Jolanta Umecka was born on March 17, 1937 in Warsaw. Acting was never among her interests, but she was passionate about music, mainly playing the piano, and this was the path she wanted to pursue professionally. Due to her unique beauty, many suggested that the camera could love her. He was of the same opinion, whose attention was caught at the Legia swimming pool.
Her debut with Polanski paid off with her health. The director had no patience for her
At that time, he was looking for an actress who would play the main female role in the film “Knife in the Water”. A young girl with an impeccable figure seemed to him the perfect candidate, so he offered her cooperation. Despite her doubts, she agreed to test photos, after which she officially joined the cast. For the 24-year-old, the engagement was like a dream, after all, she performed alongside Leon Niemczyk and Zygmunt Malanowicz. However, she did not expect that reality would quickly verify her ideas and that working on the set would end in trauma. As a debutante, she was initially given a concession and her mistakes were treated with understanding.
As time passed, the atmosphere became more and more thick. Umecka couldn’t remember lines and often made mistakes in scenes, thus delaying the crew’s work. Finally, the cup of bitterness overflowed. – What irritated me the most was that even in the simplest shots I was dealing with a person who couldn’t remember his lines, where to stand, or the moment to take off his sunglasses. What irritated me even more was her absolute passivity. The naturalness and lack of any artificiality that initially impressed me so much turned out to be a manifestation of a truly calf-like temperament – many years later Polański.
The painful experiences haunted her for years. Finally she moved into the shadows
The aspiring actress quickly became the object of ridicule not only from the director, but also from other crew members. Obscene words were repeatedly thrown at her, but she tried to remain classy. During the shooting of one of the scenes, Polañski’s assistant, Andrzej Kostenko, fired a rocket launcher right behind her to evoke any emotions on her face. – So what, idiot, helped? – the director was supposed to ask. With a calmness completely inappropriate to the situation, she replied yes. Even though she kept up appearances, she was constantly under stress. To calm her nerves, she fell into compulsive overeating, which had a dramatic impact on her figure.
The sexy girl from the first shots was transforming into a chubby woman
– he wrote about her. He even tried to motivate her to exercise to lose the extra weight, but to no avail. She filmed her last scenes in a large sweater to hide her bulk.
The premiere of the now legendary film took place on March 9, 1962, causing a sensation not only among Polish but also foreign audiences. The film even received an Oscar nomination, and Umecka gained international recognition. She posed for the best photographers and was considered a role model among women. Later, she appeared on screen four more times, in such productions as “Red Berets”, “Five”, “Echo” and “Miss Zázračnica”. Ultimately, painful experiences at the beginning of her career caused her to fade into the background. She then devoted herself to teaching and was never heard from again.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
