Alicja Bachleda-Curuś (pron. ; born 12 May 1983) is a Mexican-born Polish actress and singer, who has appeared in films including ''

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

'', '' Ondine'' and ''

Pan Tadeusz ''Pan Tadeusz'' (full title: ''Mister Thaddeus, or the Last Foray in Lithuania: A Nobility's Tale of the Years 1811–1812, in Twelve Books of Verse'') is an epic poem by the Polish poet, writer, translator and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz. The b ...

''.

Early life

Bachleda-Curuś was born in

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. She is the daughter of Lidia and Tadeusz Bachleda-Curuś, a geologist who was working in Mexico at that time. Her uncle, Adam Bachleda-Curuś, is the former mayor of

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. While growing up in Poland, Bachleda studied at the Elzbieta Armatys' Theater, Music and Dance Studio. She studied acting at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Acting career

At age 15, Bachleda landed a lead role in the 1999 film ''

'', directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning Polish director

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

. Four years later, she won a role in Polish soap opera ''

Na dobre i na złe ''Na dobre i na złe'' (, ''For better and for worse'') is a Polish television medical drama Television program, series, broadcast on TVP2 since 7 November 1999. It is the longest-running weekly primetime drama on Polish television and one of the ...

''. Bachleda then began crossing over into mainstream films outside Poland, appearing in the German film ''

Sommersturm ''Summer Storm'' (german: Sommersturm) is a 2004 German coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner, starring Robert Stadlober, Kostja Ullmann, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś, and Miriam Morgenstern. The story is set to the backgro ...

,'' a coming of age story, in 2004. Bachleda-Curuś returned to Mexico to film the 2007 thriller ''

'', starring

Kevin Kline Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award and three Tony Awards. In addition, he has received nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five ...

, an unflinching look at the world of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

. Bachleda then returned to Europe to play a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

girl in the

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

''Der geköpfte Hahn'', which took place during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, Romania. Her next film was 2009's '' Ondine'', a film about an Irish fisherman who thinks he catches a

selkie In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled ', ', ') or selkie folk ( sco, selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk' are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found ...

, a mythological seal/human. In 2012 Bachleda-Curuś starred as

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland Eleonore Maria Josefa of Austria (21 May 1653 – 17 December 1697) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, and subsequently Duchess of Lorraine by her second marriage to Charles ...

in ''

September Eleven 1683 ''The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683'' (Italian: ''11 Settembre 1683''; Polish: ''Bitwa pod Wiedniem'', literally: "The Battle of Vienna"; also released as '' Siege Lord 2: Day of the Siege'') is a 2012 English-language Polish and Italian ...

'', and appeared in a lead role in ''

The Girl Is in Trouble ''The Girl Is in Trouble'' is a 2015 American thriller film directed by Julius Onah. It stars Columbus Short, Wilmer Valderrama, Alicja Bachleda and Jesse Spencer. The original motion picture soundtrack contains the theme song titled "Solitude". Th ...

''.

Personal life

On 7 October 2009 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Bachleda-Curuś gave birth to Henry Tadeusz Farrell, her son with Irish actor

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The I ...

. Henry was baptized on 29 December 2009 in the Roman Catholic Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kraków. It was reported on 15 October 2010 that Farrell and Bachleda-Curuś had separated.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Video games

Discography

Albums

* ''Klimat'' (2001)

Singles

* "Dotknąć nieba" (with

Piotr Cugowski Piotr Cugowski (born 5 October 1979, in Lublin) is a Polish musician, vocalist of the ''Bracia'' Group, which he founded together with his brother Wojciech. He comes from a musical family, being the son of Krzysztof Cugowski, who is the founder ...

(son of Krzysztof Cugowski)) (2007) * "Klimat" (2001) * "Ich verlier mich gern in Dir" (from the film ''Heart Over Head'') (2001) * "Marzyć chcę" (1999)

References

External links

*
Alicja in New York Times May 2007

Alicja in GQ Magazine July 2007

Interview with Alicja Bachleda Presented by Linda O'Brien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachleda-Curus, Alicja 1983 births Living people People from Tampico, Tamaulipas Mexican film actresses Polish film actresses Mexican Roman Catholics Polish Roman Catholics 21st-century Polish actresses Mexican people of Polish descent Polish women singers Polish pop singers Singers from Tamaulipas 21st-century Mexican singers 21st-century Polish singers 21st-century Mexican women singers