Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Wosiak.
Julia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was eight, I won local poetry reciting contest. I had so much fun and that was the first time I thought about becoming an actress. As I grew up acting became a tool for understanding life. That’s what movies, theatre, and literature have always been for me. It was like someone was explaining life and giving guidance on how to do it. They inspired me to look for the beauty of the human experience. They say love is attention and that’s what acting became for me. Taking time to understand people. It felt like honoring everything that happened to me and the people around me. I come from a small town in Poland that didn’t have a lot of theatre programs so I began studying acting on my own. I remember locking myself in my bedroom and practicing monologues at night.
Around this time, I discovered method acting and The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York. It became my dream to one day be able to study there. I remember announcing my dream to my mother, who has been raising and financially supporting me and my sisters on her own. It was a lot of money to invest in your kid. I applied to the New York Film Academy Summer Acting Program in Paris and went there to train my acting. In order to save money, my mom and I stayed in a room in a nunnery. My final performance had gotten the attention of the program’s award-winning director, Mitko Panov. I am very grateful for all the help that he has offered me. After this, I have gotten into my dream acting school and performed in award-winning short films called “Do you still think about her” and ” Two Faces have I”. In theatre I played the lead in “Seranade” for a theatre festival in Poland and associate directed an off-off broadway play in New York.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I was raised in a small town in Poland, in which having big dreams was not a way to go, especially if these dreams had nothing to do with becoming a doctor. Acting has always been about understanding what life was. It is a very intimate and in a way “loving” process and there was a period of my life, especially after losing my father, when I struggled with having love for life and seeing its beauty. Acting needs hope, needs this acceptance for what happened and who it made you. And I didn’t feel like I had that and it took a lot of time, I still struggle with it sometimes, but I learn every day. I’m happy because it means that I want to continue learning about myself and my story. Who I want to be as a person and an artist. One of my acting teachers, Geoffrey Horne, once said we’re only alive as a kid, the rest is just remembering, and that is what method acting is. Remembering can be hurtful. Moving to America was very difficult. Leaving everyone behind you at the age of 20, completely alone was absolutely terrifying. Leaving my two sisters that I’m very close with, especially my twin Kornelia was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. She has been my best friend who I knew needed me and loved me. But I feel very grateful for absolutely every struggle because that’s what living is and it reminds me of life’s beauty.
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?
As an actress, I’m most proud of my work at my Conservatory Performance and my work in “Do You Still Think About Her”. I put a lot of heart into these stories and I know that I took chances and trusted myself with my work. Honesty in performing is key and I believe that my performance was a real emotional experience and told a story. In the performance, I had the pleasure of working on a scene from “A Taste of Honey” by Shelagh Delaney. When working on a character, I believe that everything that happened to them matters. I think humans are affected by everything. Whenever I think about the summer air in my childhood home it makes me feel a certain way, It brings back all the memories I have with that place and time, They say that growing up is just trying things out, to see who you are. And I believe in that, That’s what my job is, remembering how and why I tried and felt certain things throughout my life, This way I think I understand what the stories that I’m telling are about. Discovering what are we doing and why are we doing them. Why we are the way, we are. I have also been writing a short film, which has been a lifelong dream of mine.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have found mentors in people who I think have a certain respect for others and life. My biggest mentors would be my incredible acting teachers from New York Film Academy such as Sonia Backers and Mitko Panov, as well as from Strasberg, the legendary Lola Cohen, Robert Ellermann and Geoffrey Horne. People of immense knowledge who have dedicated their lives to art and teaching others. School has also given me an opportunity to meet talented artists from all over the world.. Sharing your story and being open about what inspires you in an artistic community such as an acting school has given me a lot of opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia.wosiak/
