She left Kielce and conquered Hollywood. Her comment: “I’m not some Tom Cruise. “Not a braggart.” Open, direct, emotional. Dagmara Domińczyk tells Beata Nowicka: “First of all, I am a grateful woman.” And she talks about the “essential things” in her life.
When she came to the USA, she was only seven years old, her parents taught her the most important values and love for her homeland. “We lived modestly, in a small apartment, we lacked a lot. […] My origins were a source of pride, I stood out and it was important to me, I didn’t hide it,” recalls Dagmara Domińczyk. Has she achieved her American dream? Or maybe he doesn’t think about life in such terms?
Dagmara Domińczyk about the American dream and her beloved husband, Patrick Wilson
Dagmara Domińczyk: I have always been nostalgic, maybe this is the fate of immigrants? We went to Poland every holiday. Recently I was walking around Kielce and reminiscing. I have a lot of videos in my head: my grandma is pulling me on a sled, I’m standing in a queue with my mother, I’m taking a bath in the bathtub, and the soap is so rough. I grew up in the United States, but my home was Polish. Roots were extremely important to my father. Polish cuisine, Polish language, Polish politics. When I invited friends, my dad asked: “Who did your parents vote for? Democrat, Republican, what?” We were 12 years old, it was embarrassing for me. He always told me: “Politics affects every aspect of our lives: culture, faith, the way you raise children, movies, books, television. For everything you love, even though you may not see it now. Today I know that he was right. […]
We often choose partners in the image of our father. Was this your key to finding happiness in love?
Before I got together with Patrick, all my partners were like my father. I’ve always fallen in love with unavailable, secretive, tough guys. The father hasn’t changed, he remains the same. He fought his demons all his life. I’m not ready to talk about it publicly. I was afraid since I was a child that he would die in such a way and in such a way. That’s how he died. It was a terrible experience for me. And my husband is just wonderful. Dad was in love with Patrick. He said: “My son. My only son” because Patryk is a sincere, good person. Warm, sensitive, caring. He once said: “Patrick is your reward for the difficult childhood I gave you.”. He apologized to me for the past. I remember strangers banging on the door in the middle of the night and then taking my dad away. It was December 13th. It was snowing outside the window, I was terribly afraid. I was six years old. That moment changed our lives irreversibly. Politics was everything to my father. He loved us, he worried about us, but he was always gone. Even after we moved to the United States, he was constantly traveling somewhere, collaborating with Solidarity. The atmosphere at home was tense, I was an oversensitive child, I got nervous when someone shouted, I was always worried about something. This is what I have left. When Dad watched Patrick talk tenderly to our sons, hug them and play with them, he had tears in his eyes. One day he said to Kalin and Kassian: “If Grandpa had a father like your father, he would be a different man”… Even now, emotion sticks in my throat.
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See also
Dagmara Domińczyk, session for “VIVA!” magazine, September 2024, VIVA, 18/2024 Marlena Bielinska/move
Patrick Wilson i Dagmara Domińczyk, 2023 in New York City Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage/Getty Images
Has Polishness marked you in some way?
I knew I was different, but I had no complexes. I have never been an envious or jealous person. We lived modestly, in a small apartment, we lacked a lot. The children brought peanut butter to school for lunch, and my mother packed me a slice of lard or a meatloaf, but it was OK. I didn’t look at my friends and think: Oh, I don’t have this, I don’t have that. I had complexes about being too fat and too ugly, but most young girls go through this. My origins were a source of pride, I stood out and it was important to me, I didn’t hide it. The name was, of course, strange, after college, when I was looking for an agency for myself, I once heard: “It would be easier if you changed your name to Mink.” Sorry, no way. My dad doesn’t have a son and this name will be on the screens.
Beautiful! Your life is almost an American immigrant story from a book. LaGuardia Scholarship for the best graduate, studies at Carnegie Mellon and, at the age of 23, a starring role in the film “The Count of Monte Cristo”. Did you have a plan B just in case?
I didn’t. At first, my parents were very surprised that I wanted to follow this path. They also didn’t have a plan B. They came to New York, my mother cleaned houses because she didn’t know English, but she did it with pride. Her job allowed her to earn money to support her family, but she was able to enjoy life. He lives here and now. He enjoys what fate brings. Completely different from his father. When I was little, I wanted to be a teacher and write books. Before I went to study acting, my father dreamed that I would become a journalist dealing with human rights. Human Rights Journalist. For him it was a profession with a mission. That didn’t happen. Sometimes I think: If I stayed in Poland, would I also be an actress? Was it supposed to be like this no matter what country I live in? I don’t know that. But I know that I have loved fairy tales and stories since I was little. Grandma Krysia, who had a beautiful voice, sang ballads to me, recited poems, and knew many of them by heart. She said: “And you, Daga, were in tears, you were full of impressions and emotions from a young age.”
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Kassian McCarrell Wilson, Dagmara Dominczyk, Patrick Wilson i Kalin Wilson, 2023 in New York City Dia Dipasupil/WireImage/Getty Images
Fate has been kind to you.
Was. I worked hard and was myself. I didn’t show off, I didn’t try to pretend to be someone else, and I think that helped me. But in this profession, apart from talent, hard work and ambition, you also need to have some luck. I have a lot of very talented friends from acting studies who simply didn’t make it. […]
Do you feel like you’ve fulfilled your American dream? Do you even think about your life in these terms?
Just before my father died, I felt for the first time: OK, you did it. I have wonderful, lovely sons, Patrick, who is a fantastic guy: man, husband, father. It’s annoying, but we’re so in love. Mom is healthy, dad spent the entire holiday with us before he died, he behaved like a real grandfather, it was fantastic moments. I have a beautiful house, three dogs, a job in the United States, a job in Poland, films, TV series, but also time for writing and reading books. I felt so damn grateful and so calm. I still have passion, hunger for gaming, I started writing a second book, I still want to achieve various things, maybe do something together with Patrick. But overall, I achieved what I wanted. And suddenly dad died. The spell was broken. It happened a year and a half ago, and it still hurts me that he won’t be at the premiere in Poland. He would watch a movie without subtitles for the first time (silence). So I had to pick myself up again.
You can read the entire interview in the new VIVA! Filmowa. A magazine with two covers to choose from, available at sales points throughout Poland.
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Dagmara Domińczyk, session for “VIVA!” magazine, September 2024, VIVA, 18/2024 Marlena Bielinska/move
