Andrzej
Seweryn

Andrzej Seweryn, a Polish native, was appointed as a pensionnaire at the Comédie-Française on February 15, 1993. He became the 493rd sociétaire on January 1, 1995. He trained in acting at the Warsaw High School of Theater. As both a teacher and educator, he taught at the school of the Théâtre national de Chaillot, then at the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre (National Higher School for Performing Arts and Techniques – ENSATT) in Lyon. Finally, he became a teacher at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts) of Paris.
He performed in Molière's Les Précieuses ridicules (The Precious Ridiculous) staged by English director Dan Jemmett at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, in 2007 and in 2008. He embodied the role of Panisse in Marcel Pagnol’s Fanny in a staging by Irène Bonnaud. During the same season, 2007-2008, Andrzej Seweryn played alternately at the Salle Richelieu, the role of de Guiche in Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac and Ulysses in Heinrich von Kleist’s Penthesilea. He further played the role of H1 in Nathalie Sarraute’s Pour un oui ou pour un non (For No Good Reason) directed by Léonie Simaga at the Studio-Théâtre.
At the Théâtre-Français, he has performed roles such as Don Juan in Molière's Don Juan staged by Jacques Lassalle, Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice directed by Andrei Serban, Gaev in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, staged by Alain Françon, and Henry in Witold Gombrowicz’s The Marriage.
At the Comédie-Française, he staged Molière's The Forced Marriage, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Audiberti’s Le Mal court. Outside the realm of Molière’s house, he put on stage Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters and Shakespeare’s Richard II.
He has a prolific acting career both in Poland and France; he has acted in both the English and French versions of Peter Brook’s Mahabharata, in Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, and in Paul Claudel’s The Exchange staged by Antoine Vitez. Furthermore, he performed the title roles in Friedrich Von Schiller’s Don Carlos and Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas. He won the French Critics’ Syndicate prize for his performance in Hugo von Hoffmannsthal’s L'Homme difficile in which he played the title role.

The roles he performed in movies were the ones to gain him popularity with the audiences, and mainly those roles he played in Andrzej Wajda’s movies with whom he has collaborated on a regular basis: The Promised Land, Rough Treatment, The Conductor – a role for which he was awarded the silver bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival in 1980), Danton, Man Of Iron, The Revenge, and Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray of Lithuania.

Andrzej Seweryn received the title of a Chevalier (knight) in the Order of Legion of Honour, of a knight in the National Order of Merit and of a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters. Polish authorities awarded him with the Krzyz Oficerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski-Polonia Restitua title. Andrzej Seweryn was named a sociétaire honoraire on February 14, 2013.