South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Actor having ‘mid-life career boost’
It has been a particularly fruitful time for Dagmara Dominczyk.
The actor has been giving audiences a one-two punch between reprising her role as Karolina Novotney in the HBO series “Succession” and appearing in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s critically acclaimed feature directorial debut “The Lost Daughter,” now on Netflix.
Dominczyk’s “Succession” character is usually one of the few functioning adults in any room she is in that also includes members of the emotionally stunted Roy family. As one of Waystar Royco’s main public relations specialists, Karolina’s job is to sugarcoat all the awful misdeeds the family commits while trying not to lose her mind over all the crazy positions she’s put in.
Though she didn’t have much to do in the show’s third season, Dominczyk said the plan is to bring her back for the fourth season. She and “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong have sketched out Karolina’s back story, and she would love for viewers to eventually learn more about what makes her tick.
“I love being part of that group with all those incredibly smart, passionate and brave creators and actors,” Dominczyk said. “We’re all playing in that sandbox, but because of my role I sit in the corner of the sandbox and tell people to put their shovels back. I want to play too!”
Between “Succession” and her role in the upcoming miniseries “We Own This City,” Dominczyk said, “I owe HBO my mid-life career boost.”
Before signing on to “The Lost Daughter,” Dominczyk had been running into Gyllenhaal and her husband Peter
Sarsgaard for years. She had worked with Sarsgaard on the 2004 film “Kinsey” and Gyllenhaal on an episode of the HBO series “The Deuce.” When Gyllenhaal was adapting Elena Ferrante’s 2008 novel “The Lost Daughter” into a feature film script, she called Dominczyk and said that she saw her as Callie, a loud and naturally distrustful character.
“I was coming off of two years wearing a blazer and pantyhose. I thought, what an opportunity to be someone who owns space and takes space from others and who’s bold and big,” Dominczyk said. “It was so much fun!”
As someone who “can be blunt in a loving way,” it wasn’t too hard for Dominczyk to tap into that side of her to play the “bold and brash” Callie. To her, the women in “The Lost Daughter” aren’t archetypes, but rather feel like real people “who will
annoy you and confound you, and you’ll cry for them all in the same breath.”
Dominczyk is excited that the film is already receiving so much awards season love, though that doesn’t matter to her as much as just finding more high-quality opportunities like this to continue doing what she loves.
“At 45, I feel like I’m having a second wind here and that feels really, really nice,” she said. “Who knows when it will be over. I’m just going to enjoy it today.”
Jan. 9 birthdays: Singer Joan Baez is 81. Guitarist Jimmy Page is 78. Actor John Doman is 77. Singer David Johansen is 72. Actor J.K. Simmons is 67. Actor Imelda Staunton is 66. Singer Dave Matthews is 55. Actor Joey Lauren Adams is 54. Actor Omari Hardwick is 48. Actor Nina Dobrev is 33. Actor Kerris Dorsey is 24.