Andrzej Chyra was born on the 27th of August 1964 in Gryfów Śląski. He studied at the Department of Acting and Directing of the National Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw. He performed in the Rampa Theatre and the Scena Prezentacje Theatre in Warsaw.

In 1993, he debuted on the silver screen with a role in Radosław Piwowarski’s film Kolejność uczuć [Order of Affection], which won an award at the Gdynia Film Festival. Later he undertook theatre and TV roles (for example, in TV series Zaklęta [Enchanted] and Boża podszewka [God’s Lining] in 1997). He also tried his hand at drama directing – his achievements in this field include the play Z dziejów alkoholizmu w Polsce [The History of Alcoholism in Poland] (1994) in the Stara Prochownia Theatre and Przegryźć dżdżownicę [To Bite into an Earthworm] (1997) based on Katarzyna Grochola’s novel at the Na Piętrze Stage in Poznań. In 1998, he also staged Harold Pinter’s The Lover in Grudziądz.

He gained highest popularity and critical acclaim thanks to his role in Krzysztof Krauze’s award-winning film Dług [The Debt] (1999). The role of Gerard – the cruel collector of the title debt – won him the Best Actor Award at the Gdynia Film Festival and the Eagle Polish Film Award for the Best Supporting Role. In the same year, he appeared in Kalafiorr [Caulliflowerr]– an independent film directed by Jacek Borcuch, alongside whom he played in Dług.

His further film roles involve only popular titles: Pieniądze to nie wszystko [Money Isn’t Everything] by Juliusz Machulski (2000), Wiedźmin [The Witcher] (2001), Przedwiośnie [Spring to Come] (2001), Zmruż oczy [Squint Your Eyes] (2002), Pogoda na jutro [Tomorrow’s Weather] by Jerzy Stuhr (2002), Symetria [Symmetry] by Konrad Niewolski (2003), Ono [Stranger] by Małgorzata Szumowska (2003), Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami [We’re All Christs] by Marek Koterski (2005), or Persona non grata by Krzysztof Zanussi (2005); in all of these films, he could demonstrate the full scope of his acting potential, both in dramatic and comedy roles.

In spite of his successful film career, Chyra did not part with the theatre, treating it as the place of ‘greatest fulfilment for an actor’. He acted in plays directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, Grzegorz Jarzyna and Agnieszka Glińska. In 2003, he acted in Hamlet – a play directed by Łukasz Barczyk for the Polish TVP Theatre.

The year 2005 was the nationwide success of Feliks Falk’s Komornik [The Collector]; for his role in this film, Chyra won again the most prestigious Polish acting awards (the Best Actor Award at the Gdynia Film Festival and the Eagle Polish Award). In 2006, he appeared in Konrad Niewolski’s film once more – this time he played the leading role in the thriller Palimpsest.

In the same year, he also played in S@motność w sieci [Loneliness on the Net] – a film directed by Witold Adamek based on Janusz L. Wiśniewski’s best-selling novel. In both of these films, he played alongside Magdalena Cielecka, whom he had already met in the set of the film Powiedz to, Gabi [Say It, Gabi] (2002) and the TV series Defekt [The Defect]. Apart from that, Chyra appeared in two episodes of the popular TV series Zaginiona [A Lost Girl] (2003) and in the TV series Oficer [The Officer] (2004).

In 2007, he acted in Andrzej Wajda’s film Katyń. In 2009, he performed in films Magiczne drzewo [The Magic Tree] and Wszystko, co kocham [All That I Love]. The following year brought two additional films in which he appeared: Mistyfikacja [Mystification] and Trick.


Fot. Daniel Kruczyński