Jacek Koman: The fact that my parents were actors makes me treat acting quite soberly

Justyna Bryczkowska: In the third season of “Belfra” a lot of threads revolve around the father-son relationship. How did you and Maciej Stuhr get along?

Jack Koman: We relied heavily on what was already in the script. The conflict between them is outlined with strong lines. I mean, this relationship is quite complex, I don’t know if it should be called a conflict, but I guess it is. We do not know the history of this dispute in detail, but there are clear signals, for example, about the relationship between Captain Zawadzki and his wife, the mother of the title teacher. However, we don’t put everything on the coffee table.

Maybe with a wink: who in the new season of “Belfra” (on CANAL+ from September 8) behaves more like a rebellious teenager – Paweł or your hero?

I think they surprise each other with how childish they can be. There are a couple of candidates out there. Some may be at an age where it’s more forgivable, but between Paul and his father, he definitely acts like a kid once in a while.

You – like your serial son aka Maciej Stuhr – is also a child of actors. Have you had the opportunity to compare your experiences in this area?

Maybe not in this field specifically, but during the shooting Maciek went to Warsaw, not only to see his family, but also to play in the theater from time to time. Shortly after we started shooting in Małomorskie, Maciek went and played the last planned performance of “Angels in America”. I used to play this show 20 years ago. Interestingly, he plays Joe and I played Roy Cohn, who becomes such a spiritual father to Joe. This completed the building of relationships between our characters in “Belfra” in a traveling way. Such were the echoes between our experiences.

Is there anything you learned about acting from your parents?

Good question. The very fact that my parents were actors makes me treat acting quite soberly, although of course there is magic and great experiences in it. Especially my mother was an incredibly hard-working person. I saw her on stage and helped her with her work around the house. I think I sucked the hard-working actor ethos with her milk.

Back in 2014, you said in one of your interviews that you were aware of your success. When did you feel so tangibly that you had achieved it?

It all boils down to the definition of success. In fact, in this popular understanding, it happened and I noticed it. But there have been previous successes that were important to me and passed away without fanfare. Success is overcoming obstacles, facing difficult tasks. I guess it’s like that, looking at the list of things I’ve done somewhere along the way, some pop up because they are surrounded by flowers or laurels. And this map of my own successes, what I consider my achievements, is a bit different.

Have you ever noticed how these perceptions of success diverge between you and the outside world?

Moulin Rouge is such a crossover in a sense. For me, of course, it was a great adventure, but there have been more important achievements for me that no one knows about. And so it may be.

So maybe now you will tell us about such an important and “quiet” adventure?

Nobody is supposed to know about them! Seriously speaking, these are mostly small projects and not always professional stuff. For me, a big achievement was, for example, that a year and a half ago I played Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman”. Here we agreed with Mirek Baka, because during the shooting of “Belfra” he went to his home theater to play the same character.

Mirosław Baka and Jacek Koman in ‘Belfra’ CANAL+ promotional materials

It’s a great, great role and something I’d love to return to. Playing it in English while struggling to get any closer to a Brooklyn accent was a mountain I’d been climbing for a long, long time. Because we staged it shortly after the pandemic, theaters were not yet operating at full blast. Unfortunately, therefore, we had a rather short season with this staging at the Sydney Theatre. It was shifted and wedged in between something that was about to start rehearsals. So it happened that since we didn’t play it for a long time, there wasn’t much time for fanfare, flowers and cards. But the fun and satisfaction were great. It was my personal success.

Since you mentioned so nicely that it was in Australia, I’m curious, what is the difference between playing in Polish and playing in English for you?

I think that when playing in Polish, I sometimes use English as a tool, and I do the same when playing in English. Seeing a role in a different language changes my perspective a bit. This second language sheds new light because it belongs to a different culture. This is a separate look and they kind of complement each other. It’s interesting, especially how Shakespeare is played, and I’ve done a couple of Shakespeare plays in Australia. This Shakespearean English might as well be a foreign language that the local contemporaries don’t understand.

You already mentioned “Moulin Rouge”, I found a mention that you were supposed to appear in “The Great Gatsby” with Leonardo DiCaprio. Did Baz Luhrmann talk to you while he was filming Elvis?

He spoke, but it was during the pandemic. They decided then not to bring in any actors from Melbourne. This got in our way. But again, it wasn’t going to be a big role.

You’ve acted in movies with Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Nicholas Cage etc. It was with great fun that I discovered that, for example, in 2017 in “The Jungle” you played Daniel Radcliffe’s father, or that in “Breath” you worked with Elizabeth Debicki, the newest Princess Diana. Which of these roles do you remember most fondly?

In each of them there are a pair of nice amber stones. This “Moulin Rouge” was indeed groundbreaking. I lied a bit when I said that the outside and my definition of success fell apart because it was a great challenge. I had to dance, and for the first time I also sang in a movie. It was a fun adventure, that’s for sure. But that was a long time ago.

I must admit that it’s nice to meet someone again on the set, as it was with Ewan McGregor on “Son Of A Gun”. It wasn’t some hype action movie, but the encounter was enjoyable. It’s not out yet, but I spent the first two months of 2023 filming The Conclave in Rome. I think it will be an interesting thing. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lihgow, Izabella Rosselini play in this. I play a small but interesting role of Archbishop Wozniak in this thriller. Being able to shoot in Rome, Thailand, in a moment in Vilnius – these are fun adventures and life’s pleasures.

Have you ever turned down roles in Australian or American films because of Polish offers?

Yeah! In the end, I didn’t play in The Great Gatsby because I came to Poland to start the Doctors series. Please, it happened.