“A Simple Matter” is the latest series from the creators of the cinema hit “Furioza”. Director Cyprian T. Olencki took Wojciech Chmielarz’s best-selling book and, together with a proven team of filmmakers, turned it into a thorough thriller, literally dripping with spectacular and very believable action scenes, as well as casting choices that were surprising in their non-obviousness. One of such surprises is definitely the role played by a certain Kazik. He is an exceptionally brutal gangster with an international smuggling network who has the entire Jelenia Góra and its vast surroundings in his grasp. Adamczyk not only shows off his acting skills and knowledge of the Russian language. It also underwent a physical metamorphosis and careful characterization, which required, among other things, installing a prosthetic abdomen, an artificial diabetic foot and a broken nose, which he also talked about in our interview. You can listen to the entire conversation in the recording below:
Piotr Adamczyk on how he became a gangster in “Simple Matter”
“A Simple Matter” tells the story of the mysterious Nameless Man (or Inco, played by him) who appears in Jelenia Góra to pay back a debt to his friend, Prosty (Mateusz Więcławek), from years ago. Once there, it turns out that Prosty has disappeared, and two militant musclemen quickly appear in his theoretically empty apartment. Kazik sent them because Prosty escaped with a large sum of money stolen from the gang. Inco begins to investigate the case, and the more he learns, the more it becomes clear that he faces a hard fight for his life – not only his own.
Who exactly is this Kazik? “A former policeman with connections that he boldly and often uses. Currently, a ruthless boss of the Jelenia Góra mafia and a dealer in pseudoephedrine. Officially – the owner of a roller rink. A furious, he reaches for a gun without a moment’s hesitation and murders without blinking an eye, if the situation requires it. He must find Simple and the money. that he stole from him. He is not responsible only to himself – his business also connects him with the Czechs, and they are not understanding when it comes to debts. His only weakness is Elena, his young love – officially presented by the creators of the series.
– I started building this role out of doubt. Because how can Adamczyk, perceived as I am aware that I am perceived by the Polish viewer, be credible as an obese mafioso, a local warlord and a cruel murderer? But on the other hand, fortunately, there is also a gangster with a human face – Piotr Adamczyk started our conversation about the series.
How does Adamczyk’s new hero appear? “In the beginning there is an ass”
How did he prepare to take part in the production? The process was complex. – The trials certainly helped a lot. I was constantly making sure, looking into the eyes of Cyprian, our director and author of the adaptation, whether this direction was good, because he was brave. Such a complete physical transformation, change of voice… I put a lot of, as they say, acting props on myself – says the actor.
The director decided to present this character to the audience through his physical exposure, when during the conversation I noticed that we start by looking at Kazimierz’s belly on the screen, Piotr Adamczyk corrected it. – Sorry for the word, but honestly, at the beginning, it’s an ass. Because he sticks out from behind the door and we see that he’s putting on his pants, there’s sweat on his belly – she describes. It is worth emphasizing that during the shooting, the actor used a silicone overlay imitating a diabetic foot, and also abandoned a healthy diet and started overeating to change his “physical conditions” and to make his “sluggish movements” more believable. He also had his own ideas on how to shape the character:
I was determined that a broken nose would change my physiognomy and that it would help me move away from my physicality. I decided that by imposing so many help and supports on myself, I would believe in myself more. At one point I looked in the mirror and knew that if I believed in myself, maybe the viewer would believe in me too.
– These are obstacles that help. I remember this at theater school, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz taught: “Everything that is a difficulty, try to collect as many difficulties as possible, because overcoming these difficulties on stage builds what is interesting.” (…) This heavy belly and the heat that prevailed when we were working on “A Simple Matter” resulted in natural fatigue, shortness of breath and sweat. Every good role should have blood, sweat and tears. Jerzy Antczak, who directed “Chopin”, said this and I have the impression that these three elements were ticked off in this role, the actor laughs.
– Talking about this film cuisine in interviews is so difficult because I would like the viewer to believe in this Kazik. Whether there is anything changed in the film, it doesn’t matter – he then noted. He also spoke enthusiastically about working on the set. – The crew was hunting for our acting moments. (…) Knowing that we don’t have to be precise, because we are watched by them, because these moments are caught by them, is also wonderful because it gives us such a breather – he described.
This time at work he met in common scenes, among others: with Izabela Kuna, with whom he previously appeared, for example, in the comedy “Lejdis”. He admitted that this professional meeting cost him some uncertainty. – Iza Kuna is my friend whom I have known since her first roles. We played together many times, so here on the set I didn’t look at her as an authority or a great actress, which Iza undoubtedly is, but as a friend who knows me privately. I was very embarrassed about our scene together: that she would see all the seams, that she wouldn’t believe in me, that I was changing my voice, that I was different from me, that something would disturb it somewhere. But there is something wonderful about Iza that when the word “action” is mentioned, she is really here and now as this character, and I caught on to that and also tried to be here and now as this character of mine – she recalls the photos we took together.
Piotr Adamczyk reveals what he suspected about American actors
As it turns out, Piotr Adamczyk used the knowledge gained on international sets for this production. – I learned about these experiences in American cinema and started to apply them a bit in our Polish context, even though it’s nothing groundbreaking. But this is my own way, where I played with the duration of a pause or a gesture. I suspected American actors that they did not have such a rhythm, which is partly due to the specific work of theater actors. It is known that in the theater the pause cannot be too long. In the theater, the audience can get bored, so the rhythm of a theater actor is slightly different than that of a conscious film actor who knows that it still needs to be edited and it may be too long, but it will cut out at the moment when it needs to be done. . Thanks to my experience, I approached the role of Kazik a little differently and I managed to squeeze some things more like lemons than if I hadn’t used such tricks from my shady American colleagues – he let me know about his tricks
When asked if he felt pigeonholed, he diplomatically answers: There is actually such a thing, a “type of casting” [obsadzanie po warunkach, szufladkowanie – przyp. red]that if someone plays a credible gangster, suddenly they only get gangster roles. Someone is a reliable lover in romantic comedies, then every year he is a full-time lover or, for example, an actor for Tadeusz Lampka. Someone played great Poles? Suddenly a series of things like this. But this is not a fight to change image and perception. This is simply my profession. It would get boring if I played the same character all the time.
– I also try to distinguish these characters within the group. When playing gangsters, and I have several of them on my account, I would like them to be different from each other – he says and adds that his Mat from “Mafia Women 2” is clearly different from the Kazik he is currently portraying, not only because of his tattoos, bald head and long black dress. beards. Mainly because of the character. Adamczyk approaches playing e.g. SS men in a similar way and announces that within the next year he will be seen in just such a role in a British series about Krystyna Skarbek, played by Morgan Polański. He assures that this will be a character completely different from Lars Rainer from “Time of Honor”. Meanwhile, the premiere of “A Simple Matter” will take place on May 17 on Canal+ online and Canal+ Premium.
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.
