Andrzej Seweryn - wywiad
Andrzej Seweryn - wywiad
Category
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CreativityTranscript
00:00In short, I work very intensively, even more than I used to.
00:06Does there exist a pension for an actor?
00:14I would say that there isn't.
00:23Formally, yes, but actors play until their bodies refuse to cooperate.
00:37Do such moments happen?
00:41Not yet, but I'm sure they will one day.
00:47Then I'll be sorry, but I won't despair either.
00:53I'll be watching the NBA matches more carefully.
00:59I work regularly, I play a very important role.
01:09When I played my first role in France,
01:21it was the role of Spiky Tremendous, directed by Andrzej Majurek.
01:29I can say that it wasn't the most important role for me.
01:35Then, when there was no Polish world around me,
01:41I started working with French people as a French actor, not as a Polish actor.
01:47I worked with Claude Régis.
01:51Then I met one of the greatest French directors, Patrice Cherou,
01:59director of the film Intimacy.
02:03I played the role of Juan Fitez, a phenomenon in the French theatre.
02:09Then I went to the French Academy,
02:13where I played the role of a bourgeois,
02:17and in Hamlet I played the title role of a noblewoman.
02:21I played a lot of roles, and then I came to Poland.
02:25I also played the role of Boris Godunov or Arnolphe in School of Wives.
02:35We also had attempts to play the role of Edip in the film Kolonos,
02:41but unfortunately it didn't work out.
02:45What is the biggest difference between the Polish theatre and the French one?
02:53That's a very interesting question.
02:57On the one hand, the organisation of life.
03:05There is one theatre with a permanent cast,
03:09which is the Comédie-Française.
03:13There are five or six permanent actors,
03:19and people are encouraged to perform.
03:23That's the first thing.
03:25The second thing is that there is no permanent cast.
03:29The second thing is the way in which the theatre is financed.
03:37The Comédie-Française is financed by the Ministry.
03:43Theatres throughout France are places
03:51where various performances come to be shown.
03:57These are the National Dramatic Centres.
04:11They have a budget,
04:15they hire a director,
04:19the director offers the cast,
04:23there are rehearsals, performances are made,
04:29but before the rehearsals,
04:33there is a period of building the budget.
04:37There are a few places throughout France.
04:41Now I would like to switch to Bordeaux,
04:45Dijon, Valenciennes, etc.
04:49France is covered with such a network of performances,
04:55which means that the best performances
04:59with the best actors
05:01are shown in many places in France.
05:05The concept of an open-air theatre, a tournée,
05:11is an obvious phenomenon in France.
05:15This is not the case in Poland when it comes to state theatres.
05:21Today, private theatres,
05:23the most important theatre initiatives,
05:25travel a lot.
05:27The Polonia Theatre, for example, travels a lot.
05:29The Polish Theatre, for example,
05:31travels a lot less,
05:33because we are not able to get money for it.
05:39It is not easy to buy us.
05:43When I was the director of the Polish Theatre in Warsaw,
05:49my idea was to travel around the Basel Voivodeship.
05:53To go from France to Poland.
05:55Yes, of course.
05:57It was not easy.
05:59It is not easy to organize.
06:01There are state theatres,
06:03such as Comédie-Française,
06:05financed directly by the Ministry,
06:09with a huge budget.
06:11But of course,
06:13when you produce so much as Comédie-Française,
06:17it turns out to be a normal production.
06:21There are theatres,
06:23such as the ones I mentioned,
06:27theatre groups,
06:29companies.
06:31A company gets, I don't know,
06:3340,000 euros per year.
06:35And it organizes its own work.
06:37In the same way as the theatres I mentioned.
06:41There are a lot of such companies.
06:45And the fourth group of theatres
06:49are private theatres.
06:51In a strict sense, private.
06:53And there is a lot of it.
06:55In Paris, the most.
06:57Did you travel around playing solo in France?
07:01Well, yes.
07:03Well, yes.
07:05But I don't remember anything.
07:07I'm exaggerating.
07:09What do you mean, you don't remember anything?
07:11Sir,
07:13I remembered during an interview
07:15for TV
07:17about an actor
07:19called Robert Hirsch.
07:21He was one of the greatest actors
07:23in French comedy.
07:25He played all the main roles.
07:27When they went to the tour,
07:29they asked him,
07:31what kind of tour was it?
07:33I had to rest before the show.
07:35So it was a hotel?
07:37Of course.
07:39A dinner on the spot.
07:41A dinner on the spot.
07:43Allow me.
07:45These are the differences
07:47in organization,
07:49in structure.
07:51And, of course,
07:53there are differences
07:55when it comes to acting,
07:57directing,
07:59I would even say,
08:01the decorations.
08:03The decorations in France
08:05were a huge surprise to me.
08:07When I came to France,
08:09the decorations were
08:11a real floor,
08:13almost a real wall,
08:15a real table,
08:17a chair.
08:19In Warsaw,
08:21in the Ateneum Theatre,
08:23it was a set,
08:25it was painted.
08:27In France,
08:29there was more money,
08:31so the decorations were different.
08:33Now, when it comes to acting,
08:35there is no acting there.
08:37In Lyon,
08:39in Paris,
08:43in Paris,
08:47apart from that,
08:49actors are trained
08:51in a workshop,
08:53a studio,
08:55or they are not trained at all,
08:57they are just engaged
08:59in the theatre, etc.
09:01There is a greater freedom here.
09:03This freedom,
09:05according to Antoine Vitesse,
09:07is a positive thing
09:09in France.
09:11I would not be
09:13such an enthusiast
09:15of such a model
09:17of acting,
09:19but I understand
09:21what Antoine had in mind.
09:23Diversity,
09:25the power of French theatre,
09:27organizational diversity,
09:29literary diversity,
09:31actor's diversity,
09:33director's diversity, etc.
09:37I think
09:39that is all.
09:41The rest is a long story.
09:43A long story.
09:45I would like to ask
09:47if it is about
09:49your experiences,
09:51if it is about an actor,
09:53if it is about a wish,
09:55if it is about a work
09:57in the style of a hotel,
09:59a play, a restaurant,
10:01a restaurant dinner,
10:03what was the biggest wish
10:05you had to make
10:07during
10:09your career?
10:11What was the biggest wish
10:13you had to make
10:15during your career?
10:21No, no, no.
10:23You know,
10:25for sure
10:27my family
10:29and the closest ones
10:31suffer from it.
10:33The absence of an actor
10:35is not
10:37always
10:39positive.
10:41It is negative,
10:43of course.
10:45It is not good.
10:47The other thing is
10:49that I had to
10:51get out of it.
10:53It happened
10:55that
10:57I travelled less
11:03and I read less
11:05about theatre literature.
11:09And for sure
11:11I neglected
11:13literature.
11:15When someone read
11:17a fashionable story,
11:19I had to practice
11:21dictation
11:23or physical exercises
11:25before a play.
11:29Please note
11:31that an actor
11:33usually
11:35works in the evening.
11:37In the evening
11:39he goes out
11:41with his wife
11:43for a coffee,
11:45for a walk,
11:47for a dinner,
11:49or for a nap.
11:51I used to nap
11:53when I was a child.
11:55I am a fictional character.
11:57I am a fictional character.
11:59I am a fictional character.
12:01I am a fictional character.
12:03I am a fictional character.
12:05I almost died.
12:09When it comes to serious reflection
12:11on what it means
12:13to be a fictional character,
12:19I think
12:21like Olga Tokarczuk
12:23who says
12:25that there is no fiction in art.
12:27Art is reality.
12:31I will give you a simple example.
12:33If you come to a play
12:35and see me on stage,
12:37will you still be able
12:39to say
12:41that I am a fictional character?
12:43Will you still be able
12:45to say that I am a fictional character?
12:47Will you still be able
12:49to say that I am a fictional character?
12:51In fact,
12:53Shakespeare invented
12:55something,
12:57he wrote it on paper.
12:59So, first of all,
13:01reality on paper.
13:03And the third reality
13:05is what I do on stage
13:07by saying this text,
13:09by identifying with this text,
13:11with this character,
13:13with what was imagined
13:15by the author.
13:17At what stage is it fiction?
13:19What does fiction mean?
13:21If it is written on paper,
13:23it cannot be fiction.
13:25These are letters that mean something.
13:27Come to me.
13:29Of course, I know
13:31a popular definition,
13:33a simple definition
13:35of what is fiction.
13:37Fiction means invented.
13:39He invented something.
13:41But if Einstein invented
13:43the definition of energy,
13:45then it is not fiction.
13:47It is written on paper.
13:49I don't want to
13:51develop this here.
13:53In any case,
13:55fiction does not exist for me.
13:57When I play
13:59in front of the camera
14:01or in front of the audience
14:03at the theatre,
14:05I am a living character,
14:07but not a fiction.
14:09This documentary is not a character
14:11on paper.
14:13I hope that
14:15a documentary about me
14:17will be made,
14:19in which it will be written
14:21that he was born here and there,
14:23then he studied here and there,
14:25and then people will say
14:27that he was a good actor,
14:29or he was a very good actor,
14:31or he was a bad friend,
14:33or he was a good friend,
14:35and in the end they will say
14:37that he died a year ago,
14:39and we are very sorry
14:41that he died,
14:43because he could still play.
14:45I hope that it will be made,
14:47so that the future
14:49children of my grandchildren
14:51or grandchildren of my grandchildren
14:53will be able to know
14:55the facts of my life,
14:57because the film
14:59that will be shown today
15:01tells about one year of my life,
15:03and there is no comment
15:05on it,
15:07only what is on the screen,
15:09only what is filmed.
15:11There is no comment,
15:13I am just me.
15:15Especially that it was
15:17the idea of my wife,
15:19and this idea,
15:21she always had good ideas.
15:23It turned out to be
15:25a useful system.
15:27And in summary,
15:29what is the film about?
15:31No, no, no,
15:33only a year of my life.
15:35Thank you very much.