeros | Sylwia | |
2011 | Milion dolarów | Zuzanna | |
2011 | Dance Marathon | Agnieszka | |
2011 | Elles | Alicja | |
2011 | The Woman in the Fifth | Ania | |
2011 | Remembrance | Magdalena Limanowska | |
2012 | A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise |
Konsuela | Polish dub |
2013 | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | Red-Haired Witch | |
2013 | Lasting | Marta | |
2013 | Zambezia | Neville's wife | Polish dub |
2013 | Ida | Singer | |
2013 | Khumba | Fifi | Polish dub |
2013 | Way Back Home | Yalka | |
2014 | Facet (nie)potrzebny od zaraz | Patrycja | |
2015 | Warsaw by Night | Marek's ex-lover | Segment: Iga |
2015 | Disco Polo | Anka "Gensonina" | |
2016 | The Innocents | Sister Irena | |
2016 | Pitbull: Tough Women | Zuza | |
2017 | Cargo | Dancer | Short film |
2018 | Cold War | Zula Lichoń | |
2018 | Play | Mother | Short film |
2018 | Clergy | Hanka Tomala | |
2018 | 7 Emotions | Gosia's mother | |
2018 | Love Is Everything | Magda Rodzińska | |
2019 | I Am Lying Now | Agent | |
2019 | Safe Inside | Sylvie | |
2022 | Everyone Knows Better | Ania | |
2022 | Kompromat | Svetlana | |
TBA | She Came to Me | Magdalena | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Pensjonat pod Różą | Kasia | 2 episodes |
2007 | Pastorałka | Angel / Caroller | Television play |
2007 | Prime Minister | Magdalena Nowasz | 3 episodes |
2008 | Teraz albo nigdy! | Zyta | 4 episodes |
2008 | Doktor Halina | Halina Szwarc | Television play |
2008 | Days of Honor | "Mucha" | 5 episodes |
2008 | Trzeci oficer | Halina | Episode: "Dezerter" |
2009 | Ojciec Mateusz | Dorota Mielnicka | Episode: "Koncert" |
2010–2011 | Szpilki na Giewoncie | Wika Bura | 15 episodes |
2011 | Janosik: A True Story | Girl | Polish dub, choir |
2011 | Smuteczek czyli ostatni naiwni | Sasanna | Television special |
2013 | Spies of Warsaw | Renata | 1 episode |
2013 | Na krawędzi | Sylwia Zawada | 5 episodes |
2013 | Pamiętniki pani Hanki | Hanka | Television play |
2014–2018 | O mnie się nie martw | Jadwiga "Iga" Małecka | 103 episodes |
2014–2015 | The Crime | Monika Krajewska | 6 episodes |
2016 | Dom kobiet | Róża | Television play |
2018 | The Trap | Justyna Mateja | 3 episodes |
2019–2021 | Hanna | Johanna Petrescu | 5 episodes |
2020 | The Eddy | Maja | 8 episodes |
2021 | Tuca & Bertie | Esther Emu | Voice, episode: "Bird Mechanics" |
2021 | Spider's Web | Kornelia Titko | Main role; 7 episodes |
TBA | Masters of the Air | Paulina | 1 episode |
Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Theatre | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Hermia | William Shakespeare | Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater, Kraków | [24] |
2007 | Assemblywomen | Girl | Aristophanes | Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater, Kraków | [24] |
2007 | Oresteia | Tisiphone | Aeschylus | Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater, Kraków | [24] |
2007 | Operetta | Unknown | Witold Gombrowicz | Theater Scena STU, Kraków | [24] |
2007 | Oczyszczenie | Make-up artist | Petr Zelenka | Theater Scena STU, Kraków | [24] |
2008 | Zakochany Paryż | Unknown | — | Kielce Cultural Centre | [24] |
2009 | The Beelzebub Sonata | Hilda | Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz | Theater Scena STU, Kraków | [24] |
2010 | Vassa Zheleznova | Natalya | Maxim Gorky | Och-Theatre, Warsaw | [24] |
2013 | Chopin | Kornelia | Marcin Macuk | Palladium Theatre, Warsaw | [24] |
2014 | Niech no tylko zakwitną jabłonie | Cocotte Mimi / Hela | Agnieszka Osiecka | Ateneum Theatre, Warsaw | [24] |
2016 | Róbmy swoje. Piosenki Wojciecha Młynarskiego | Performer | Wojciech Młynarski | Ateneum Theatre, Warsaw | [24] |
Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Radio | Ref. |
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2014 | Katarantka | Podaj Mi Rękę | Tomasz Man | Polish Radio | [24] |
2015 | Death in Venice | Tadzio | Thomas Mann | Polish Radio | [24] |
2016 | Woody Love | Emma | Antoni Winch | Polish Radio | [24] |
2016 | Animal Ferocity | Unknown | Stanisław Barańczak | Polish Radio | [24] |
2017 | Futbolistki | Captain's girlfriend | Tomasz Man | Polish Radio | [24] |
Award/Organization | Year[lower-alpha 1] | Category | Work | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chlotrudis Awards | 2019 | Best Actress | Cold War | Nominated | [25] |
El Gouna Film Festival | 2018 | Best Actress | Cold War | Won | [26] |
European Film Awards | 2018 | Best Actress | Cold War | Won | [15] |
Gdynia Film Festival | 2007 | Best Debut | Wednesday, Thursday Morning | Won | [27] |
2012 | Best Supporting Actress | Elles | Won | [28] | |
2012 | Elle Crystal Star Award | Elles | Won | [29] | |
Glamour Woman of the Year (Poland) | 2018 | — | — | Won | [30] |
Golden Duck | 2008 | Best Actress | Wednesday, Thursday Morning | Nominated | [31] |
2011 | Best Actress | Milion dolarów Dance Marathon |
Nominated | [32] | |
2012 | Best Actress | Elles | Nominated | [33] | |
IndieWire Critics Poll | 2018 | Best Lead Actress | Cold War | Fourth | [34] |
International Cinephile Society | 2019 | Best Actress | Cold War | Nominated | [35] |
London Critics Circle Film Awards | 2019 | Best Actress | Cold War | Nominated | [36] |
Palm Springs International Film Festival | 2019 | FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film | Cold War | Won | [37] |
Paszport Polityki | 2019 | Film | — | Won | [38] |
Polish Film Awards | 2013 | Best Supporting Actress | Elles | Won | [8] |
2014 | Best Supporting Actress | Lasting | Nominated | [10] | |
2019 | Best Actress | Cold War | Won | [16] | |
Telekamery | 2015 | Actress | — | Nominated | [39] |
2016 | Actress | — | Nominated | [40] | |
2019 | Actress | — | Won | [41] | |
Transatlantyk Festival | 2018 | Transatlantyk Golden Ark for Best Actress | — | Won | [42] |
Zbigniew Cybulski Award | 2013 | — | Elles | Nominated | [43] |
European Film Award for Best Actress | |
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General | |
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National libraries | |
Biographical dictionaries | |
Other |