Joanna Kulig (born 24 June 1982) is a Polish actress and singer.
Noted for performing in different languages, she has worked in film, television and radio as well as on stage.
She is the recipient of a European Film Award and two Polish Film Awards, and her work has been recognised at various film festivals.
Kulig was born on 24 June 1982 in Krynica, Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Her mother worked as a cook at a local kindergarten and her father was a folk poet.
She was raised with four siblings—two older brothers and two younger sisters—in Muszynka.
One of her sisters, Justyna Schneider, is also an actress and adopted their great-grandmother's surname to avoid confusion as their first names are similar.
As a child, Kulig sang in a church choir.
She graduated from the Frédéric Chopin First Degree State Music School in Krynica, where she studied piano.
At 18, she moved to Kraków, and enrolled at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School Complex, from which she graduated in singing.
In the meantime, she also completed the Kraków Vocational Technical High School for Hotel Administration.
1998
In 1998, Kulig won an episode of the Polish television talent show A Chance for Success by performing Grzegorz Turnau's song "Między ciszą a ciszą".
She took part in the show's annual final, and came third.
2002
Turnau later invited her to sing with him on his 2002 album Nawet.
Kulig also participated in season two of the Polish television talent show Idol in 2002.
She was eliminated in the semi-finals.
2006
In 2006, while still in drama school, she made her stage debut as Hermia in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater in Kraków.
2007
After an unsuccessful attempt at a career as a jazz singer, Kulig enrolled at the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków, graduating in 2007.
She began performing on stage while still in drama school, debuting in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Her first starring film role in the 2007 drama Wednesday, Thursday Morning won her the award for Best Debut at the Gdynia Film Festival.
In 2007, Kulig earned an acting degree with a specialisation in singing from the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków.
She was the first in her family to graduate from a university.
Kulig initially wanted to be a professional jazz singer.
She applied twice to study jazz at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, but was rejected on both occasions.
She was also interested in conducting, but was also unsuccessful.
She explained: "no one wanted me, so I went to university to do drama and singing," which started her acting career.
In 2007, she starred in Grzegorz Pacek's drama Wednesday, Thursday Morning, which marked her film debut and earned her the Gdynia Film Festival award for Best Debut.
2008
She followed this with the titular role in the 2008 television play Doktor Halina.
Kulig later admitted that seeing herself in the play on television convinced her to return to acting as she quit briefly.
She said: "When I was trying to convince myself that it was over and I quit as it was not for me, Doktor Halina came on TV. I was impressed. I was sitting watching this performance and thought: 'Gosh, I'm really not that bad!'".
Her performance caught the attention of director Paweł Pawlikowski, and he invited her to audition for the lead role in his film Ida.
Although deemed unfit for the part, she impressed Pawlikowski who became determined to work with her on another project.
2011
She received further acclaim for her performance in the 2011 film Elles, which earned her Best Supporting Actress at the Polish Film Awards and Gdynia Film Festival.
Kulig became known for her frequent collaborations with director Paweł Pawlikowski.
She appeared in three of his films: The Woman in the Fifth (2011), the Academy Award-winning Ida (2013) and Cold War (2018).
Her starring role in the lattermost earned her widespread recognition and Best Actress accolades at the European Film Awards and Polish Film Awards.
While making his 2011 psychological thriller The Woman in the Fifth, he created a role that was not originally in the script specifically for her.
In the film, set in Paris, she portrayed Ania, a Polish barmaid who falls in love with the protagonist American writer Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke).
2018
In 2018, Polish magazine Wprost included her among the 50 most influential Poles for her contributions to the cinema of Poland.
Kulig's other notable credits include the highest-grossing Polish film of all time, Clergy (2018), and the Netflix series The Eddy (2020).
