Andrzej Chyra

Andrzej Chyra (Polish: [ˈandʐɛj ˈxɨra], born 27 August 1964) is a celebrated Polish actor and theater director. He is a member of the prominent Polish Film Academy and the influential European Film Academy. 2006 marked a highlight in his acting career when he received the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor for his remarkable performance in the Feliks Falk's drama film The Collector. He completed high school and graduated in 1987 from the Acting Theater School in Warsaw. Chyra additionally majored in directing from the same university in 1994. His film debut was in 1993 in the role of Benvollo in Order of Affection, directed by Radosław Piwowarski. His performance as Gerard Nowak in the 1999 film The Debt (Dług) by Krzysztof Krauze brought him recognition and accolades, including the Best Actor award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. His success continued in the following years, with a notable hit in 2005 when he received the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor for Komornik. In 2007, Chyra starred in Andrzej Wajda's Academy Award-nominated historical drama film Katyń. In his subsequent career, he was nominated for Polish Film Awards for his roles in We're All Christs (2006), Never Gonna Snow Again (2021), and All Our Fears (2021). As a director, in 2015 Chyra was awarded the Konrad Swinarski Prize for directing Paweł Mykietyn's opera Czarodziejska góra based on Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain. By 2019, he also had the honor of receiving the Zbigniew Cybulski Award for Lifetime Achievement.