Actress Nadia Tereszkiewicz: “How hard it is to curb emotions”

“LThe statuette is among the books: when you enter the house mine, you notice it in two seconds. I don’t want to hide it, I’m glad to see it!” May the god of success spare the enthusiasm, candor, gracious grace of Nadia Tereszkiewicz. No posing, no effort at originality (some say they keep the prizes in the shower…): it brings joy to her – why should she downplay it? – The Cèsar award won in February as “best female promise” For Forever Young – Les Amandiers by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

In cinemas with “Mon crime”

A promise already kept, in truth, as it demonstrates Mon Crime – I’m the culprit by François Ozon (still in our cinemas). At the Cannes Film Festival it was applauded in Rosalie by Stéphanie Di Giustoin France in the expectation The Ile Rouge by Robin Campilloand already has three more films in the pipeline: Submergée by the Franco-Lithuanian Alante Kavaite, Dracula Patagonia by the Franco-Chilean Tito González García e The Maid of Orleans by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz with Elle Fanning (produced by Jessica Chastain).

Let’s take one off right now doubt: the pronunciation of “Tereszkiewicz”?
Tereschivich.

Has anyone recommended a stage name for you?
Yes, they suggested it to me, but it won’t happen: if mine doesn’t work out, I’d rather change jobs.

“My Italian School”

The surname is Polish, his father was born in France, his mother in Finland. What country do you feel you belong to?
I consider Paris my city and French the language of work. The language of emotions, of love, is Finnish instead. When I pray, I pray in Finnish; if I have to cry in a film, I prepare myself by thinking about some episode in Finnish.

Speak fluent Italian.
Unfortunately I forgot a bit… For 14 years I attended the Center International de Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes, a school run by an Italian, Paola Cantalupo, where most of my friends were Italian. I started with dance as a child, and – when I was eleven – I chose to tackle it on a professional level: eight hours a day on campus, and I travel to Italy, the United States, Canada, Finland, Germany…

“I cried like never before”

When was the passion born?
I must have been four or five years old and my father, who is passionate about music, dance and cinema, took me to a show by Pina Bausch: I was overwhelmed by emotion, for the first time I understood what art can set in motion. He made me cry like never before and I saw a superior beauty, which I couldn’t even grasp… Then I didn’t miss one, but what changed my life was Café Müller.

The breakthrough to the big screen?
Eh, it took… I wasn’t interested, even though dad was a cinephile (my parents called me “Nadia” inspired by the protagonist of Deceiving sun by Nikita Michalkov). At 18, in Toronto – I had just been accepted at the École nationale de ballet du Canada – I realized that I was actually missing something. I somehow lacked the word… I decided to return to France and devote myself to literature studies, with a specialization in theatre. Theater understood as texts, not as representations, although I attended dozens of plays to learn more. But when I saw Oedipus der Tyrann by Romeo Castellucci… well, it was a shock. A poetic level that I will not forget. I proposed again: I try the competition for the acting course Free class.

Explore femininity

Departure!
No. I wasn’t admitted… I waited for the following year, I prepared like crazy: there were three thousand of us, 18 of us passed, ten boys and eight girls. But I only attended for three months.

So much effort for nothing?
They called me to a set in Portugal, I met my agent there and then, for four years, I didn’t have a month off. The movie was Sauvage by Dennis Berry, nobody saw it (smiles), but I’m grateful: it gave me the opportunity to understand that that path was mine. At school you can’t imagine if it will be for you: at 20, being alone for two months during filming…

It was for her.
L’acting it condenses everything I like: learning languages, moving around, meeting people, telling stories. It’s literature, it’s dance… It allowed me to explore femininity, to discover many things about myself, not to worry about the gaze of others but exclusively to be “true”.

Surrender on the set

Isn’t access through dance more direct for the relationship with the body?
No. Under no circumstances is it easy to become a woman, and for those who dance it is particularly complicated: it is not a good thing for a dancer to grow up… I remained a child until very late and only when I stopped did I start gaining weight, and even developing in height.

It gives the impression of adhering to the characters in an all-encompassing way. How is it prepared?
I try to understand the psychology but also the context, the historical period. I inform myself with books, films, conversations with experts. I want to be aware of where I am, to abandon myself when I arrive on set and not think about anything anymore. Emotions are very present in me, and sometimes I have to control myself, choose whether to keep them to myself or show everything. I also work on the gesture, of course, and on the voice: for The Ile Rougefor example, I had to have the more mature tone of a woman who has had three children and I trained with a coach.

Nadia Tereszkiewicz and the Gaga method

The Ile Rouge is set in the 1970s; Mon Crime in the 30s, Les Amandiers in the 80s, Rosalie even in the nineteenth century and with Dracula Patagonia will jump to 1918… A coincidence? Or is her beauty perceived as ancient?
I don’t know, the directors choose me. I’m certainly interested in time travel, delving into what it means to be a woman today or in the 1930s. It is interesting to note how many things have changed, and how many still need to be changed… An example: at the Césars there were no nominated directors, despite Other people’s children by Rebecca Zlotowski e A beautiful morning by Mia Hansen-Løve deserved it. I do not understand! These are films that change you, it hurts me to see that they weren’t chosen! (gets excited). It is important that cinema represents female figures that have a complexity. I am lucky enough to choose, and I choose things I intend to defend.

But now it’s time for holidays. The goal of him?
Germany, a workshop with a dancer from the Bausch company: every holiday I go dancing, I need it. I have attended many seminars of the “Gaga method”, based on the absolute freedom of movement: in Italy (I went to Monferrato twice, to Orsolina28)Israel, Amsterdam… I followed the creator, Ohad Naharin, all over the place after meeting him in 2019 in Tel Aviv when I was shooting the series Possession. After the four months of shooting, I stayed for another one to practice with him.

“I am Lutheran”

His life will have changed after the appreciation as “youthful alter ego” of Bruni Tedeschi.
I can’t say that you leave me indifferent. People I’ve admired since I was little think I’m an actress… Wow! Encouragement is good, it helps self-esteem. The doubts do not leave me and the pressure is strong.

What keeps her grounded?
The same group of friends for 15 years, those from the dance scene. My family. And the fact that I really like acting, I’m not attracted to the “representative” side.

Do you have a mantra that guides you through life?
No, but I have faith (I’m Lutheran), I’ve always had it, it came from my mother. This puts me in an existential condition of trust: the things that have to arrive, do arrive. I don’t calculate, I don’t work like this: I proceed day by day. Even my mother continually invites me to take advantage of the present, not to overlook the good in simple things because I’m too focused on the past, or on the future.

Make an exception: tell us how you imagine yourself ten years from now.
Engaged in this same trade, without getting bored. I want children, a husband (I hope) and a peaceful everyday life. With holidays in Finland…

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