Katarzyna Żak: music takes up half of my calendar now (interview)

PAP Life: When I asked Justyna Steczkowska why she wanted to perform at Eurovision, she told me that she had recently released an album and wanted to present it to the world. And why did you submit your song to the festival in Opole?

Katarzyna Żak: New compositions are submitted to the "Premiery" concert. I sang the song "Bo już miłość ma kres" only once in my new recital "O miłości... najpiękniej" and the audience really liked it. After this concert, several people came to me and said that I should record a single and release it to streaming.

Because today, radio has its own rules and it's hard to get in. So I submitted my song to Opole, not really hoping to get in. I treated it more like a kind of casting. My job is that we go to castings very often. Some you win, some you lose - that's normal.

PAP Life: Most people know you as an actress from popular productions. Not everyone knows that you regularly perform concerts and have recorded several albums. Was the performance in Opole a chance to present yourself to a wider audience?

K.Ż.: Yes, of course - that was also important. But I didn't have any pressure that I had to prove something or win. My future professional life didn't depend on that performance. When I got to Opole, I thought it would be great to sing in front of a large audience, to show that I can go on stage and perform this simple but very positive vocal piece with great lyrics by Artur Andrus.

PAP Life: With the song "Bo już miłość ma kres" you sang yourself the audience award, winning against many professional singers. Even though this song is a bit in the style of Młynarski, Przybora or Osiecka. Were you surprised that it won the hearts of the audience?

K.Ż.: Very much. When I entered the stage, I was met with such a fantastic reaction from the audience that it gave me wings. And for that one moment, for the audience that sang along with me - not for this award, it was worth it. It was still quite light outside, I could see people's faces up to the eighth, even tenth row.

Everyone was smiling. When you get that kind of energy from the audience, you go to a different level of singing, a different kind of stage expression. That moment was absolutely one of the most beautiful things that happened in my life.

Voices have been raised that people miss a song that tells a story. I was raised by Wojciech Młynarski and for me a song simply has to be like that. Recently, the lyrics of Młynarski, Osiecka, Kofta or Magda Czapińska are increasingly sung by crowds of young vocalists who discover these songs as something fantastic and want to work on them.

Of course, I am aware that music changes generationally. I myself have my favorite authors, young vocalists, I follow their achievements. But as you can see, people miss the classics.

Katarzyna Żak about her adventure with music

PAP Life: Your adventure with singing began over 30 years ago, when you sang at the Stage Song Festival in Wrocław.

K.Ż.: I didn't get first place then, only a distinction. But I won much more than a toddler, which was the prize at the time. Because my prize was the year-long artistic care of Wojciech Młynarski. And he, as part of this care, directed my recital of his songs, which I later played in the theater, and then the album "Młynarski Jazz" was released.

What I learned from this great artist back then - how to work on a song, how to go on stage, how to talk to the audience, how to choose a repertoire - was simply priceless. In the following years, it had a huge influence on me - both in the selection of my singing repertoire and in the roles I built.

PAP Life: What was the most important piece of advice that Młynarski gave you?

K.Ż.: To always, if the literary material allows it, tell the story through your emotions, show your perspective on the character.

PAP Life: When you moved to Warsaw, did you keep in touch with Młynarski?

K.Ż.: You could say that our relationship was rekindled at that time. Wojtek recommended me to Andrzej Strzelecki, who accepted me into the cast of the Rampa Theatre. I was there for 15 years as an actor. Apart from that, Wojtek invited me to various concerts quite regularly. Later, he directed musical performances at the Rampa Theatre, to which I was also invited, and for several years I sang at the Wojciech Młynarski Festival, which took place at the Shakespeare Theatre in Gdańsk.

One of the last songs that Wojtek wrote was a song for me for the album "Very Pleasantly Is Living". At that time he was already very sick, but I asked him and he didn't refuse. It was the lyrics of "Pęciogroszówki słońca" and the music was composed at Wojtek's request by Janusz Sent, who is also no longer alive. Both are great creators of Polish songs.

PAP Life: You regularly give concerts, tomorrow you are going to Częstochowa for the Piotr Machalica Festival, in July you will be singing at the Atelier Theatre in Sopot. At the same time you work as an actress, you play on the stages of two Warsaw theatres: the Och! Theatre and the Komedia Theatre. What takes up more space in your professional life today? Music or acting?

K.Ż.: I think it's more or less equal. I also play in two titles, with which I travel around Poland, but I also give concerts in many places in the country. So the audience has the opportunity to see me both on stage and in concerts. I think that if I had more TV or film offers, my singing would probably decrease a bit. But it is what it is. Now I simply divide my calendar in half, I don't move the scales in any direction.

After Opole, more concert offers appeared and if I can, I accept them, because it is a great joy for me. Many actors sing, it has always been like that. After all, several dozen years ago, Mr. Jerzy Stuhr achieved a spectacular success in Opole, when he sang "Everyone Can Sing". Just as vocalists act in films, so actors sing. There is nothing extraordinary about it, these are not things that have to be mutually exclusive.

PAP Life: You are an actress with great comedy talent, but you are rarely seen on screen these days. Do you feel like you are not getting enough?

K.Ż.: Of course I do, but I think it would be bad if I didn't. We, actors, are always hungry to play. At the beginning of the year I was shooting the comedy "Gingerbread Heart", which will premiere in November. It was incredibly moving for me, because the action of the film takes place in Toruń - my hometown. Of course I would like to play in more films, and that's why I play in the theater so much.

In September I will start rehearsals for another play at the Komedia Theatre based on the novel by Zygmunt Miłoszewski and I am already very much looking forward to this meeting. The theatre gives me the opportunity to play different roles. In the play "How to Age Without Dignity", based on the book and podcasts by Magdalena Grzebałkowska and Ewa Winnicka, I play old age, which has different faces, different dimensions. This is a great challenge for me.

Katarzyna Żak on the role of Solejukowa in "The Ranch"

PAP Life: Viewers remember you from your role as Solejukowa in the series "Ranczo", which you played for 11 years. How did this role affect your life?

K.Ż.: It definitely helped me open up to pro-women activities. I started getting invited to various meetings, congresses that deal with activating women over fifty. It turned out that I feel good about it, I know how to talk to people, I know how to listen to them.

I feel needed because people often need contact with a woman who has achieved professional success, is able to get good things out of it and do something for others.

PAP Life: Have you always believed in yourself?

K.Ż.: No, I was raised by my mother, grandmother, typical Polish women, who kept telling me: apologize, bow, thank me, it's best not to stick your neck out, you'll definitely fail. Even when I was already an adult and working, I heard: "Be happy you have a job in the theater, appreciate it, act there, don't look for anything else."

Today's young girls, young actresses, whom I look at with full admiration, have self-confidence, also fantastic language skills. They start casting for films all over Europe, they have no complexes and that's wonderful. Because, really, I still have a problem with self-confidence. That's why I didn't even dream that I could win the audience award in Opole.

PAP Life: You have two adult daughters. Did you tell them: "You can do anything"?

K.Ż.: I admit that for a long time I copied the parenting model of my mother and grandmother, but at some point they rebelled. They wanted to go their own way and I understood that, accepted it and didn't fight it, because I saw that most young women around me behaved similarly. Both daughters are doing very well.

They have a happy life, far from the media, which in today's world tries to look in every possible direction, and it is very difficult. I am actually glad that they did not become actresses. The younger one is a doctor, like my mother - they have always been very close to each other. The second daughter is associated with the television and advertising industry.

PAP Life: In the song for which you received the award in Opole, you sing: "I love you lengthwise and widthwise, a little against the grain, a little diagonally, a little straight to the point, I love you sincerely and cheaply, together we drink cherry compote, such love is something YouTubers would never dream of." This year, you will celebrate your fortieth wedding anniversary with your husband, Cezary Żak.

K.Ż.: We were lucky to have found each other. We like spending time together, talking. We appreciate the time we spend together, sometimes we work together, although very rarely. I think the greatest value is that we are simply friends.

Interviewed by Iza Komendołowicz

Katarzyna Żak - film, television, theatre actress and vocalist. She graduated from the Puppetry Department at the State Higher School of Theatre in Wrocław. In the years 1986-1995 she performed at the Contemporary Theatre in Wrocław, in the years 1995-2011 she was an actress at the Rampa Theatre in Warsaw. She currently performs in the following Warsaw theatres: Och-Teatr, Capitol and Komedia. She gained popularity for her roles in the series "Miodowe lata" and "Ranczo". She performs literary songs, sings lyrics by Wojciech Młynarski, Magda Czapińska, Artur Andrus, Agnieszka Osiecka. She has recorded several albums. In the "Premier" competition at this year's festival in Opole she received the audience award for the song "Bo że miłość ma kres". Her husband is the famous actor and director, Cezary Żak, with whom she has two daughters. She is 61 years old.