NEW NORMAL

FOLLOWING ITS TRIUMPH AT THE PRESTIGIOUS SERIES MANIA FESTIVAL, PROUD ARRIVED WITH SERIOUS MOMENTUM. THE POLISH HBO MAX SHOW TOOK HOME THE GRAND PRIX IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, WHILE LEADING MAN IGNACY LISS EARNED THE FESTIVAL'S BEST ACTOR AWARD. THE EIGHT-PART DRAMA SET IN WARSAW FOLLOWS FILIP, A RECKLESS YOUNG MAN WHOSE LIFE IS UPENDED WHEN HE SUDDENLY BECOMES RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS INFANT NIECE, FORCING HIM TO CONFRONT ADDICTION, INTIMACY ISSUES, AND THE FAMILY HE NEVER EXPECTED TO BUILD. HERE, LISS REFLECTS ON THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL TRANSFORMATION REQUIRED TO INHABIT FILIP, THE CHARACTER’S COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH LOVE, FATHERHOOD AND BELONGING, AND HOW PROUD BLURRED THE LINE BETWEEN PERFORMANCE AND REALITY AT A MOMENT WHEN HIS OWN LIFE WAS CHANGING FOREVER.

Once you received the script for Proud and the role was yours, how did you prepare to understand Filip, to understand his mental state?

Regarding the preparation itself, I feel like the hardest part was stopping being afraid of what others would think about me being cast and not anyone else. Well, obviously, I immediately thought, “I'm not gay, am I right for this?” I generally think of sexuality as a spectrum, and this project kind of proved that to me. But initially, I was afraid of some kind of judgment and that neither side would actually be happy with this choice.

So I simply had to accept the fact that I was playing this role and no one else would play it, and now I had to do everything in my power to make it good and well thought-through. Another aspect was to prepare my body. Because, you know, Filip is a model, and it took a lot of work to capture his physique and look.

Left Full look **Fendi**
Right Full look **Diesel** from Vitkac

He also struggles with addiction…

Exactly. That definitely influences his appearance, too. So, I did eat little and tried to exercise a lot. I had it all planned out by a dietitian, so it was safe, but still very demanding and difficult to achieve. So I was also very pleased with the result. When I saw those episodes and saw that it actually looked good and that I could see the character in it, I was very happy.

Another challenge was definitely finding that queerness within myself. Although I had an idea in mind, I sensed from the beginning that Filip was a bit outside of the queer culture. Even though he likes parties and goes to gay clubs, he also has a certain element of a strong need for independence and individuality.

Yes, it's a bit of a break from the stereotypical approach to portraying queer people.

Yes, also in terms of his approach to affection. In later episodes, Filip finds himself in the world of romance. And suddenly, he finds someone he's seriously in love with, and he can't function in that world at all, but he slowly learns to do so. You can even see it in the way he has sex and the way he kisses. It's aggressive, it's rough, it's devoid of tenderness. And then he meets Paweł, something sparks, and Paweł starts teaching him.

You act with an infant in the series. What was that experience like?

It was a huge challenge. You know, there's a saying among actors that it's better not to be seen with a baby or an animal in the shot. Because you can never compete – the viewer will always love an animal or a child more; the spotlight will be on the sweeter creature. And there was indeed a certain anxiety that now you had to find a source of cooperation. However, it turned out that Ala, or Tosia on screen, was a very great baby to collaborate with. Generally, the job here involved waiting a while for her to suggest something. The camera would be rolling, and I'd be playing the piano here, showing her something here, feeding her there. We had days dedicated to just letting her be with me. It was great because it taught me a lot about acting in general, about alertness, about concentration. But it was a huge challenge.

Left T-shirt **Versace** from Vitkac
Right Jacket **Diesel** from Vitkac

You also recently became a father in your personal life! So working on the series became a training ground for you, in a way.

Yes, my son was born three months ago. We started filming in July last year, and in June, on Father's Day, I found out I was going to be a dad. So, I was already thinking that in nine months, my life would change. And that was brilliant in the context of playing Filip. Even though I had the mental space to prepare, and Filip jumped into parenthood overnight – which is, of course, much more exciting and much more cinematic – I also felt a little bit of what he felt. I didn't have to give up partying Monday through Friday, having multiple sexual partners, and my lifestyle in general, but it did dawn on me that my life would change because I wouldn't be able to live the frivolous life we had been living before. And that really helped me feel and create Filip.

Also, besides having a child in the series, we have a dog. And the dog, Felek, is “played” by my dog. This is my personal dog, the one I live with every day, and simply to limit my efforts and various encounters, because I had to get used to Ala before the set, I decided, listen, don't look for a dog, don't look for a trainer for this dog, because it's a waste of time. I'll take my dog, and we'll just film me with him. So I was playing all those scenes—the stroller, the dog, the baby, whatever – and recently I'm just getting out of my building with this stroller, with my son, and I'm standing there thinking, “God, I've been there before.”

A déjà vu moment!

And it was really funny because it was the same leash, the same dog, even the same reflexes – a shoulder bag with diapers, a baby here, and I'm pushing a stroller there. It's very funny. And you know, the coolest thing is that this will stay with me for the rest of my life, and this series will be such a great souvenir and the beginning of a certain phase in my life that will never end.

I also wanted to mention that I think this is the first time I've seen a recited poem in a series, at the end of episode three. It felt very experimental for a TV show.

I think it was a brilliant idea. It's a bit like a music video moment, but also a kind of anchor, a composition that simply concludes a certain stage of Filip's life. Then the series becomes about something else. We move on to the next moment. I've never seen this before on TV either, and I think it perfectly captures what it's meant to portray. The lyrics are very powerful and moving, and even though I've watched it a few times, I'm moved every time.

Left T-shirt **Versace** from Vitkac
Right Full look **Louis Vuitton**

Besides queerness, the series also explores the theme of the patchwork family. Why was this important to the story, in your view?

Yes, in Poland, it's still quite a controversial topic, because family is usually discussed in terms of blood ties, but here, we show the complete opposite: that you can actually choose your family, you can forgo certain toxic relationships in favour of other relationships, and that can still be family. But I think the series also shows that we need that sense of closeness and community, that there aren't many people who feel great when they're alone, right? There's a line in the series calling them the "pink brigade." I really like that, that the pink brigade is always on duty. They support each other, and I think this should also make us think that we, as a society at large, sometimes ostracise these people, when instead we should give them more support.