Anja Antonowicz – a German TV star from Poland

Anja, real name Anna, Antonowicz, was born in Włocławek on 22 December 1981 and grew up in Toruń, where she made her acting debut at the Wilam Horzyca Theatre. In an interview, she explained that she was so thrilled by the “magic of the stage” that she decided to pursue a career in acting.[1]

In 2000, she began a diploma degree programme in acting at the State Academy of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna, or PWSFTViT), which she completed in 2004. During her studies, she gained her first experience in front of a camera when in 2001, she took on a small role as a girl on a swing in the film “Cisza” (“Silence”) directed by Michał Rosa. From 2002 to 2003, she appeared in countless episodes of the Polish soap opera “Na dobre i na złe” (“In Good Times and in Bad”), playing the part of Ruda. In 2005 and 2006, she appeared in the TV series “Pensjonat pod różą” (“The Rose Inn”).[2] She also took on theatre roles in Łódź (Teatr Nowy and Teatr Studyjny PWSFTViT) and at the Teatr Syrena in Warsaw.

However, offers of work were hard to come by. One director told her during an audition that she “wasn’t the right type for Poland”. Apparently, this was due to her distinctive appearance.[3] The director was presumably referring to her long, red, curly hair, which is now her trademark. Antonowicz then decided to try her luck abroad. Since she spoke very good German, she applied for work with an acting agency in Cologne. She was invited to audition there, and was accepted onto their books. 

Through the agency, Anna Antonowicz landed a role on the Hamburg set of the ZDF crime series “Bella Block”, which tells of the exploits of a detective superintendent of the same name. In an episode broadcast in 2005, titled “Die Frau des Teppichlegers” (“The Carpet Layer’s Wife”), she played Maria Kozłowska, an asparagus cutter from Poland who is raped in broad daylight after passers-by in front of a shopping centre fail to respond to her cries for help. “I put a great deal of emotional effort into the role, and it is the one that remains strongest in my memory. I’m proud of it”, Antonowicz explains in an interview with Porta Polonica. This effort did not go unnoticed in Germany and she won acclaim for her work. In 2006, she was nominated for the best supporting actor category for the prestigious German Television Award (Deutscher Fernsehpreis).

This opened up new career opportunities for her in Germany. In 2005, she was given a role in the TV series “Lindenstrasse” on WDR, the first ever German soap opera, which was broadcast once a week from the mid-1980s through to 2020. In the series, Antonowicz played the Moldovan immigrant Nastya Pashenko. After playing this role, she moved to Cologne. From then on, she was officially allowed to live and work legally in Germany even though at that time, the German labour market was still temporarily closed to Polish citizens. Her adventure with “Lindenstrasse” lasted for a total of eight years, with the occasional break in between. 

 

During that time, Antonowicz also appeared in other German TV productions. In 2007, she was given a small role in “Nighwatching – Das Rembrandt-Komplott”, an international co-production directed by Peter Greenaway. There, she appeared as Rembrandt’s neighbour, who played a part in important events in the lives of the painter and his wife. As she explained in an interview, although she acted in just three scenes, she felt proud simply to have the opportunity to work with Peter Greenaway.[4] 

During her first years in Germany, Antonowicz was mainly cast in the role of an east European woman. She admits that “the scope of the roles offered was very narrow; it was either prostitutes, cleaning ladies, childminders or carers for the elderly.” She knows that she needs to speak perfect, accent-free German if she wants to play other roles. Thanks to special courses, pronunciation training with a speech therapist and her own work on her form of expression, she is now well on her way to achieving her goal.[5]

Contrary to the suggestion by her German agency that she should give up her Polish surname to improve her chances on the German market, she is determined to keep it. “I can’t imagine trying to hide my Polish roots”, she said in an interview.[6] She has agreed to a compromise, using the German first name “Anja”, which sounds like “Ania”, the Polish diminutive of “Anna”. 

Since 2014, Antonowicz has appeared in the German cult crime series “Tatort”, which has been broadcast on ARD every Sunday evening for over 50 years. She plays Dr Kroll, the forensic doctor who is part of the investigative team in Kiel led by commissioner Klaus Borowski (played by Axel Milberg). She also appears in many other TV productions, including the “SOKO” and “Das Traumschiff” series. In 2018, she joined the team for the third series of the US secret agent series “Berlin Station”. In 2019 and 2022, she even landed starring roles in two episodes of the ZDF film series based on the romantic stories of UK novelist Rosamunde Pilcher.

In some productions, she works with German director Christian Schwochow, such as in the TV series “Bad Banks”. Thanks to Schwochow, she was also given a part in the fifth season of the Netflix series about the British royal family, “The Crown”. There, Antonowicz plays the episodic role of Alexandra Fyodorovna, the wife of the last Russian czar, Nikolai II, and appears in the dramatic scene in which the czar’s family is shot by the Bolsheviks. Although the role is very small, she regards her participation in the series, which is a global hit, as a great success: “I had the honour of being part of a wonderful project. It was incredible to work there, and an unforgettable time.”

Today, Anja Antonowicz lives in Berlin with her 14-year-old son and her second husband, who is German. She stresses that she regards herself as an ambassador for Polish culture, working to make it better known. She also works to counteract German stereotypes about Poland, as well as Polish prejudice with regard to the Germans. She is convinced that Poland and Germany have a greater affinity with each other and have more in common than we think. In her view, both countries need each other. And although she has no intention of returning to Poland, she admits that she would love to play a role there again one day.[7] 

 

Anna Widzyk, January 2023

 

Anja Antonowicz website: https://anja-antonowicz.de/cinema/