Alicja Bachleda-Curuś

Alicja Bachleda-Curuś
Bachleda Curuś at the premiere of Ondine at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
Born	Alicia Bachleda-Curuś Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Other names	Ala (nickname)
Occupation	Actress/Singer
Years active	1991–present
Partner	Colin Farrell (2009–2010) 1 child

Alicia Bachleda-Curuś (pronounced: A-lēe-ts-yä Bakhleada; born May 12, 1983) is a Polish actress and singer.

Biography

Alicja was born in the Mexican city of Tampico, the daughter of Lidia and Tadeusz Bachleda-Curuś. Alicja spent the first three months of her childhood growing up in Mexico, where her father worked as a geologist. Alicja has an older brother, Tadeusz, who is a pilot. Her uncle is Adam Bachleda-Curuś, former mayor of Zakopane, who in 2008, was listed as the 69th wealthiest man in Poland. Her last name "Bachleda" indicates that she is part of one of the biggest and most famous families of Polish highlanders, Gorals in Polish. Alicja graduated 5th High School in Kraków in the class of general studies with extensive teaching in Spanish and English. She also speaks German and French fluently. As a 19 year old, Alicja moved to the United States to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City and the world-famous film and television school in Los Angeles. As of May 16, 2007 Alicja is a member of the European Film Academy. Alicja is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild. On May 12, 2008, she became an honorable citizen of the city of Tampico, Mexico. It was announced on September 14, 2009, that Bachleda-Curuś and her partner, Irish actor Colin Farrell, were expecting their first child together. On October 7, 2009, their son, Henry Tadeusz Farrell was born to the couple. The boy was baptized on December 29, 2009 in the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic Church) in Kraków. Alicja resided in Los Angeles, California with her partner, Colin Farrell and their son Henry. Henry Tadeusz Farrell is a citizen of USA, Poland and Ireland. It was reported on 15 October 2010 that the couple had split up.

Acting career

Alicja Bachleda, Colin Farrell and director Neil Jordan at the Ondine premiere, 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

As a 15 year old, Alicja landed a lead role in the 1999 film Pan Tadeusz, directed by the legendary Polish Academy Award winning director Andrzej Wajda. Four years later, she won a role in Na dobre i na złe, Poland's answer to Grey's Anatomy. Alicja then began crossing over into mainstream films outside of Poland, appearing in the German film Sommersturm in 2004. She returned to her birthplace of Mexico to film the 2007 thriller Trade, starring Kevin Kline. The film gave an unflinching look at the world of human trafficking. Critics disparaged the film, but all noticed the charismatic girl who played the kidnapped victim. Alicja then returned to Europe to play a Jewish girl in the historical drama Der geköpfte Hahn, which took place during World War II in Transylvania, Romania. Alicja's next film was 2009's Ondine, a film about an Irish fisherman who thinks he catches a selkie, where she acts alongside her then partner Colin Farrell. On 19 February 2010 Alicja was a celebrity guest on the Irish Talk Show "Xpose", (Season 4, Episode 111) along with Jon Voight, Brendan Gleeson and director Neil Jordan. From May 24 to May 29, 2010 Alicja participated as the only woman juror in the 35th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Poland. Alicja is scheduled to star in an upcoming John Jopson movie, The Absinthe Drinkers, set in 19th century Europe. Alicja was cast as Artemisia von Rach, a talented young German painter who arrives from Berlin to attend the conservative Women's Academy in Paris. As a young woman painter Artemisia desperately struggles to succeed in the male-dominated art world of 19th century Paris and Florence. The cast includes John Hurt, Tim Roth, Keith Carradine, Peter Facinelli and Jürgen Prochnow. The Absinthe Drinkers is set for principal photography in 2010 in Paris, Tuscany, and Poland. As of August 2010, Alicja is set to star in a movie titled, "The Girl Is In Trouble". Columbus Short, Wilmer Valderrama and "House" star Jesse Spencer are also attached to the project. This noir thriller follows a Lower East Side bartender who unravels a mystery that connects a desperate young woman (Bachleda) to a missing drug dealer and the scion of New York's most powerful stockbroker. Julius Onah is set to make his feature directorial debut while Onah's mentor, Spike Lee, will executive produce "The Girl Is In Trouble".

Filmography

• The Absinthe Drinkers (USA, 2010)
• The Girl is in Trouble (USA, 2010)
• Friendship! (Germany, USA 2010)
• Ondine (Ireland, USA, 2009)
• Cocoşul decapitat (German title: Der geköpfte Hahn, English title: The Beheaded Rooster) (România, Hungary 2008)
• Trade (USA, 2007)
• Comme des voleurs (English title: Stealth) (Switzerland, France 2006)
• Das Blut der Templer (English title: Code of the Templars) (Germany, 2004)
• Sommersturm (Germany, 2004)
• Na dobre i na złe (TV series, Poland, 2002–2004)
• Herz im Kopf (Germany, 2001), for which Hans-Christian Schmid and Michael Gutmann wrote the screenplay
• Wrota Europy (English title: The Gateway of Europe) (Poland, 1999)
• Pan Tadeusz (Poland, 1999), directed by Andrzej Wajda
• Syzyfowe Prace (Poland, 1998)
• Tajemnica szkolnego dzwonka (Poland, Theatre of television, 1993)

Music career

Alicja musical debut was at age 6, as she performed at a children's music festival in her home-country, Poland. She was a representative of the Polish National TV at the following international festivals: Rovinj, Croatia – 1995, Munich, Germany – 1995, Nesebar, Bulgaria – 1995, Riga, Latvia – 1996 and Battipaglia, Italy – 1996. Alicja performed on such occasions as the UNICEF concerts in Warsaw. In 1999, Alicja sang "Pielgrzym z gor", (Pilgrim from the mountains in English), a song dedicated to Pope John Paul II on the occasion of His 80th birthday. In 2001, Alicja performed the song "Ich verlier' mich gern in dir" from "Herz im Kopf" movie soundtrack. In May 2005, Alicja recorded an album of 12 songs composed by Władysław Szpilman, the man portrayed by Adrien Brody in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). "The songs are from the '30s, '40s, and '50s," she says. "It's jazzy, fusion soul, a Norah Jones kind of sound." The CD was produced by Andrzej Szpilman. On October 13, 2009, Alicja re-released her debut CD "Klimat" in the United States, (Label: Decca Records Decca International, Total Length: 55:55 min). Alicja sang a duet with her cousin Andrzej Bachleda, an Alpine Skiing Olympic athlete, titled "It's gonna be fine" on his album "Time Ruines", 2010.

Discography

Albums

• "12 songs composed by Władysław Szpilman" (2005)
• "Spanglish" (2004)
• "Klimat" (2001)
• "Nie załamuj się" (1996)
• "Sympatyczne sny" (1991)

Singles

• "It's gonna be fine", a duet with Andrzej Bachleda on his album "Time Ruines" (2010)
• "Dotknąć nieba" (with Piotr Cugowski (son of Krzysztof Cugowski)) (2007)
• "Nie pytaj, nie pytaj mnie" (2002)
• "Klimat" (2001)
• "Ich verlier mich gern in Dir" (from the film Herz Im Kopf) (2001)
• "Pielgrzym z gor" (song dedicated to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II on the occasion of His 80 birthday) (1999)
• "Marzyć chcę" (1999)
• "Nie załamuj się – minuta fantazji" (1996)
• "Sympatyczne sny" (1991)

Awards

• 2007 – 23rd Boston Film Festival – best actress for Trade
• 2007 – Vallarta Film Festival (Mexico) – best actress for Trade

Languages

• Polish (native)
• English
• Spanish
• German
• French

To land a role in a German movie, 16 year old Alicja had to learn German in two weeks. “I was cast in a movie based on my ability to speak German,” she recalled. “But, I didn’t know a word in German. They invited me to audition. I came in and they gave me eight pages of script in German. I asked for one day to prepare. I just memorized everything. They believed that I actually spoke German. Then, I learned German in two weeks.”

Personal Quotes

"I didn't even feel the pain when I got hit by accident by my partner and my lips were split open and I was bleeding, I didn't even realize that because I was so into the character and in those scenes you really want it to seem very, very real". (talking about the rape scene in the movie "Trade")

"People ask me, 'How are you?' and I would say, 'Well, I'm missing my family and I have some doubts...blah...blah...' and they would look at me like I was crazy! They were shocked to hear something other than 'I'm fine.' But I'm getting used to it. I'd rather people smile even if they don't mean it". (On adjusting to Hollywood's social norms.)

"I never really decided any of it, it just became my life". (On her career in the music and film industries.)

External links

• Alicja Bachleda-Curuś at IMDb
• Alicja in New York Times May 2007
• Alicja in GQ Magazine July 2007
• Interview with Alicja Bachleda Ondine 2010
• Interview with Alicja Bachleda Presented by Linda O'Brien