Maja Ostaszewska

Maja Ostaszewska was born on 3 September 1972 in Kraków, Poland, into a culturally rich family; her father Jacek Ostaszewski is a noted musician belonging to the historic Ostoja Clan. Raised with Buddhist principles, she pursued acting at the Academy of Theatre Arts in Warsaw (PWST), graduating in 1996 after formative training in her native city. While still a student, she secured a small yet memorable part in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar‑winning Schindler’s List (1993), marking her screen debut. Her breakthrough arrived with the lead role in the drama The Haven (1998), for which she earned the Polish Film Festival Best Actress Award, followed by a second festival prize for Prymas – trzy lata z tysiąca (2000). Ostaszewska quickly became a staple of Polish cinema, appearing in more than thirty feature films and collaborating with acclaimed directors such as Krzysztof Warlikowski, Krystian Lupa, and Agnieszka Holland. She has been nominated six times for the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress, winning twice for Jack Strong (2014) and Body (2015), and she also received the prestigious Paszport Polityki and Telekamera honors.

Across television, she has headlined series like Na dobre i na złe (2003‑2008), Days of Honor (2008), and Diagnosis (2017‑2019), demonstrating versatility from medical drama to historical epics such as Andrzej Wajda’s Katyń (2007). Recent highlights include starring roles in Never Gonna Snow Again (2020), the comedy‑drama The In‑Laws (2021) and its sequel, the biographical adventure Broad Peak (2022), and the Agnieszka Holland‑directed Green Border (2023). In 2024 she appears in Netflix’s thriller Colors of Evil: Red and the series Projekt UFO. Off‑screen, Ostaszewska shares a long‑term partnership with cinematographer Michał Englert, with whom she has two children, Franciszek (2007) and Janina (2009). A committed vegetarian and Buddhist, she is also an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, adding a socially engaged dimension to her celebrated artistic career.