Despite the passage of more than twenty years since the end of production of the Polsat program “On every topic” in 2001, its host, Mariusz Szczygieł, was not interested in returning to television. This changed at the turn of 2023 and 2024, when the journalist received an unusual proposal. As he admitted in “Poranek TVP Info”, the new management of the station offered him “a calm conversation in which we are not in a hurry and we can talk about life, not politics.” The reporter agreed to this.
The beginning was a bit too hermetic, but this is something completely new in Polish programs
In the first episode of “Conversations (in)convenient”, the guest of the program was actor and director Jerzy Stuhr. After a short introduction to the guest, Mariusz Szczygieł started the conversation with the sentence: “You will soon appear before Stalin.” Then his guest started saying something that might have been incomprehensible to some viewers of the program. After a short while, the host himself admitted that this was a reference to the Polonia Theater’s play “Geniusz”, in which Stuhr plays the main role and is responsible for directing.
It’s an interesting move, but I think that a large part of the TVP Info audience does not usually follow theater premieres and the current career of the legendary actor, which may have made them feel a bit disoriented. After this important information, the guest of the program talked about the plot of the play and the characters. Sam plays the role of the artist Stanisławski, who comes to Joseph Stalin’s birthday party. The dictator asks his guest to give him some acting lessons so that he can play the leader better.
After discussing the topic related to the premiere of the play, which Stuhr treats as a sort of career summary, it is time for other questions. And it must be admitted that not all of them were comfortable. However, the first one cannot be included among them. The host asked who the actor was most likely to play. The 76-year-old admitted that he liked the title “Amateur” directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, to which Szczygieł reacted lively, explaining that it was his favorite film in the 1970s, when he dreamed of going beyond his hometown.
Jerzy Stuhr admitted that he was fascinated by… ancient Rome
Stuhr later admitted that he personally preferred to direct, advise actors, suggest solutions and observe their work rather than act. However, after searching the literature, he admitted that “everything has completely changed.” It turns out that the legendary actor abandoned fiction to study… the Roman Empire. – This fascinates me! Now I read from Romulus to Justinian, Stuhr confessed. He later added that he did it because, while working in Italy, he often had the opportunity to see these historic places live.
However, when asked about the sense of delving into the history of ancient Rome, the actor replied that it resulted in the same knowledge of “human mechanisms”, but there they were more cruel. Could this be the most rational answer to the question “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?”, which was often asked by women to their partners last fall. The phenomenon was a social media trend, started by an Instagram user who posted this message to women:
Ladies, many of you don’t realize how often men think about the Roman Empire. Ask your husband/boyfriend/father/brother. You will be surprised by their answers, wrote Gaius Flavius
This initiated the creation of thousands of recordings in which surprised men answer whether it is true and why it is so. Historian Hannah Cornwell, whom he quoted at the time, pointed out that one explanation may be that Western societies have historically overemphasized aspects of Roman history that are associated with masculinity in the popular imagination. Stuhr himself admitted this.
However, the conversation turned towards religion. The actor noticed that in ancient Rome, the above-mentioned mechanisms were not influenced by Catholicism. – It amazed me that they, being completely unbelievers, had some relationships and loved their women. There is some loyalty. And they are clean, admitted the actor, adding that he meant the bathhouse. Szczygieł pointed out that it is about having ethics and pointed out that he often sees this in the atheistic Czech Republic.
The middle part of the program was definitely less comfortable than the first part
The next questions were really uncomfortable. The host of the program referred to the word “Mitteleeuropejczyk”, which describes Jerzy Stuhr. The term comes from the concept of the unity of the Central European region, which arose in the 19th century Austria-Hungary, where the actor’s ancestors come from. In this way, the artist referred to his great-grandfather Leopold Stuhr, who – as he himself said – consciously became a Pole, and to his grandfather Oskar, who was one of the first prisoners in the German Nazi Auschwitz camp.
Later, the reporter touched on the topic of cancer that Stuhr was struggling with. The actor admitted that during his first long visit to the hospital, he put on a festive outfit before the doctor’s arrival because he did not accept the thought that he was not healthy. – Slippers and pajamas change the status, however – he said. He also revealed that he sometimes ran away from the hospital at twelve o’clock to go to a cafe. He admitted that he needed it and his wife knew it.
They continued to talk about what the disease had taught him and whether he had become accustomed to the thought of death. The actor said that the disease is a teacher of humility, not science. However, after a moment of silence, he admitted that he was tame, but on the other hand he always thought that he could still “fight through it”. Although he is not sure if he would have the strength to fight the disease in this state of health. He also admitted that he wrote a lot during treatment, which was his most important activity.
Stuhr then referred to his trip to Italy for a film set, to which Szczygieł responded that he immediately noticed the joy on his face when the actor said the name of this country. He then admitted that his stay in Italy allowed him to leave the Krakow theater environment and see a different world.
Their Catholicism is mixed with lust and temperament. And here it’s supposedly Catholic… – he didn’t finish, changing his thought
The topic of an accident involving an actor was also touched upon. Mariusz Szczygieł had an unusual request for him
In the program he said that his stay in Italy taught him joy, and he got the most of it from the students who showed him the most of it. “Anything is possible in bed and at the table,” Szczygieł summed up, later asking the actor whether Stuhr could still study at the moment. The actor replied that he was waiting for a moment that he called a “big thing”, such as the role of Napoleon. Now he admitted that he is most looking forward to the premiere of his book, which will also talk about his “failures”, referring to the withdrawal of his driving license. Szczygieł then encouraged me to repeat a phrase from an important and educational text:
You must not drive after drinking alcohol
The actor then blurted out a peculiar comment. – Also strange, because in Italy you can – he said, causing a smile (dismay?) on the presenter’s face, who, however, reminded Stuhr that we were in Central Europe. However, when asked about the best way to get over failure, he replied that it was to forget about it. – I’m afraid that if we forget about failure, it won’t build us up, it won’t change us – Szczygieł replied. His guest, however, said that he was moving forward anyway, joking that his zodiac sign was Aries and said that he had never had such big failures in his life.
It started with the theater and ended with it. We also learned that Stuhr does not understand young people
At the very end of the first episode of “Conversations (un)convenient”, there was again a reference to the play “Geniusz”, the premiere of which will take place on February 22, 2024 at the Polonia Theater in Warsaw. The actor admitted that he had a bit of stage fright, but he felt it more towards the performance as a whole, fearing criticism resulting from misunderstanding the performance. However, he admitted that he pays a lot of attention to the logic of the words the actors say and the fact that they are understandable to the audience, and then he said:
Because sometimes I look at these young people… I don’t understand them at all, what they are saying. Not even that they talk. But why, how, why – said Stuhr
With this accent, the host ended the conversation, wishing his guest that his role in the upcoming “Genius” would not be his last, and wishing everyone listening as much understanding as possible.
However, referring to Stuhr’s words above, I can confidently suspect that the actor is certainly not aware that he could have evoked associations among young viewers of the program with the popularity of the topic of ancient Rome among men.
This misunderstanding goes both ways. He doesn’t understand us – young people, and we often didn’t understand him either. Especially in recent years. To sum up, I can only agree with Mariusz Szczygieł’s final wishes to everyone.
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.
