Kristoffer Rus’s film is to be a warm, funny and sensitizing story about how to face difficult life situations. Here Grabowski plays the good-natured and life-wise grandfather of the main character – 10-year-old Waldek (played by Maciej Karaś), a character completely different than in Polsat’s sitcom.
About Ferdek Kiepski: Many colleagues showed me open contempt. It has always been strange to me because it is a hellishly difficult role
In his autobiography “I am like a butterfly”, written for a company with Paweł Łęczuk and Jakub Jabłonka, Grabowski recalls that he got the role in “The Kiepski World” practically in the dark and without any auditions, after one meeting with the director:
We exchanged handshakes, I got an envelope with the scripts for the first three episodes and we agreed to record in a few days. When, after returning to Krakow, I read the script of the first episode, I felt a little sick. But well, in such situations I always tell myself that I play different roles, because it’s my profession, not a hobby. The money is tiny, but always. Besides, I was convinced that such a series could not catch on, and it would definitely vanish from the air before it came out – so much of it will be.
Meanwhile, the actor has been shooting subsequent episodes since 1999! And although he repeatedly mentions that Ferdek has become to some extent a curse for him – most people associate him only with the role of a reckless beer drinker, and some colleagues showed superiority – he also emphasizes that it is not such a simple role. In an interview with Jacek Wakar, for the book “The First Life of Marek Kondrat”, he recalls working together at the Television Theater in 2002 – “Brother Elvis”.
– We shot this television “Brother Elvis” in pleasant circumstances, because in Zakopane. And when it comes to Zakopane, you know – after the photos, dinner in a pub, and there are many of them there. At that time, I was in the TV series “Świat according to Kiepskich”, which was associated with the fact that many colleagues showed me open contempt. It has always been strange for me, because it is a hellishly difficult role – he said. – There was a much younger actor in the cast, who ostentatiously and constantly demonstrated his superiority to me. Because I play “Kiepskie”. One evening, during one of these dinners, Marek called this younger colleague to order in harsh words. It made him realize what it means to play a comedy, what the scale of the difficulty is. In addition, a comedy such as “Kiepscy”, where you cannot afford to play, let go. It was very important to me and then I gave Marek even more respect – he added.
Andrzej Grabowski on the set of ‘The World According to the Kiepskis’ in 2008 Photo Dominik Dzieciinny / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
“When I work, I feel that I am needed. Not necessarily other people.” And he got into the profession thanks to his brother
Why does he like his profession? Because he can live the life of another character for a while. – When I work, I feel that I am needed. Not necessarily to other people, because I do not have such an opinion of myself, but I am convinced that what I do is necessary for me (…) when I am busy with something, I do not suddenly fall into the abyss, the abyss of hopelessness – in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
He was even Gebels in “Pitbull”. Together with Marcin Dorociński, Patryk Vega created a phenomenal duo in the film and then the series appreciated by both viewers and reviewers from 2005. As he told Onet, it was, in a sense, a coincidence. – At the peak of popularity of “Kiepskis”, Patryk Vega offered me the role of “Gebels”, but after a month he called that “the production is wrong, because you have the face of Ferdek Kiepski. And he will play it …”. Here he mentioned the actor. I replied: “How this actor plays for you, you know, he and everyone knows.” And if it wasn’t for the fact that Vega did not get the money then, and then he quarreled with this actor and came back to me after two years, proposing that I should play, I would never appear in “Pitbull” – an actor.
After more than a decade, he decided to return to this role with a director who is in a completely different professional position and join him for several more productions. After he decided to play the role of the chairman of the ruling party in Polityka, he was to face further problems. – I also deal with stand-up. And a few days ago I received a phone call that the scheduled performance was canceled because a few people important for the organizers were to come to it, who would not have come if I had performed. So I was resigned. This is the first symptom that ostracism is occurring and is likely to be. But I’ve already lived through so much that I can survive this as well. I just hope that I will not go to prison – in “Wprost”.
The actor, however, is not afraid to take up very different professional challenges – he was a juror in “Dancing with the Stars”, he played Edward Gierek in the series “Pajęczyna”, a doctor in “Pod Mocnym Aniołem”, Adam’s neighbor in “Day of the Freak”, Andrzej Jurewicz in “Bożej podszewce”, Mańka Kosela in “Zróbmy wnuka”, he also released four albums, and started playing in the theater before graduating from the PWST in Krakow. In 1987, he won several awards for his role in Bogusław Schaeffer’s “Scenario for Three Actors” at the STU Theater in Krakow, and later also for his performances on stage, incl. in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Edward Albee and The Wedding “by Stanisław Wyspiański.
And yet he came to the theater school a bit by accident, because of his brother Mikołaj, who is studying there – today a director, actor, for years who has been managing the STU Theater in Krakow together with Krzysztof Jaroszyński. Andrzej Grabowski told Onet:
I enrolled in the theater school not because I love the theater, but because I liked the life of the students of the theater school. It was cool, just like people were cool, Mikołaj had Jurek Trela or Mańek Dziędziela for his year, for example. And pretty girls … I wanted to get there because I got to know this life while being at the camp with them.
Andrzej Grabowski and Mikołaj Grabowski – ‘Screenplay for three actors’ based on the play by Bogusław Schaeffer, Poznań 2014 Photo Andrzej Monczak / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Just a few days ago (March 15), he turned 70. There is no better form of celebration than the theatrical premiere of two films with his participation. Apart from “Too Big for Fairy Tales”, the script of which was based on the book of the same title and written by its author, Agnieszka Dąbrowska, Grabowski will be shown on the big screen in March in “Piosenki o miłość”. In this film, he plays Robert’s father (Tomaszłosok).
“Too Big for Fairy Tales” hits theaters on March 18, “Songs about Love” a week later.
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Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
