Joanna Kulig

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. In 2018, Polish magazine Wprost included her among the 50 most influential Poles for her contributions to the cinema of Poland.

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 Polish Film Festival. She received further acclaim for her performance in the 2011 film Elles, which earned her Best Supporting Actress at the Polish Film Awards and Polish Film Festival.

Kulig became a frequent collaborator with director Paweł Pawlikowski. She appeared in four of his films: The Woman in the Fifth (2011), Ida (2013), Cold War (2018) and Fatherland (2026). Her starring role in Cold War earned her widespread recognition and Best Actress accolades at the European Film Awards and Polish Film Awards.

Kulig achieved commercial success with Pitbull: Tough Women (2016) and Clergy (2018), both of which rank among the highest-grossing Polish films of all time. She also starred in the dramas Lasting (2013), The Innocents (2016) and Woman Of... (2023); the musical comedy Disco Polo (2015); the thrillers Kompromat (2022) and Knox Goes Away (2023); and the romantic comedy She Came to Me (2023). On television, she played the lead role in the sitcom Don't Worry About Me (2014–2018) and starred in the Netflix series The Eddy (2020) and Lead Children (2026).

Early life and education Kulig was born on 24 June 1982 in Krynica, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Her mother worked as a cook at a local kindergarten and her father was a folk poet. She was raised in a musical family along with four siblings—two older brothers and two younger sisters—in Muszynka.

As a child, Kulig sang in a church choir. She also performed at weddings and dance parties with her siblings. From 1995, she studied piano at the Frédéric Chopin First Degree State Music School in Krynica, graduating in 1999. At 15, she left her family home and lived at boarding schools, first in Krynica, then in Kraków, where she moved at 18 and enrolled at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School Complex, from which she graduated in singing in 2003. She also completed a Vocational Technical High School for Hotel Administration in Kraków a year earlier. 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. In 2011, Kulig was also partnered with Juliette Binoche for Małgorzata Szumowska's drama Elles, similarly set in Paris, in which she played Alicja, a Polish economics student who moonlights as a prostitute. She learned to speak French for both parts. While the films premiered to a mixed reception, Kulig's performance in the latter received praise. Kevin Jagernauth of IndieWire opined that she "has the potential to be breakout star boasting a strong screen presence and an undeniable beauty". She won Best Supporting Actress at the Polish Academy Awards and Polish Film Festival. She also starred in the 2011 Polish comedies: Los numeros, Million Dollars and Dance Marathon. She earned a Golden Duck nomination for Best Actress for her performances in the last two. Later that year, she appeared in Pawlikowski's Academy Award-winning drama Ida, and in Eun-jin Pang's film Way Back Home. Initially considered to play the title character in the former, she was instead cast in a smaller role of a nightclub singer. In 2014, Kulig was cast in a leading role on the Polish sitcom Don't Worry About Me, starring as Iga in its first nine seasons until 2018. She next starred in the romantic comedies Sophie Seeks Seven (2014) and Warsaw by Night (2015), and in the commercially successful films Disco Polo (2015) and Pitbull: Tough Women (2016). Disco Polo, directed by her husband Maciej Bochniak, saw her in the role of a disco polo star Gensonina. In Pitbull: Tough Women, Poland's highest-grossing film of 2016 and the seventh highest-grossing Polish film of all time, Kulig played a policewoman Zuza. She also portrayed Sister Irena in Anne Fontaine's critically acclaimed 2016 World War II drama The Innocents inspired by the true story of Polish Catholic nuns who became pregnant from rape by Soviet soldiers stationed near their convent.

2018–2024: International recognition

Kulig's international breakthrough came in 2018 when she starred in Pawlikowski's historical drama film Cold War. The film marked their third collaboration, which prompted Pawlikowski to call her his "muse". Mark Kermode of The Observer wrote that she "delivers a star-making performance of astonishing range and depth", 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." According to Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter, "in a fair world ... Kulig would not only be a serious contender for a best actress nom, but would quickly become an in-demand actress in Hollywood, too." Kulig received the Best Actress Award at the 31st European Film Awards, That same year, she played local priest's pregnant girlfriend in Wojciech Smarzowski's film Clergy, which went on to become the highest-grossing Polish film of all time. Due to its themes of child abuse, corruption and alcoholism in the Catholic Church in Poland, the film caused controversy especially among right-wing groups in the largely Catholic country and led to a nationwide debate about the role of the church in the Polish society. In 2019, she was cast in the recurring role of Johanna, titular character's mother, in Amazon Studios series Hanna. The character was originally intended to be American, but after meeting with Chazelle the part was rewritten for her. In 2021, Kulig was cast as the lead in TVN thriller series Spider's Web playing a spider behaviour specialist trying to unravel the mystery of the death of her mother and sister. She served as one of the jurors of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. That year, she had a starring role opposite Gilles Lellouche in the action thriller Kompromat, directed by Jérôme Salle. Her part was French- and Russian-speaking, and she worked with dialect coaches in preparation for it. The film was released to mixed reception, and of Kulig's role Pastes Andy Crump wrote: "Diminishing the shine of an actress as luminous as Kulig is an impressive feat, but she's left darkened as Lellouche's object of desire, unable to perform beyond the single dimension given to her."

In 2023, Kulig appeared in Rebecca Miller's romantic comedy She Came to Me alongside Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, Marisa Tomei and Brian d'Arcy James. She was Miller's first choice for the role of a Polish immigrant Magdalena as she regards her "the greatest Polish actress, I know". Kate Erbland of IndieWire found Kulig's performance "heartbreaking", and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter thought that "only Kulig ... registers as a compassionate presence grounded in a modicum of truth." Kulig next starred as a wife of a man transitioning to a woman in socially conservative Poland in Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englerts drama Woman Of..., which premiered at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival to critical acclaim. The role earned her a nomination for the Polish Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Kulig also had a supporting role in Michael Keaton's 2023 noir thriller Knox Goes Away, and made a guest appearance in Apple TV+ 2024 miniseries Masters of the Air set during World War II. Reviewing the former, Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood said that "she makes an impression as Knox's faithful lover". In Masters of the Air, she played a Polish war widow who crosses paths with Major John "Bucky" Egan (Callum Turner) during his stay in London; a fan of director Cary Joji Fukunaga, she accepted the role as she wanted to work with him.

2025–present: Established actress In 2025, Kulig had a recurring role in season five of The Office PL, a Polish adaptation of the British series The Office, and starred as a wife of a dying man in Nora Jaenicke's psychological thriller Isola. She portrayed Jolanta Wadowska-Król, a Polish paediatrician who uncovered widespread lead poisoning among children in 1970s Silesia, in the 2026 Netflix series Lead Children, inspired by her life. In 2026, Kulig also appeared in Pawlikowski's film Fatherland as a jazz singer, and had a role in the HBO Max series Proud. She will star in Jan Holoubek's upcoming World War II thriller Wild, Wild East, which is set to premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Kulig will also release her debut studio album later that year.

Personal life Kulig is a practicing Christian. Aside from speaking Polish—her first language—she speaks English, French and German, and has performed in those languages. In 2009, she married film director and screenwriter Maciej Bochniak. On 14 February 2019, she gave birth to their son at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.

An ambassador for Anna Dymna's Against the Odds Foundation—an organisation helping adults with intellectual disabilities—Kulig has supported its efforts on numerous occasions. In 2023, she was honoured with St. Brother Albert Medal for her charity work for people with disabilities, which she dedicated to her mother. When accepting the award, she said: "Moments like this show that it is worth helping others. Thank you mum for teaching me that."

Kulig starred in the autumn-winter 2018 advertising campaign for fashion retailer Reserved, alongside Jeanne Damas. In 2018, Polish magazine Wprost included her among the 50 most influential Poles for her contributions to the cinema of Poland, and Glamour Poland named her Woman of the Year. In 2023, she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Acting credits

Film

Stage Year Title Role Playwright Theatre 2006 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia William Shakespeare Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre, Kraków 2007 Assemblywomen Girl Aristophanes Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre, Kraków

Discography Title Year Album "Gniew" 2002 Nawet "Liryka, liryka" "Oddal żal" "Sancho (dytyramb)" "Gdybym była prezydentem" 2013 Pamiętnik Pani Hanki (Piosenki z musicalu) "Lubię być szczęśliwa" "Małżeństwo to jest gra" "Trzydziesty dziewiąty" "24 mila baci" Ida "Guarda Che Luna" "Miłość w Portofino" "Nie płacz kiedy odjadę" "O Jimmy Joe" "Rudy rydz" "Dość" Muzyka z serca 2014 "Czas nas uczy pogody" 2014 Sophie Seeks Seven "Bo wszyscy Polacy" 2015 Piosenki z filmu Disco Polo "Baio Bongo" 2018 Cold War (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" "Chociaż zmęczona" Kolędy 2018 "Mizerna cicha" "Ja się nie przyzwyczaję" 2019 Ateneum gra Młynarskiego "Siedzę w oknie, patrzę w dal" "Bar Fly" 2020 The Eddy (From the Original Netflix Series) "Black Cat" "Can't Stay Away" "Call Me When You Get There" "Dupin's Blue" "Elle me dit" "Gossip" "Le Serpent qui danse" "Let It Go" "Kiss Me in the Morning" "Not a Day Goes By" "On the Way" "Open to Persuasion" "PCH" "Play All Night" "The Eddy" "The Eddy" "Cicha noc" "Kolęda na ten czas" "Już kąpiesz się nie dla mnie" 2021 Piosenki z Kabaretu Starszych Panów. Laboratorium "Piosenka jest dobra na wszystko" "To będzie miłość nieduża"

Awards and nominations Award Year Category Work Result Chlotrudis Awards 2019 Best Actress Cold War El Gouna Film Festival 2018 Best Actress Cold War Elle Style Awards (Poland) 2024 International Success European Film Awards 2018 Best Actress Cold War Galas Roses 2015 Film Disco Polo 2018 Film Cold War 2018 Special Award Glamour Woman of the Year (Poland) 2012 Glamour Style Entrance 2015 Talent 2018 Glamour Woman of the Year Golden Duck 2008 Best Actress Wednesday, Thursday Morning 2011 Best ActressDance MarathonMillion Dollars 2012 Best Actress Elles IndieWire Critics Poll 2018 Best Lead Actress Cold War International Cinephile Society Awards 2019 Best Actress Cold War The Kosciuszko Foundation Washington DC Polish Film Festival 2024 Best Actress Woman Of... Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts "The Youth and Film" 2008 Acting Debut Wednesday, Thursday Morning London Film Critics' Circle Awards 2019 Best Actress Cold War National Broadcasting Council Awards 2016 Arete Award for Acting Debut in the Polish Radio Theatre Katarantka Palm Springs International Film Festival 2019 FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film Cold War Polish Film Awards 2013 Best Supporting Actress Elles 2014 Best Supporting Actress Lasting 2019 Best Actress Cold War 2012 Best Supporting Actress Elles 2012 Elle Crystal Star Award Elles Politykas Passports 2019 Film Cold War Telecameras 2015 Actress Don't Worry About Me 2016 Actress Don't Worry About Me 2019 Actress Don't Worry About Me 2022 Actress of Last 25 Years Transatlantyk Festival 2018 Transatlantyk Golden Ark for Best Actress Two Theatres Festival 2008 Polish Television Theatre: Best Female Role Doktor Halina Zbigniew Cybulski Award 2013 Elles