Andrzej Szopa, film, television, and voice-over actor, was born on 26th May, 1952, in Bydgoszcz. He spent his teenage years in Ciechocinek, where he, back then a 12-year-old boy, and his parents moved. Today, he considers Ciechocinek to be his home town, and he would come back there on numerous occasions.
In 1979, he graduated from the Acting Department of the Lodz Film School, receiving a master’s degree in acting. After graduation, he started performing on stage of Polski Theatre in Wroclaw. In 1983, he was awarded for portraying the most interesting episodic role in Szewcy”, granted by Wrocławskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Teatru (Society of Friends of the Theatre in Wroclaw). In 1987, he moved to the USA, where he worked at the radio station of the Polish American Congress federation, gave his voice in the radio soap opera „Jackowo Story”, in which he played Pawel, a Polish engineer, and finally assumed the position of a Honorary President of Klub Ziemi Bydgoskiej i Kujaw (Bydgoszcz Land and Kujawy Club) in Chicago. He returned to Poland in 1997 and became part of Teatr Kwadrat in Warsaw, managed by Andrzej Nejman, where he has worked until this very day.
The first full-length film to feature Andrzej Szopa was „Krótkie życie” / „Short Life” (1976), in which he played Cichy. His film career continued in such productions as: „Wesela nie będzie / „Broken Wedding” (1978), „Wielki Szu” / „Big Shar” (1982), in the latter of which the main character was portrayed by Jan Nowicki, an actor also connected to the region, then in „Cześć Tereska” / „Hi, Tereska” (2001), „Pitbull” (2005), in „1409. Afera na Zamku Bartenstein” (2005), or finally in „1920. Bitwa Warszawska” / „Battle of Warsaw 1920” (2011).
Andrzej Szopa is also known for his roles in TV productions, which started back in 1979 with a role in the TV series „Strachy”, directed by Stanisław Lenartowicz. Then, a series of other television series followed. He starred in „Popielec” (1982), „Na kłopoty… Bednarski” (1986), „Klan” (1997-2020), „Życie jak poker” (1998-1999), „Anna Karenina” (2000), or „Marszałek Piłsudski” (2001), and in many others. In the years 2003 – 2008, he was involved in the TV series „Plebania”, in which he portrayed Franciszek Piętak and then, in 2005, he played in the TV production „Magiczne drzewo”, which was adapted for a cinema release under the same title directed by Andrzej Maleszka, who shot the film on different locations, including Bydgoszcz.
Andrzej Szopa is also a voice-over actor, and you can hear his voice dubbing such film characters, as: Filius Flitwick in the series of films about „Harry Potter”, or as Dori in the film adaptation of „Hobbit”.
In 2016, the actor underwent a failed spinal surgery, which led to a partial paralysis. Today, he moves around in a wheelchair.
Selected Filmography
- 1976 – „Krótkie życie” / „Short Life” dir. Zbigniew Kuźmiński
- 1978 – „Wesela nie będzie” / „Broken Wedding” dir. Waldemar Podgórski
- 1979 – „Strachy” (TV series)
- 1982 – „Wielki Szu” / „Big Shar” dir. Sylwester Chęciński
- 1985 – „Sezon na bażanty” / „The Stalking Season” dir. Wiesław Saniewski
- 1986 – „Na kłopoty…Bednarski” (TV series)
- 1997-1998 – “Z pianką czy bez” (TV series)
- 1997-2020 – “Klan” (TV series)
- 1998–2001 – “Graczykowie” / „The Graczyk” (TV series)
- 1999 – „Wszystkie pieniądze świata” dir. Andrzej Kotokowski
- 2001 – „Marszałek Piłsudski” (TV series)
- 2001 – „Cześć Tereska” / „Hi, Tereska” dir. Robert Gliński
- 2002-2010 – „Samo życie” (TV series)
- 2003-2008 – „Plebania” (TV series)
- 2003-2019 – „Na Wspólnej” (TV series)
- 2005 – „Pitbull”, directed by Patryk Vega
- 2005 – „Magiczne drzewo” (TV series)
- 2005 – „1409. Afera na zamku Bartenstein” dir. Rafał Buks and Paweł Czarzasty
- 2006-2006 – „Kopciuszek” (TV series)
- 2008 – „Nie kłam Kochanie” / „Don’t Lie Darling” dir. Piotr Wereśniak
- 2011 – „1920 Bitwa Warszawska”/„Battle of Warsaw 1920” dir. Jerzy Hoffman
- 2015 – „Carte Blanche” dir. Jacek Lusiński
