How I played in “Difficult affairs”. I had to protect my mother from my drunk stepfather

The beginnings of quasi-documentaries in Poland date back to 2004, when “W11 – Investigation Department” appeared on TVN. However, this series differed from today’s flagship productions, because it was a fictionalized crime documentary (so-called docu-crime), in which we followed the actions of policemen from the Krakow police station. A real revolution appeared in 2010, when Polsat launched the series “Why me?”, which presents real-life stories, with new characters appearing in each episode.

Since then, a lot of productions in the “scripted-docu” genre have appeared, which are usually referred to by a large part of the society as “Difficult Matters” – from the name of another series, which was created a year later on the wave of popularity of this format. All because of the “legendary” episodes that quickly became the object of internet jokes. One of such episodes is the one in which we learn the story of “Dariusz from Difficult Affairs”, who embarrassingly persecuted a woman he had met earlier. At one point, he snuck into her apartment and waited for her in a bathtub full of champagne bubbles. It was in this series that I had the opportunity to play quite recently. And although the imagination of screenwriters is not so exuberant now, the associations with this title still remain the same.

How to get to the paradocumentary?

In order to become a natural actor, I first had to apply for a casting organized by the production company Tako Media (now Polot Media). I took part in it in 2016 in Częstochowa and I do not know how it is now, but then such auditions were very often organized throughout Poland. I went there completely casually, without any expectations. I just wanted to see what it looked like, and I admit that quasi-documentaries were and still are my “guilty plesaure”.

Once there, I was invited with a group of other candidates to the room and we had a short scene to play in front of the camera, in which each of us argues separately with an aggressive producer. We played the role of the brother or sister of the girl who was raped, and the woman from the production played the neighbor who insulted us and our sister without manners. I still get shivers of shame when I remember that moment. A terrible demon came out of me when I was 18. I was shocked and impressed that I can feel and act like that. It must have worked, because a year later I got a call and played Na Ratunek 112.

Still from ‘Difficult Matters’ – episode 1157 Polsat promotional materials

Over the following years, I received similar calls a few more times, but in most cases I refused. Not because of unpleasant memories, but because researchers call literally a few days before the start of shooting. Rarely could I afford to stop going to classes overnight or take a leave of absence from work to go from Warsaw to Wrocław to record.

However, last year we finally got it together. I got the offer on Friday morning, when I was at the Open’er campsite and waiting in line for the shower. I even joke that maybe that call was a harbinger of what came next. Well, it was the third day of the festival, when a memorable storm broke out in the evening, and all festival goers had to evacuate in the rush. I liked the role initially, and after I left work I still had time off, so I said to myself “you only live once” and after returning home on Sunday evening, the first thing I did was turn on the washing machine. Well, you need to take your clothes to the set, which must be approved by a person from the production after sending her photos. There is also a dressing room on site, but it is only used occasionally.

The next day I packed my bags and went to Warsaw’s West Railway Station to board the Pendolino to Wrocław. Importantly, the company reimburses the actors for all travel expenses. The same is true with accommodation. If you have no place to stay, there are rooms for participants at the company’s headquarters. A hot meal and drinks are also provided during work.

When it comes to learning the script, I must honestly admit that as a result of the turmoil I sat down to it only in the evening after reaching the city on the Oder River. . “Difficult cases”. My hero is 18-year-old Patryk, which is six years younger than me. This is a common procedure in this type of productions. Supposedly because no one would recognize us on TV, but I’m not sure if that’s the real reason. In a nutshell: I played the role of a boy who lives with his mother and her new husband, who abuses alcohol. I was the only person who didn’t believe his stories from the beginning and I tried to make my mother realize how it could end, being very ironic at the same time. As my mother later commented, “It’s a role made for you.

Working on the set of “Difficult Matters” – easy and pleasant

The next day, a collection was planned for 7:00 at the headquarters of Polot Media, from where we went by van to the first location where we recorded. The shoot for the episode lasted three days, but I was only involved in the first two. I didn’t manage to visit all locations, but only three – two houses and one open-air, which was a horse farm. It is worth mentioning that during the casting you can mark in the form whether you agree to recording in your four walls. All scenes at home are recorded in private apartments of people who agreed to lend them for a fee.

Photo from the backstage of ‘Difficult Matters’ – episode 1157 mat. private

The work itself on the set was very dynamic and at the same time very calm. The production team was very understanding and did not create a tense atmosphere. Also the actors I had the opportunity to play with were very likeable. Before each scene, we had a moment to repeat our lines, which in my case turned out to be salutary. A big plus was also the fact that my lines were not too long, so I had no problem remembering what I had to say, but the director also didn’t require me to stick to the script. In those more emotional scenes, it was much more natural for us to speak in our own words. However, we shot quite a lot of takes alone, because people whose parts were more complicated didn’t always say everything right right away. However, this is perfectly normal as there is not much preparation time.

In the middle of the day we all went to dinner together, which was paid for by the production company. And when we got back, we went back to the first house, which was supposed to be my cousin’s house, to record all the scenes there. When my character was not participating in them, I sat quietly on the terrace and went about my things. Then it also turned out that one of the people who was supposed to play the episodic character of the psychologist would not come to the set and a person from the production had to play his role. My guess is that such situations can happen on a regular basis, and the production is prepared for it. However, the pace of work had to pick up suddenly, because we had to finish everything by 5:00 p.m., when the real household members would return home.

Backstage photo of ‘Difficult Matters’ with friends from the set – episode 1157 mat. private

At the end of the day we went to a horse farm, where we played the only outdoor scene. We came there because my serial mother was so-called. “horse” and her passion was horse riding. We were already very tired by then, but I must admit that it was a nice springboard after the whole day. It was also probably the funniest scene of the whole day. All because of the unruliness of these horses – during the recording of one of the scenes I wanted to stroke one of them, and he decided to bite me. I started screaming at the top of my voice, which turned into hysterical laughter. All this was recorded by a camera, but unfortunately I was unable to obtain this recording. It’s a pity, because it would probably be a more interesting souvenir than the episode itself, which I can easily find online.

After everything, we went to the company’s headquarters, from where each of us went our own way or stayed there and spent the night. The next day, we started work at the same time and went to another house where me and my family on the show lived. This day was much busier. We recorded many more scenes, including the more adventurous ones, such as my drunken stepfather kicking me out of the house. At the end of the day, I recorded hundreds, i.e. the famous “one-on-one” confessions to the camera, which are decorated with strips with the signature of the characters and their emotional state.

Still from the episode ‘Difficult cases’ episode 1157 Polsat promotional materials

Was it worth going crazy like that?

At that time, I officially finished working on the set of “Difficult Matters”. The production manager handed me my paycheck, along with travel expenses in cash. For all this fun, I earned about PLN 450, which, considering my earnings at the time, was still higher than for two eight-hour shifts in my previous job. Was it worth it? I was very pleased. For me, quasi-documents have always been a kind of “guilty plesaure” and to this day I am amused by the irrational ideas of screenwriters or grotesque scenes of fights. Interestingly, some of them have become an Internet hit. In 2011, almost every episode of “Difficult Affairs” instantly became a meme. Various remakes were created on YouTube, and stills from the series dominated on such websites as Demotivatory or Kwejk. In recent years, the performance of Izabela Kisio-Skorupa – Aleksandra Kisio’s mother and Internet patho-celebrity in “Hidden Truth” has been very popular among young people. Her line “Kid’s eating out of my hand, so get off, get off me, ’cause we know what to do!” was very eagerly repeated by TikTok users.

I also managed to become a “star” on TikTok a year and a half ago, because in 2017 I took part in “Na Ratunek 112”, and one of the users of the platform shared fragments of episodes there. The video can no longer be found online as it has probably been removed due to copyright infringement, but funny enough, I found out about my “fame” from a dating app where a user sent me a screenshot and asked if it was me. However, I don’t remember this set very well. The atmosphere was very tense, and the work took place in difficult conditions, because we were recording in the attic of an old tenement house on a hot June day. I was also fresh from high school at the time and such a trip was very stressful for me. Despite this, it was my first experience with a camera and a professional film crew, because it is worth mentioning that all the people who are responsible for the production of quasi-documentaries are not amateurs like actors. These are people who have graduated from film schools and have made more demanding productions.

Screenshot from the TikTok app – ‘To the Rescue 112’ TikTok @kxj93

Years later, I believe that it was worth getting out of the comfort zone and taking part in this project. Not only because of familiarity with the camera, but mainly because of the opportunity to see what it’s like to work on a film set. In addition, participation in programs that have taken over Polish television schedules also has an added value. I believe that these are productions that perfectly play the role of a typical self-player who can accompany us when we cook dinner or clean the apartment. We don’t have to watch carefully to know what’s going on, because the plot is very simple and every now and then the lector reminds us of what just happened. Para-documentaries will certainly stay on television for a long time, because the cost of their production is disproportionately low to the profits that broadcasters earn from their broadcast. And despite the fact that many people mock them, they will stop at an exciting scene and stay with the production until the end.