JOANNA KULIG INTERVIEW
BY DEREK KINZEL
FEBRUARY 11, 2019
A household name in Poland, Joanna Kulig
is having her global breakthrough moment with Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold
War, a provocative but timely depiction of Poland in the 1950’s. Boasting
an extensive background in music as well as acting, her gift is undeniable. At
age 16 she won a televised Polish singing contest similar to American Idol,
which catapulted her to national success. Since then she has garnered numerous
film and television credits in Poland, including a part as a singer in
Pawlikowski’s previous film Ida, and co-starring with Tomasz Kot in
2015’s “Disco Polo,” about aspiring Polish disco musicians. She reunites with
Kot in Cold War, in which he also plays her love interest.
Joanna’s performance as
Zula is somehow both spontaneous and measured. She plays a young girl who gets
into a Polish folk music school, and the film follows her meandering, love
affair over across many different places, times, and regimes in rapidly
changing world, as Poland is taken over by the Soviets. It’s a portrait of love
and self-destruction, of someone trying to find her voice, but ultimately
adrift in the world. Pawel’s filmmaking agenda has always been a personal one,
and in a sense, this film is the most personal statement yet—the two main
character’s are based on his parents tumultuous relationship. The film garnered
buzz in the festival circuit, winning Pawlikowski best director at Cannes. It’s
now nominated for three Academy Awards, including best cinematography for it’s
stark and painterly visuals.
Ahead of the Academy
Awards we were fortunate enough to speak to the actress. She spoke excitedly
about details of shooting with Pawel. Currently pregnant with her first child,
her enthusiasm, not only for this project, but for her future, was nothing
short of infectious.
What
was it like working with Pawel on this?
It was a special kind of
work. The preparation prior to shooting was long. He had me spend time with the
musicians beforehand, because he wanted something very natural. It was almost
five months of this before we even started filming. When we started to shoot he
told me “You’re finally part of the group.”
How
did you keep your performance so spontaneous with all that preparation?
When you study music,
you can’t start improv without simple structure at the beginning. This script
was quite similar. You have to have strong structure in the beginning because
if the foundation is weak, the house will be blown over quickly. Once you know
the character, it’s surprising how much you can improvise. The preparation was
long, and Pawel knows exactly what he wants, but it was the improvisation that
kept it fresh. When you repeat something five times exactly the same, things
gets boring.
When
you were sixteen, you won a prize at a Polish singing competition called, Translated:
A Chance for Success. In Cold War, Zula's character essentially won a
singing challenge in order to get into the music school.
Yeah of course, it was
quite similar. At that time, we didn’t have a lot of talent shows like now, and
it was quite something. There was only that one program, and people really
watched, you know? It was special for me.
It
felt very real. Did you grow up hearing or singing some of the folk songs in
the movie?
I grew up in a small
town… I heard it during the important ceremonies or in the church. I didn’t
really have to learn them. It was something that my grandmother sang when I was
a very small baby, that’s why I think I have it in my heart. Sometimes you
don’t know why, but you have something inside you.
One
thing I loved about this movie was that it was essentially a musical… but the
musical numbers are woven into the plot in a more organic way. I’m thinking of
the scene where your character sees Tomasz’s character, Wiktor in the audience,
and he startles you. The whole thing was such stylistic balancing act. What was
the biggest challenge with that?
It was very difficult.
[Laughs.] The singing and dancing were very rehearsed, but Pawel kept saying,
“this is great, but I need something more on your side. I’m getting the same
thing over and over.” It was about layering something onto the thing we had
rehearsed. An expression, a sadness. The dancers were tired, they could only do
so much. More than twenty takes and they’ll become exhausted. It was a long day
and the audience, the people… how do you say in English—the extras! Even the
extras were tired. It was important to have great energy and be very specific
about the emotions we wanted to convey. I was very concentrated on what Pawel wanted
in his head. That’s why I am so proud that people love this scene–it was hard
work.
This
isn’t your first time starring alongside Tomasz. How did you create such a
believable chemistry?
We met during Disco Polo
(2015)… That was completely different. It was, you know, colorful, more of
comedy. We were a very funny couple, because Tomasz is so tall and I was so
small. He played a very funny character, we both played funny characters. And
generally, we didn’t think too much about the motions, the whole thing was more
natural. For Cold War… we spoke about our grandparents, and about relationships
during the 50’s. We watched old movies Casablanca. We also spoke to Pawel
because we knew that this was inspired by his own parents.
When we were on the set,
we were like brother and sister. We’d drink coffee, eat chocolate, we would
talk about life. He’s a great actor, but he’s also a great person. Very warm
and made me feel very safe. They it’s easier to play a couple when you feel
safe. You can show more and you trust each other. And it was very important for
us that we trust. And we tried more and more That’s why it was very important
for me to be able to trust each other.
I
love that you watched Casablanca. It makes a lot of sense because their
relationship does feel timeless.
Yes and we had to learn
to use more pauses, they speak slower. The tempo is different in a film today,
today everything is more quick, but in the 50’s everything was slower.
At
the beginning of the film, your character Zula is established as a kind of
scammer. You get the feeling she’ll do whatever it takes to succeed. She
pretends to be from the village, even though she’s actually from the city. It’s
also revealed that she is hiding certain aspects of her past. Later in the film
though, she gets mad at her Wiktor for making up stories about her at a party
in order to make her seem more interesting. Why do you think she gets tired of
the scams?
I think she becomes
tired of it because she wasn’t ready for immigration. She had a very different
background than Wiktor. Wiktor was from a more intellectual family, he was
educated. Zula was young. It was a different country and different language.
And Wiktor was everything to her, the composer, the lover, a brother… And I
think you can’t be with one person for everything. It gets lonely. And she
started destroying her own life. That’s why I think, as an audience member, you
can love her and hate her at the same time. In talking to people who had seen
this film, I was surprised to hear how many immigrants have had a quite similar
experience. One woman told me, “I was happy on the outside, but inside I was so
sad.”
What’s
one thing that you’d like to tell our readers that you don’t think they already
know about you?
Hmmmm. [Laughs.] I have
something. Any article of clothing, my shoes, clothes, dresses… once they come
off. I don’t know where they go! I have to buy new shoes all the time! It’s
very strange.
I’m
the same way! I lose clothes all the time. That’s so funny.
Yes all the time. My
husband is always asking me where my shoes are. Left them at the airport. Left
my hat on a plane the other day.
Good
thing you’re an actress. Everyone brings your stuff to you.
Yeah, it’s very helpful.
What’s
a film genre you’d like to try?
I’d love to do a costume
drama. I would love to play a historical, huge thing. And I’d also like to do
Star Wars. I love Star Wars. I love the special effects. I wanna try something
completely different from what I’ve done, the slower, more psychological stuff.
I want to try something with more action.
What
are you working on right now?
Well, I have a lot of scripts to read
right now. [Laughs.] I want to improve my English. For my next project, I have
to be calm, and choose something that will be new and different.