27.07.2014

"Just Jordan"....-
What happens in Jordan, stays in Jordan - and .... on Youtube!




Aha, yes...that's right! I have been filming an exciting tv series in Jordan over the last 3 months.
I think that now I've had few weeks to think about this experience, I will probably
feel quite chilled and relaxed telling you ALL about it.
If I had to describe this journey in ONE word, most definitely I would say: EXTRAORDINARY!

It was amazing, unusual, surreal and damn hard! That's what acting is most of the time.
Its fucking hard work...:-) . Forget the glamour moments, they only happen in actual films like Notting Hill, not in real world....

Let's start with the fact that working in an Arabic country is so very different to working anywhere else in the world. Why- because you are surrounded 100% of the time by a different and very specific culture and language, which is unfamiliar to you..
I was playing a character called Mary, and to make the experience more interesting, Mary speaks in both English and Arabic. So I had to not only LEARN arabic so that I could pronounce it properly and it could be understood but ...of course...ACT in Arabic. That was a challenge.
I like challenges though. My script was divided into 2 parts : arabic (how to pronounce) and then with a translation in English so I know what I am saying.

The filming days went really fast, I mean super duper fast - one scene, next one, next one, one after another, close-ups, wide shots with horses, or with the Dead Sea in the background. My favourite thing was night filming, the desert at night is such a magical place to be...
Also, eating with the crew during breaks, while watching sunset in the middle of the Jordanian desert is absolutely breathtaking. I remember I thought sometimes how lucky I was to see what I saw and to work in place like that.
Now, writing to you guys, sitting on my bed in Islington seems very real and what happend in Jordan feels like it was really just a dream, a bizzare one...Oh...the camels were just chilling...walking around us...WTF?!





Jordan is a really beautiful location to be filming, most definitely, no doubt about that.
But, also it's a very HOT location to be filming. The desert has dry air, we worked long hours, the crew and cast., and me in the middle of nowhere with my natural very pale polish skin got a nice colour, not red as usual but actually brown for the 1st time, believe it or not!!





I made a few good friends in Jordan, but there were moments that were hard. I survived, obviously, thanks to those few new friendly faces I had there, and thank God for that.






I was working with two fantastic Make-Up Artists from Russia and because of those two happy girls, N. and E.:-) the hours in the make-up chair every morning were fun and relaxed and I must say, now I am fluent in russian:-)
"Practice makes Master" as they say and in this case it took just over 3 months!
How you doing Girls? Wsjo haraszo? :-)




In Amman, Jordan, I stayed in very nice hotel. I spent quite a lot time on my own and I will be super honest here, room service, a nice pool and all the other royal luxuries are fun for first 2 weeks.
Then you feel LONELY, you miss your friends, family and home.
That's how it was for me this time, but hey ....?! I am an actor that's part of my job...
Believe it or not, its hard when you don't speak much to anyone for quite a few days and weeks.



The tv series looks so amazing, really beautiful and I act in Arabic...Fuck! What a journey that was!
It's on - right now on Katar Tv and you have NO idea how funny it was to get a call from my mom last week ( she can watch the series in Poland) and hear: I'm watching you and you are on the horse, not sure what's going on, but it's quite exciting.Yes, mom...of course it is...!





In the end, what I am the most happy about, is that I created a character that I can be proud of!
And it wasn't easy to do it this but I stayed focused- NO matter what.
I actually still feel very grateful to one in partucular " london friend" who was patiently listening to all my crazy thoughts, when I was out there.
I will keep the Jordan experience in my mind for a long time!
I think I learnt there. Yes I did, a lot, and that's what the game is all about at the end of the day...
J.