Joanna Kulig facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joanna Kulig
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Kulig in 2023
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| Born | 24 June 1982 Krynica, Poland
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| Alma mater | AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków |
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| Years active | 1998–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Maciej Bochniak
(m. 2009) |
| Children | 1 |
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Joanna Kulig (born 24 June 1982) is a talented Polish actress and singer. She is known for acting in many different languages. You can see her work in movies, TV shows, radio, and on stage. She has won important awards like a European Film Award and two Polish Film Awards.
Joanna first tried to become a jazz singer. Later, she studied acting at the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and finished in 2007. She started acting on stage while still in school. Her first big movie role was in 2007 in Wednesday, Thursday Morning. This role won her an award for Best Debut. She also got great reviews for her acting in the 2011 film Elles. This movie earned her the Best Supporting Actress award at the Polish Film Awards.
Joanna Kulig often worked with director Paweł Pawlikowski. She appeared in three of his movies: The Woman in the Fifth (2011), the Academy Award-winning Ida (2013), and Cold War (2018). Her main role in Cold War made her famous around the world. She won Best Actress at the European Film Awards for it. She also had roles in other films like Lasting (2013) and The Innocents (2016). Some of her movies, like Pitbull: Tough Women (2016) and Clergy (2018), were very popular in Poland. Joanna has also acted in English-language films such as She Came to Me and Knox Goes Away (both 2023). On TV, she played the main character in the sitcom O mnie się nie martw (2014–2018). She also starred in the Netflix series The Eddy (2020).
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Early Life and School Days
Joanna Kulig was born on June 24, 1982, in Krynica, Poland. Her mother was a cook, and her father was a poet. She grew up with four brothers and sisters in a town called Muszynka. Her younger sister, Justyna Schneider, is also an actress. Justyna uses a different last name to avoid confusion with Joanna.
While living in Krynica, Joanna went to a music school. She studied piano there. When she was 18, she moved to Kraków and studied singing. She also went to a technical high school for hotel management. In 2007, Joanna got her acting degree with a special focus on singing. She was the first person in her family to graduate from a university.
Her Acting Journey
Starting Out and Becoming Famous in Poland (1998–2018)
In 1998, Joanna won an episode of a Polish TV talent show called A Chance for Success. She sang a song by Grzegorz Turnau. She came in third place in the show's final. Later, Turnau invited her to sing on his 2002 album. Joanna also tried out for the Polish TV show Idol in 2002 but did not make it past the semi-finals.
In 2006, while still in acting school, she performed on stage for the first time. She played Hermia in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2007, she got her first movie role in Wednesday, Thursday Morning. This role helped her win an award for Best Debut at the Gdynia Film Festival. She then played the main character in the 2008 TV play Doktor Halina. Joanna later said that seeing herself in this play made her want to keep acting.
Her acting in Doktor Halina caught the eye of director Paweł Pawlikowski. He asked her to try out for his film Ida. Even though she wasn't right for the main part, Pawlikowski was very impressed. He decided to create a special role for her in his 2011 movie The Woman in the Fifth. In this film, she played Ania, a Polish barmaid in Paris.
In 2011, Joanna also worked with Juliette Binoche in the drama Elles. This movie was also set in Paris, and Joanna played Alicja. Critics praised her performance. One reviewer said she had the potential to be a "breakout star." She won Best Supporting Actress awards for this role. In 2011, she also appeared in the war drama Remembrance and several Polish comedies.
Joanna was nominated for another Polish Academy Award for her role in the 2013 drama Lasting. Later that year, she appeared in Pawlikowski's Oscar-winning film Ida. She had a small role as a nightclub singer. She also had a small part in the 2013 movie Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. In 2014, she got a main role in the Polish TV sitcom O mnie się nie martw. She played Iga for nine seasons until 2018.
She also starred in romantic comedies like Sophie Seeks Seven (2014) and Warsaw by Night (2015). She had commercial success with Disco Polo (2015) and Pitbull: Tough Women (2016). In Disco Polo, directed by her husband Maciej Bochniak, she played a disco polo star. In Pitbull: Tough Women, she played a policewoman named Zuza. This movie was the highest-grossing Polish film of 2016. She also played Sister Irena in the 2016 World War II drama The Innocents.
Becoming Known Worldwide (2018–Present)
Joanna Kulig became famous around the world in 2018. This happened when she starred in Pawlikowski's film Cold War. This was their third movie together. Pawlikowski even called her his "muse." He wrote the part of Zula, a woman in post-war Poland, especially for Joanna. Joanna loved the role because it let her sing and dance. She trained with a folk group for six months for the part. In the movie, she sings the famous Polish folk song "Dwa serduszka" ("Two Hearts").
Critics loved her performance in Cold War. One said she gave a "star-making performance." Another said she took "the role of a lifetime." Many thought she should have been nominated for an Oscar. Joanna won the Best Actress Award at the 31st European Film Awards and the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for this role.
In the same year, she played a pregnant woman in the film Clergy. This movie became the highest-grossing Polish film ever. It talked about important issues and caused a lot of discussion in Poland. In 2019, she joined the Amazon Studios series Hanna.
Joanna starred as a Polish jazz singer named Maja in Damien Chazelle's 2020 Netflix series The Eddy. The role was changed for her after she met with the director. In 2021, she played the main role in the TVN thriller series Spider's Web. She also helped judge films at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. That year, she starred in the action thriller Kompromat.
In 2023, Joanna appeared in the romantic comedy She Came to Me. She acted alongside stars like Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway. The director, Rebecca Miller, said Joanna was "the greatest Polish actress" she knew. Critics found Joanna's performance "heartbreaking." Joanna also starred in the drama Woman Of..., which premiered at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival. She had a supporting role in Michael Keaton's 2023 thriller Knox Goes Away. She also made a guest appearance in the 2024 World War II miniseries Masters of the Air.
Joanna is set to play Jolanta Wadowska-Król in an upcoming Netflix series. Jolanta Wadowska-Król was a real-life Polish doctor who found lead poisoning in children in the 1970s.
Personal Life
Joanna Kulig is a Christian. She speaks Polish, which is her first language. She also speaks English, French, and German, and has performed in these languages. In 2009, she married film director and writer Maciej Bochniak. They had a son on February 14, 2019.
Joanna is an ambassador for the Anna Dymna's Against the Odds Foundation. This group helps adults with intellectual disabilities. She has supported their work many times. In 2023, she received an award for her charity work. She dedicated the award to her mother, saying, "Moments like this show that it is worth helping others. Thank you mum for teaching me that."
In 2018, Joanna was part of an advertising campaign for the fashion brand Reserved. The Polish magazine Wprost named her one of the 50 most important Poles for her work in Polish movies. Glamour Poland also named her Woman of the Year. In 2023, she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Images for kids
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Kulig in 2023
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Kulig in 2015
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Kulig with Paweł Pawlikowski at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
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Kulig (centre) with fellow Un Certain Regard jurors Valeria Golino and Debra Granik at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival
See also
In Spanish: Joanna Kulig para niños
