Andrzej Seweryn

Actor and theatre director, born April 25, 1946 in Heilbronn, Germany.

In 1968, Seweryn graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Warsaw and was taken on by the Teatr Ateneum, where he continued to act until 1980. From 1972-74, he lectured at his alma mater in the acting department.

In 1980, he went to Paris to play the female role of Spika Tremendosa in Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz’s Onych" / “They, directed by Andrzej Wajda. Impressed by the performance, Antoine Vitez invited Seweryn to play the role of Thomas Pollock in Paul Claudel’s The Exchange” / "Zamiana, before offering him a full-time position at L’École du Thèâtre National de Chaillot. In 1983, Peter Brook saw Seweryn as the Master in Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita at the Thèâtre de la Ville, and asked him to join his troupe. From 1984-88, Andrzej Seweryn was associated with Peter Brook’s International Centre for Theatre Creation, one of the most unconventional theatre troupes in the world. In 1993, Seweryn was taken on by the Comédie Française, making him one of only three non-French actors to be hired in the theatre’s history. Three years later, French critics chose him as the best actor of the season, praising his performance in the title role of Hugo von Hofmannstahl’s Der Schwierige (Polish trans., Trudny Czlowiek; English trans., The Difficult Man) at the Thèâtre de la Colline in Paris. Seweryn has also taught at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Lyon, and the Conservatoire de Paris.

Even before his stage debut as the conductor in Aleksander Fredro’s Dyliżans" / “Stagecoach (1968), Seweryn had a brush with politics. In 1968, he was one of the organisers of the protest against the closure of Adam Mickiewicz’s Dziady” / "Forefather’s Eve, directed by Kazimierz Dejmek at the National Theatre. For distributing fliers in protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, he spent five months in prison.

The first reviews to take special note of Seweryn appeared after his performance in the title role of Tadeusz Rittner’s Głupi Jakub (1970):

In this role, Seweryn has proved himself as an actor of unusual talent. An actor with a strong inner force and charming personality, one who attracts our attention and unites the audience. One needs no penetrating prophetic powers to foresee that he has a wonderful future in the theatre. Searching for truth and only truth, he played the role of Jakub honestly and naturally, with ardent conviction and the feelings of youth. August Grodzicki, “Piekna sztuka aktorska”, “Zycie Warszawy”, Feb 17, 1970

The Warsaw Ateneum Theatre gave Seweryn the opportunity to play roles from the classics, such as Ivan Shatov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Biesy" / “The Devils (1971), the title role in Friedrich Schiller’s Don Carlos (1972), and Gustaw in Aleksander Fredro’s Śluby panienskie” / “Maidens’ Vows (1976), as well as leading parts in contemporary plays, such as the Boy in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (Polish trans. Czekajac na Godota) (1971), Apprentice II in Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s Szewcy” / "The Shoemakers (1971), and Delamarche in Franz Kafka’s America (1973).

Radio, film and television soon became aware of the talented young actor. After an unfortunate television debut in Album Polski" / “Polish Album, directed by Jan Rybkowski in 1970, produced for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the People’s Republic of Poland, he captivated audiences in Wladyslaw Reymont’s Chlopi” / “The Peasants, also directed by Rybkowski (1972). His first significant role was as Maks Baum in Andrzej Wajda’s film adaptation of Władysław Reymont’s novel, Ziemia obiecana” / “The Promised Land (1974). His calm, balanced and methodical character was remembered by audiences alongside roles played by Wojciech Pszoniak and Daniel Olbrychski. Seweryn believes, however, that he did not make the most of the opportunities the role offered him. His next important role was in Andrzej Żulawski’s film, Na srebrnym globie” / "On the Silver Globe (1976, but unfinished at that time). Seweryn played the leader of a space expedition who is adored by his subordinates. This uncritical adoration and his unlimited power awaken the devil within him. Unfortunately, audiences were unable to watch the film until twelve years later, when it was finally released.

Seweryn then appeared in the following made-for-television mini-series: Noce i dnie" / “Nights and Days (1975), Polskie drogi” / “Polish Roads (1976), Rodzina Polanieckich” / “The Polaniecki Family (1978), and in performances for the Television Playhouse, including the title role in Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas (1973), and Willy in Leon Kruczkowski’s Niemcy” / "The Germans (1974).

In 1978, Andrzej Wajda cast Seweryn in the role of Jacek Rosciszewski in his film, Bez znieczulenia" / "Rough Treatment.

Seweryn masterfully played his part as a careerist and opportunist-both dangerous and weak. He roused fear and aversion in the audience, and at the same time provoked smiles of pity. He recreates Poles of the late Gierek period-mediocre, greedy, dangerous and frightened egoists. Tomasz Lada, “Do sukcesu po marginesach”, “Życie”, September 29, 2000 In Wajda’s Dyrygent" / "The Orchestra Conductor (1979), Seweryn demonstrated the extent of his talent for the first time. His character was a "man with great ambitions, but condemned to conduct an average provincial orchestra that not only lacks any real talent, but a certain finesse as well. (…) He struggles, rampages, charges and delves ever deeper; not only does he lose, he makes a laughing-stock of himself, which is the most painful thing for a man. There is something very human in the fight he puts up, something very moving, because in fact it is not a person who is losing, but a person who is being destroyed. This is where the tragedy enters the pictures, though on a very prosaic level. Andrzej Seweryn went far beyond the genre of the character. Aleksander Ledochowski, “V Symfonia”, “Film”, no 18/1980

Many of his characters represented the first post-war generation, such as Marek in Janusz Kijowski’s Kung Fu (1979), Bogdan in Janusz Zaorski’s Dziecinne pytania" / “Childish Questions (1981) and Capitan Wirski in Andrzej Wajda’s Czlowiek z zelaza” / "Man of Iron (1981). It has been said that they constitute

material that is prone to compromise and conformism, from which either a scumbag or a decent person can arise, depending on the circumstances and conditions. Maria Kornatowska, “Wodzireje i amatorzy”, WaiF, 1990

Toward the end of the 1970s, Seweryn sensed he was becoming a run-of-the-mill actor. Leaving for Paris, he sought change, both in his personal and professional life. He was in France when martial law was declared in Poland.

Seweryn considers meeting Peter Brook to have been one of the most important experiences in his career. He worked for almost a year on a production of Mahabharata, based on the great Hindu epic poem, with an acting troupe whose members hailed from eighteen countries. He played two parts in the show: in the French version, a character reminiscent of the devil, and in the (filmed) English version, one that recalled an angel.

Working with Brook was a breakthrough for me. I stopped playing then. I began to be. “Jestem po prostu aktywnym pracownikiem filmu”, “Odra”, no. 10/1995)

He credits Brook with his understanding of other conventions and theatrical forms, and of the “melting into one” of the body, emotions and intellect.

In 1993, he was accepted into one of the most prestigious theatre troupes in the world, the Comédie Française. Seweryn’s French stage debut was in the title role of Molière’s Don Juan (1993). The New York Times wrote that he seemed more like a

sly, underhanded fop than a passionate lover, he is a sensual cynic, whose main goal is to gain control over others, and not the experience of love, or even romantic conquests.

At the Comédie Française, he won over audiences and critics with performances including the title role in Molière’s Tartuffe and The Bourgeois Gentleman, Gayev in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Claudius in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and the President in Friedrich Schiller’s Kabale und Liebe" / "Intrigue and Love.

Seweryn won critical acclaim for his roles as Henryk in Witold Gombrowicz’s Ślub" / "The Wedding (2001), and as Shylock in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (2001). Of this last role, a reviewer in Le Monde wrote:

the virtuosity of this actor has never before shone as it has in this role. (Seweryn) covers all the registers, from farce to tragedy, with the same fluency as he speaks Polish, German, Russian and English, as the triumphing moneylender. This Shylock certainly does not inspire our sympathy. But he is brimming with life.

Seweryn’s forays into directing have also been received enthusiastically, in Molière’s The Forced Marriage (1999) and Jacques Audiberti’s Le mal court" / "The Evil Spreads (2000).

In French cinema, Seweryn’s most noteworthy accomplishments include playing Steiner in Amok (1992), Hebrard in the Oscar award-winning, Indochina (1992) and his two roles as leaders of the French revolution: Bourdon in Andrzej Wajda’s Danton (1982) and Robespierre in La Revolution Française (1989).

Since 1989, Andrzej Seweryn has worked occasionally in Poland, more often than not with the Television Playhouse. He has shown his outstanding and mature acting in the title roles of William Shakespeare’s Richard III (1989) and Coriolanus (1995), and in Moliere’s Don Juan (1996). About Richard III, one critic wrote:

This role was Seweryn’s great chance to show his abilities. He constructed a very complicated character: a cynic and murderer, but at the same time a person who was internally and externally very unhappy and wronged. (…) Seweryn built the role using acting methods that are typical for him: very logical, cool, with a precision that can even be called mathematical. Lukasz Wyrzykowski, “Wielki popis Andrzeja Seweryna”, “Dziennik Zachodni”, December 13, 1989

Seweryn’s role in Slawomir Mrożek’s Krawiec" / "The Tailor (1997) was surprising and unusual:

Seweryn gives Mrożek’s character even more unpleasant ambiguity, prompting reflection. The actor surprises in every way possible-from his gestures, to the way he moves, which is reminiscent of the way that kimono-clad Japanese women walk. Seweryn is simply absolutely great. Tomasz Lada, “Do sukcesu po marginesach,” Życie, September 29, 2000

The late 1990s saw his triumphant return to the cinema as Julian Scherner in Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. He also featured in Polish films. His performance as Jeremi Wiśniowiecki in Jerzy Hoffman’s Ogniem i mieczem" / "With Fire and Sword (1999) was

a dynamic portrayal of a magnate who faces a moral conflict between his obligations to the state and his own will. Krzysztof Demidowicz, “Przyciaganie, odpychanie”, “Film”, no. 4/2001

About the character of the Judge in Andrzej Wajda’s Pan Tadeusz (1999), one critic wrote that

Seweryn managed to create a perfect, fascinatingly ambiguous portrait of a Pole from one of Mickiewicz’s uninteresting minor characters. The character Seweryn creates is on the one hand unresourceful, on the other hand a careful host; on one hand, Fredrowski’s ill-natured person, on the other, a cold, calculating gambler. Tomasz Lada, “Do sukcesu po marginesach”, “Zycie”, September 29, 2000

In 2000, Seweryn played Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in Teresa Kotlarczyk’s Prymas: Trzy lata z tysiąca" / "The Cardinal: Three Years Out of a Thousand.

The actor took on the hardest role of his career to date. He had to play a person who is still alive in the Polish mind. A man of the cloth, with the mystery of faith, shown in an extreme situation, who was at the same time a skilful politician and understood that one wrong move would result in tragedy, not only for himself, but for the entire Polish Church. In Seweryn’s interpretation, Cardinal Wyszyński was above all a prudent and good person. The actor, like the character he plays, does not say much. The audience does not get any clear-cut answers, but rather must come to their own conclusions, while observing Seweryn’s impenetrable face as the cardinal, and his calm, considered gestures. The actor does not attempt to infringe on what is sacred, or to touch the mystery of faith. He shows a person who is at once both revered and destroyed, someone who is aware of his own weaknesses and who is made strong through his faith, as well as by the conviction that it is he who is right. Tomasz Lada, “Do sukcesu po marginesach”, “Zycie”, September 29, 2000

Seweryn is considered to be a talented, courageous and unusually hard-working actor.

Work is an all-encompassing, all-powerful part of my life. “Jestem naiwnym harcerzem”, “Film”, no. 1/1995

Laborious exercises in diction, as well as physical exercise, are not a chore for him. He lives with the feeling that he is always improving. On the other hand, his boyish emotional nature, which he does not hide, gives him a fresh perspective on reality.

My naivité and childlike nature are most apparent in the fact that I’ve stopped pretending to be smarter than the authors themselves. I stop treating them as a pretext for expressing my own views. Today I try above all to understand them, to understand why the author wrote about a certain issue the way he did. I don’t want to tell anyone anything, I want to ask. Today I am interested in dialogue, in meeting the person, not with a wonderfully trained mannequin. “Glosić nie zamierzam, chcę pytac”, “Dziennik Bałtycki”, December 24-26, 1993

He does not hesitate to call acting his mission.

This profession cannot be defined. It is not intellect that guarantees success in acting. On the contrary, very often it gets posed as an obstacle. It is a profession full of contradictions. Is it not a mysterious thing how the audience grows silent at the sight of one actor and might not even notice when another enters. My ABC of acting is Hamlet’s text: ‘suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature.’ [Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 2] Work done while thinking of others is a condition of doing one’s profession well. Thus it is in a way my religion. “Głosić nie zamierzam, chcę pytac”, “Dziennik Baltycki”, December 24-26, 1993

In 2001, the first book about Andrzej Seweryn, written by Teresa Wilniewczyc, was published. In 2002, he played Rejent Milczek in Wajda’s film adaptation of Fredro’s play, Zemsta" / “Revenge, and followed this with a role in Aruna Villiers’s film, À ton image” / “In Your Image (2004), starring Nastassja Kinski. Seweryn then played President Julien Szczesny in Agnieszka Holland’s Ekipa” / "Team (2007), a political drama on Polish television. In 2005, Andrzej Seweryn was awarded the Légion d’honneur in recognition of his contribution to French culture.

Most significant awards:

1980 – Silver Bear for his role in Dyrygent" / "The Orchestra Conductor at the Berlinale International Film Festival 1994 – Grand Prize for acting for his role in Amok at the Cairo IFF 1996 – Witkacy Award 1998 – Award for the title role in the Television Playhouse (Teatr Telewizji) production of Slawomir Mrozek’s Krawiec at the National Competition for the Staging of Contemporary Polish Plays 2000 – Polish Television’s award for his role in the film, Prymas" / "The Cardinal at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdansk 2001 – Golden Duck award for his role in Prymas" / "The Cardinal 2005 – Légion d’honneur for his contribution to French culture.

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