Film and theatre actress. Born on the 13th of July 1980 in Warsaw.
Film and theatre actress.
Gruszka graduated from the Theatre Academy in 2003. She is well-known for the role of Gienia in the TV series Boża podszewka / God's Lining, directed by Izabella Cywińska. The watershed of Gruszka's career was the part of Ola in Kochankowie z Marony / The Lovers of Marona, for which she received the best actress award at the 30th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and a nomination for the Eagle 2007 Polish Film Award. She is among a small group of Polish actresses also cast in foreign projects, including David Lynch's Inland Empire.
Gruszka's adventure with acting began when she was nine. Noticed in a children's television programme by agent Jerzy Gudejko, she was an extra in Krzysztof Zanussi's Chopin w zamku / Chopin's Concert in 1993. Her parents were afraid that auditions would make her drop out of school, so she debuted later. When she was 14, Gudejko contacted her and recommended her to Cywińska. That was how the teenage Gruszka ended up playing Gienia in the series God's Lining.
The actress thinks working with Cywińska taught her the most: "She showed me that this profession can be a way of understanding yourself and the world". The other filmmaker she says influenced her attitude to acting was David Lynch: "I learned from him that you have to trust your intuition and fight for your ideas". She was also Wiktoria in Marek Koterski's Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami / We're All Christs, Magda in Robert Wichrowski's comedy Francuski numer / The French Trick, and had roles in films and TV series by directors including Kazimierz Kutz, Maciej Dejczer, Filip Bajon and Jan Jakub Kolski. Lately she has played the object of the main character's love in Marcin Kryształowicz' s Pani z przedszkola / All About My Parents (2014). The role gained her her second nomination for the Eagle In 2017 the audience will have the chance to see her in three highly anticipated movies: Michał Rosa's Szczęście świata / World's Luck, Maria Sadowska' s Sztuka kochania. Historia Michaliny Wisłockiej / The Art of Loving. Michalina Wisłocka's Story and in the title role in the international co-production Marie Curie directed by Marie Noëlle.
Gruszka was a member of the National Theatre in Warsaw from 2003 to 2008. After she married Russian playwright and director Ivan Vyrypaev, she mostly appears in plays written and directed by him, such as July (2009), Delhi' Dance (2010) and Unbearably Long Embraces (2015). She has worked with Vyrypaev on films and stage productions, in Poland and Russia.
Career:
Films
- 1993 - Chopin w zamku / Chopin's Concert, dir. Krzysztof Zanussi
- 1997 - Boża podszewka / God's Lining, as: Gienia Lulewicz, daughter of Maryśka and Kazimierz, dir. Izabella Cywińska
- 1997 - Sława i chwała / Fame and Glory, as: girl in café, dir. Kazimierz Kutz
- 1997 - Sposób na Alcybiadesa / Dealing with Alcibiades, as: Ola, dir. Waldemar Szarek
- 1998 - Spona, as: Ola, dir. Waldemar Szarek
- 1999 - Russkiy bunt / The Captain's Daughter, as: Masha Mironova, dir. Aleksandr Proshkin
- 1999 - V avguste 44. / In August of 1944, as: Julia, dir. Vladimir Ptashuk
- 2000 - Daleko od okna / Keep Away from the Window, as: Helusia, dir. Jan Jakub Kolski
- 2001 Przedwiośnie / The Spring to Come, as: Wanda Okszyńska, the Turzyckis' ward in Nawłoć; dir. Filip Bajon
- 2002 - Bez litości / Without Mercy, as: Joanna "Nika" Różycka; dir. Wojciech Wójcik
- 2002 - Break Point, as: Asia, dir. Marek Nowicki
- 2002 - Przedwiośnie / The Spring to Come (TV series), as: Wanda Okszyńska, the Turzyckis' ward, dir. Filip Bajon
- 2002 - Sfora / The Pack (2-9), as: Joanna "Nika" Różycka, dir. Wojciech Wójcik
- 2002 - Wiedźmin / The Hexer (TV series), as: Morenn, dir. Marek Brodzki
- 2003 - Stara baśń / An Ancient Tale, dubbing: Dziwa, part: Marina Aleksandrowa, dir. Jerzy Hoffman
- 2004 - Stara baśń / An Ancient Tale (TV series), dubbing: Dziwa, part: Marina Aleksandrowa, dir. Jerzy Hoffman
- 2004-2005 - Oficer / The Officer, as: Malwina Wielgosz, sister of "Grand", dir. Maciej Dejczer
- 2005 - Boża podszewka. Część druga / God's Lining. Part Two, as: Gienia Lulewicz, daughter of Maryśka, dir. Izabella Cywińska
- 2005 - Kochankowie z Marony / The Lovers of Marona, as: Ola; dir. Izabella Cywińska
- 2006 - Fałszerze. Powrót sfory / The Forgers. The Pack Returns (2-14), as: Joanna "Nika" Różycka, dir. Wojciech Wójcik
- 2006 - Francuski numer / The French Trick (Magda Latonte); dir. Robert Wichrowski
- 2006 - Inland Empire, as: Lost Girl, dir. David Lynch
- 2006 - Oficerowie / The Officers, as: Malwina Wielgosz, sister of "Grand"; in flashbacks from the series Oficer / The Officer, dir. Maciej Dejczer
- 2006 - Miłość w przejściu podziemnym in: Święta polskie / Polish Holidays, as: Ewa the riveting violinist, dir. Janusz Majewski
- 2006 - Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami / We're All Christs, as: Weronika, dir. Marek Koterski
- 2007 - Futro / Fur, as: Joanna Panasiuk, Kuba's religion teacher, dir. Tomasz Drozdowicz
- 2007 - Na puti k serdtsu; dir. Abay Karpikov
- 2007 - Tajemnica twierdzy szyfrów / The Secret of the Cipher Tower, as: wireless operator Natalia Russt, dir. Adek Drabiński
- 2008 - Resolution 819, as: Klara Górska, dir. Giacomo Battiato
- 2009 - 3 Seasons in Hell, as: Jana, dir. Tomas Masin
- 2009 - Kislorod / Oxygen; dir. Ivan Vyrypaev
- 2009 - Korotkoe zamykanie
- 2010 - Mistyfikacja / The Hoax, as: Zuza, the barber's fiancée, dir. Jacek Koprowicz
- 2010 - Trick, as: Elżbieta, Marek's girlfriend, dir. Jan Hryniak.
- 2014 - Pani z przedszkola / All About My Parents, dir. Marcin Kryształowicz
- 2016 - Szczęście świata / World's Luck, dir. Michał Rosa
- 2017 - Sztuka kochania. Historia Michaliny Wisłockiej / The Art of Loving. Michalina Wisłocka's Story, dir. Maria Sadowska
- 2017 - Maria Curie-Skłodowska / Marie Curie, dir. Marie Noëlle
Theatre
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Possessed, as: Liza, dir. Jarosław Gajewski, 4th-year student project, Theatre Academy, Warsaw, premiere: November 21, 2002
- Anton Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard, as: Charlotte, dir. Agnieszka Glińska, 4th-year student project, Theatre Academy, Warsaw, premiere: January 13, 2003
- Tadeusz Gajcy: Do potomnego / To My Descendant, dir. Jarosław Gajewski, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: October 3, 2004
- William Shakespeare: Richard II, as: Queen Isabel, dir. Andrzej Seweryn, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: October 16, 2004
- Nick Dear: Power, as: Louise, dir. Jan Englert, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: April 23, 2005
- Molière: Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite, as: Marianne, dir. Jacques Lassalle, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: March 25, 2006
- Anton Chekhov: Three Sisters, as: Irina, dir. Natasha Parry, Krystyna Janda, Teatr Polonia, Warsaw, premiere: December 3, 2006
- Henrik Ibsen: Hedda Gabler, as: Mrs. Elvsted, dir. Pia Partum, Teatr Collegium Nobilium, Warsaw, premiere: May 19, 2007
- Anton Chekhov: Ivanov, as: Sasha, dir. Jan Englert, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: April 5, 2008
- Ivan Vyrypaev: Obyasnit, dir. Ivan Vyrypaev; as: Polish actress, Contemporary Drama Theatre, Moscow, premiere: 2008
- Ivan Vyrypaev: July, monodrama, dir. Ivan Vyrypaev, Teatr na Woli im. Tadeusza Łomnickiego, Warsaw, premiere: October 9, 2009
- Ivan Vyrypaev: 'Delhi' Dance, as: Katarzyna, dir. Ivan Vyrypaev, National Theatre, Warsaw, premiere: March 5, 2010.
Television Theatre
- Adam Mickiewicz: Dziady / Forefathers' Eve, dir. Jan Englert, premiere: November 1, 1997
- Małgorzata Sawicka-Owsiany: Perła / The Pearl, as: Princess of Clèves, dir. Piotr Mikucki, premiere: May 4, 1998
- Andrzej Lenartowski: Wojna kreskówek / The War of Cartoons, as: Barbie, dir. Jarosław Żamojda, premiere: February 28, 2000
- Krystyna Siesicka: ?...zapytał czas / ?...Asked Time, as: Little Julia, dir. Izabella Cywińska, premiere: June 5, 2000
- Ingmar Villqist: Beztlenowce / The Anaerobes, as: Karla, dir. Łukasz Barczyk, premiere: February 18, 2001
- Booth Tarkington: Seventeen, as: Miss Pratt, dir. Teresa Kotlarczyk, premiere: May 7, 2001
- Marius von Mayenburg: The Parasites, as: Friderike, dir. Piotr Łazarkiewicz, premiere: March 3, 2002
- Piotr Łazarkiewicz: Zbliżenie / Close Up, as: Bella, dir. Łazarkiewicz Piotr, premiere: March 29, 2002
- Vladimir Nabokov: Laughter in the Dark, as: Margot Peters, dir. Filip Bajon, premiere: November 24, 2003.
Awards
- 1996 - Poznań - "Ale Kino" 16th International Festival of Children's Films, for best young female actress in Spona
- 2005 - Gdynia - 30th Polish Film Festival - best actress award for the role of Ola in Kochankowie z Marony / The Lovers of Marona (joint first place with Krystyna Janda)
- 2006 - Elle Style Awards 2006 - "Elle" magazine's best actress award
- 2006 - Zbyszek Cybulski Award - nomination for best actress award for Kochankowie z Marony / The Lovers of Marona
- 2006 - Eagle Polish Film Award - nomination for best actress award for Kochankowie z Marony / The Lovers of Marona
- 2008 - Lipno - "Pola and Others" Film Art Review - "Politka" award for an actress appearing in foreign-language films
- 2010 - "Guarantee of Culture" award from TVP Kultura in the theatre category, for "brilliant acting in Ivan Vyrypaev's 'July' at the Teatr na Woli in Warsaw, where she proved that acting means creating forms born of the imagination"
- 2010 - Szczecin - Kontrapunkt 45th International Small Theatre Forms Festival - Kazimierz Krzanowski Promotional Award and the Journalists' Award for her role in July at the Teatr na Woli in Warsaw.
Written by Janusz R. Kowalczyk, May 2010, updated by NMR, August 2016.
film
theatre
actress
