Today we’d like to introduce you to Karolina Kwaśniak
Hi Karolina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story with acting started a little bit tricky, because it began with opera singing training. When I was 12 years old I began learning classical singing and did that for almost 10 years. For a long time, during my studies at the F. Chopin Secondary State Music School in Warsaw, Poland, I thought I would become a professional opera singer. Unfortunately throughout the years of my training my experience in the school environment and classical music education was difficult and toxic – because of that my self-esteem was dwindling. Acting was a sort of escape for me at that time. It was a part of our curriculum and I felt it allowed me to express myself more freely and naturally – it was just so much fun. After I graduated from high school I was still unsure of myself and my abilities, and because of that I didn’t allow myself to pursue acting – I just thought I wasn’t good enough. I decided to pursue a different path. I began my BA in Music Production at The Academy of Music in Łódź, Poland where I met the most amazing mentor – Mr. Robert Kamyk. Over the years of my studies he noticed that acting was still in the back of my mind, and so he inspired me and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue it as a professional career. There are a couple of milestones I always speak of when I talk about my artistic journey.
The first one: In my first year of studies Mr. Kamyk did this exercise with us, which was about visualising the craziest thing you could possibly do in your life. My vision was me graduating from a drama school, being on stage, seeing my friends and family celebrating this special moment with me. At the end of the exercise he asked me “What’s stopping you today from making this happen?” and I realised that I was the only one who was stopping me from pursuing this dream.
The second one: A year later I saw a movie “Call Me By Your Name” directed by Luca Guadagnino and completely fell apart when I was watching it. It moved me so much and felt so close to my heart that during that night I couldn’t sleep and started reading about the creators of the movie and the main actor – Timothée Chalamet. I learned that he was raised in New York and my mind immediately went back to the exercise I did with my mentor. I thought: “That’s the craziest thing I could do! Go to New York and study acting there.”
The third one: And so I did. During summer of 2019 I took part in an Acting Course at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NY. I realised I wanted to study acting full-time in the States. participating in that workshop and allowing myself to be a version of myself that I always wanted to be gave me so much power to just not think about anything that could go wrong along the way – but to jump in and just pursue may dream with the entirety of my being.
In the Fall of that year I got into The Baza Theater Acting Studio in Warsaw and started preparing for MFA applications in the US. I began to work professionally as an actress in Poland, mostly on commercial shoots, and in 2021 I got into the MFA Acting Program at the California Institute of the Arts. I spent the most amazing 3 years studying, training, honing my craft, and fully immersing myself in that experience. In May 2024 I graduated and since have worked professionally in film and theater.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Haha, oh no! In order to pursue acting I literally moved across the world from Poland to LA not knowing anything about the place or anyone. I was extremely scared and didn’t think I would be able to make it, but being in school and having the support of my partner, my family and friends, the way they believed in me, really helped me in the most difficult moments. Moments of doubting this choice, moments of profound sadness or longing for home. The people I met along the way, my teachers and fellow students gave me the confidence I needed. But you know, it’s really hard to be in school, away from anything you know, having to attend classes and rehearsals 6 days a week, being in curricular shows and juggling 4 additional jobs to make ends meet. Now that I look at it I honestly don’t even know how I managed to do it all. I think it was just this drive that I have in me – to do this work, to keep on going. I just love this form of art and even though it requires so much energy and commitment, it gives back. There’s a certain feeling of fulfilment that is kind of addictive and irreplaceable.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work professionally both in film and theater. I am currently in two rehearsal processes for upcoming shows in LA. I will be performing in a new opera-theater work “Umbra” composed by Elliot Menard, directed by Héctor Alvarez on March 21st and 22nd in Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica and on June 14th I will perform in the greek tragedy “Raja Oedipus” at the 1st Gamelan Festival in Los Angeles. Additionally I acted in 5 short films that are currently in post-production and I have a couple of film projects lined up.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me success is a feeling of happiness and fulfilment with what I have at the moment. It’s the ability to appreciate where I am right now, both physically, and in my career path. I believe that the feeling of success comes from within. It’s not something that other people can give me – because I might be extremely successful in the eyes of the public and others, but be very miserable inside. At the moment, for me personally, my little successes are finding the balance between work life and private life, allowing myself to not be productive 24/7, sitting down with my family and talking for hours, having coffee, dancing, going to the movies, laughing really loudly and goofing around with my partner or looking at the squirrels outside my window. It’s simply just living life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karolinakwasniak.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karo_kwasniak/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8e1AK_snEc
Image Credits
1. Still form an AFI Visual Essay “Detention”, dir. Sriv Sun, 2023
2. Workshop of Shakespeare’s play “Titus Andronicus”, dir. Luna Izpisua Rodriguez, 2022
3. Movement Class at California Institute of the Arts, 2024
4. Photo from a movement piece “Night of the Falling Stars”, choreography by Annalee Traylor, 2023
5. Backstage photo from a music video “20 To Już Nie 04” by Płomień 81, 2020
6. Backstage photo from a music video “Bygones” by A Darker Bright, 2025
7. Photo from Chekhov’s play “The Sea Gull”, dir. Zoe Wang, 2023
8. Photo from a play “El Misterio” written and directed by Luna Izpisua Rodriguez, 2023
