Zbrojewicz: I found out recently that I played with Christoph Waltz. A friend called me

Justyna Bryczkowska: What was your first impression when you read the script for “Keep calm”?

Miroslaw Zbrojewicz: The first thought that came to my mind: it will be a very difficult project, because it is a crime series by name, but in the realities of psychological production, about the relationship between children and parents. I was very curious to see how it would intertwine. I knew before that Harlan Coben designs his stories in such a way that various plots, seemingly unrelated, suddenly merge at an unexpected moment and it turns out that they tell about the same reality over and over again.

What did you think about your hero? On the one hand, he is a ruthless lawyer and, on the other hand, a clumsy father.

This is a very good situation to play, because there is nothing more fun for an actor than to show a darker character than a lighter one. In the case of my character, it is interesting because there is a breakthrough and we witness how the hero changes, but also, above all, what is his attitude towards his son – after all, I play the role of a father raising a teenager as a single person.

What was the most important for you when you built this role?

Absolutely basic mechanism: a character that breaks down at a critical moment that forces him to behave differently from what we expect from him at the beginning and from how he was first constructed. I am speaking rather mysteriously, because I do not want to reveal too much – you have to see it. But this mechanism affects role-building – if we have the opportunity to perform a pirouette at some point, it is very valuable for the actor and the character he is building.

How was it for you to work with the directors Bartosz Konopka and Michał Gazda?

Very good! We worked in shifts, but I have had the opportunity to work with them on many projects. More and more often I come across the practice of overlapping one series by different directors. It is interesting because when you know and trust them, working with everyone is a bit different. In the case of these two, I think it comes from the differences in temperament. You have to adjust to that in order to be able to communicate with them.

Was it difficult for you to switch from one director to another?

It was not difficult, but certainly different conversations with Michał Gazda and Bartek Konopka. I think they also have a slightly different approach to the work itself. Michał gives such comfort that you can devote yourself completely to him, because he knows everything, decides about everything, and he decides on point and on time. Bartek, on the other hand, is a director who analyzes more and observes what can be done at a given moment on the set – not to say that he is more searching, but allows himself a longer conversation with the actor before taking a shot. I won’t say which method is better, because both of them are really great to work with.

What gave you the most satisfaction while working on “Keep Calm”? Was there anything that surprised you already on set, something that you did not expect at the stage of reading the script?

First of all, I really liked the fact that I was driving a beautiful sports convertible. The directors’ openness to new ideas was also very cool – some things actually worked well and made it into the show. I was extremely impressed by the young actors we played with. Really class, respect – I admire. I am always a bit afraid of it, because we have different experiences and different acting temperaments, for example due to age. It happens differently, and here it was great. With my son Mikołaj Śliwa, we began to get along very quickly and communicate very quickly outside the film set. It was really cool.

You intrigued me at this point. Do you see any generational change and significant differences in how you approach acting? Even compared to the moment when you graduated from acting school, and how was it now working with them?

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the first major difference was that we were actors in general. At this point, the division into film, serial, television and theater actors is more visible. When I graduated from school, we were primarily prepared to play in the theater. I have been working in the theater constantly since I graduated, so I can say that I am a theater actor who acts in movies and TV series. But I also know that now young people are, for example, only film actors or only serial actors, that they often do not have theatrical experience – or vice versa. These divisions are perhaps becoming clearer.

You collaborated with Netfliks on the first major Polish production of the original “1983”. Do you remember what your impressions were then? From your perspective, how is Netflix changing the Polish film market now?

“1983” was a big TV production – for our reality. In addition, it was a series based on a script that creates reality from start to finish. This creative aspect of the scenario then translated into the entire implementation and production process. Now, apart from a number of other things, it is clearly visible that there is more and more production on a grand scale, and in my opinion this is the main issue. Thanks to the fact that producers such as Netflix have entered, they have also introduced their methods of implementation, setting the schedule and photos, functioning on the set, rules of work and the presence of actors in front of the camera and outside of it – this has significantly raised our production standards.

In 2016, you emphasized that you were defending yourself against TV series with your hands and feet. Did the rise of these standards make you change your mind a bit about them?

It is not that I am not automatically assuming a role where the standards are lower. I am an actor, this is my profession, I want and must do it. On the other hand, I am already in the moment of practicing this profession that I look more at what I would play than for how much, which is important. After all, we live on it.

The reality of film and television has changed. I have the impression that at the moment the cinemas only watch American super-productions about superheroes – to see something else, you have to go to the studio cinema. Certain spheres in which cinema has operated so far have been taken over by television and American television, which began to produce super-productions. Until recently, we had to deal with a situation where the series were simply underinvested – this is how they were tailored. This only changed when the big producers got involved and other budgets emerged. I don’t know if you can’t say that at the moment the accent has shifted towards serial and TV productions – we have a lot of them and quite a lot of them are delightful.

I need to deviate a bit from the topic. Mr. Mirosław, while browsing your filmography, I noticed that in 1999 you had the opportunity to play in “Commissioner Reks”. Christopher Waltz also starred in this episode.

I always remember it when I think that maybe something is wrong with me because the phone rings less often. After all, his world career for him probably started after the age of 60. But I found out that I played with him quite recently, because a friend called me and told me “You know you played with Christopher Waltz?”. I told him he must be kidding me, but he insisted. It was only then that I remembered that in one of the two episodes of the Austrian “Commissioner Reks” in which I participated, he was the main character.

I love listening to you when you dub various characters in your movies. What is it like to be the voice of Eeyore and Darth Vader at the same time?

This is the so-called professional life – all kinds of things are done and I like it very much when I get very different offers. It was with this Darth Vader that there were trial recordings first and I had completely forgotten that I was part of them. They only contacted me after a year that you have to go to a studio in Budapest to play it. So I flew to Budapest to take seven loud and deep breaths and then boarded the return flight.