# Barbara Kurdej-Szatan

Barbara Dominika Kurdej-Szatan (born 22 August 1985) is a Polish stage, film, and television actress, singer, and television presenter.

## Biography

Barbara Kurdej-Szatan was born on 22 August 1985 in Opole, Poland. She is the daughter of Janusz Kurdej and Eliza Wyszomirska-Kurdej, and has a sister Katarzyna Kurdej, who is also an actress. Her maternal grandfather was writer and poet Bogumił Wyszomirski.
As a child she sung for seven years in the choir Cantores Opolienses "Legenda", with which she performed in numerous national and international contests. She also attended Andrzej Głowacki's acting classes, as well as musical school for two years, where she played violin. Later she performed in the Opelskien Studio Piosenki (Opole Song Studio) and in the Opole Gospel Choir, with which she took part in concerts such as the Opole National Festival of Polish Song. In 2009, she graduated in acting from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków. While studying, she sung in the music group Marsels.
From 2008 to 2010, she performed in the New Theatre in Poznań, and since then, in the 6th Floor Theatre in Warsaw. In 2012, she begin performing in the Roma Musical Theatre. Additionally she appeared in television series such as Plebania (2006), Two Sides of the Coin (2006), Na dobre i na złe (2011), The Clan (2011), Barwy szczęścia (2012–2013), and First Love (2014), as well as in feature films Enen (2009), and Ciacho (2010). In 2012, she competed together with band Soul City in the TVN talent show X Factor.
She achieved a nation-wide recognizability, though her appearances in series of commercials of Play cellular network company, aired from 2013 to 2022. There she portrayed a store salesperson together with Maciej Łagodziński.
She portrayed the main role in a 2014 romantic comady film Dzień dobry, kocham cię!, for which she also recorded the theme song together with Liber. From 2014 to 2021, she also played Joanna Chodakowska, one of main characters in TVP2 soap opera television series L for Love. In 2014, she also begun working with Polish Television, for which she hosted or co-hosted shows such as: Kocham cię, Polsko! (2016–2018), The Voice of Poland (2016–2018), The Voice Kids (2018–2019), and Dance Dance Dance (2019). Additionally, in 2014, she co-hosted the 51st Opole National Festival of Polish Song, and the concert Sabat Czarownic in Kielce. In 2019, she stopped working with the Polish Television, which was unofficially speculated to be related to her participation in anti-government protests, and her endorment of Rafał Trzaskowski, an opposition candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
Since 2015, she performs in the Kraków Variété Theatre. She portrayed Jadźka Zarówna in 2015 film Wkręceni 2, and Andżela in 2017 film Things That You Don't Know About Men. Between 2017 and 2020, she played Maria Biernacka, one of main characters in Polsat television series W rytmie serca, and in 2018, she played secondary character of Weronika in film Being Unlucky Is Not a Sin, and Kasia in Narzeczonym na niby. Additionally, she and her her husband Rafał Szatan appeared in Polsat talk show The Story of My Life. Historia naszego życia, and in 2019, she was a contestant in talent show Dancing with the Stars. Taniec z gwiazdami, and co-hosted constert Przebojowe Opole. Jedziemy na wakacje, which aired on Polsat. During COVID-19 pandemic, she took part in series of online concerts streamed on Instagram, as well as in online campaign focused on reading farytales to children. She also formed band MaKuSza with her family, incluiding her husband, and her sister. In 2021, she participated in a Polsat talent show Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo in 2021.
On 4 November 2021, during the border crisis on Belarus–Poland border, she has posted a few-minutes-long recording of uniformed officers, most likely of the Polish Border Guard, wrestling with mothers holding children in their arms. In the background could be heard screams and children crying. Kurdej-Szatan has left an emotion-fueled comment, which included vulgar language, criticising the officers. Her comments, such as calling the officers the "machines without hearts and brains" or "murderes", has stirred a controversy. On 6 November 2021, she has posted an apology for her "voulgar and inappropriate language" used in her statesments. On 9 November 2021, Jacek Kurski, chairperson of the Polish Television, has informed of her firing from the network. The public prosecutor's office have begun an investigation, charging her with insulting the officers of the Border Guard in May 2022. In December 2022, the regional court in Pruszków, had dismissed the case due to the lack of elements of a criminal offence. Following this, the public prosecutor's office had filed a complain regardings the court processings, and in February 2023, the district court in Warsaw had dismissed the case.
In 2022, she participated in a Polsat talent show Mask Singer, and co-hosted TTV show Project Cupid, and Zoom TV show Poranny rogal. She also took part in advertising campaign of online newspaper Wyborcza.pl, and played one of main roles in Polsat television series Domek na szczęście.
In March 2022, she has founded a charity foundation Z Porywu Serca, aimed at helping refugees of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and those crossing the Poland-Belarus border. In 2023, she had main roles in two romantic comedy films, Miłość ma cztery łapy and Tips for Cheating 2. In 2024, she competed in a Polsat talent show Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo. Najlepsi!, and co-hosted a TVP2 entertainment show Cudowne lata. On 26 October 2024, she co-hosted a TVP1 charity concert for the victims of the Central European floods.

## Private life

In 2011, she married actor and singer Rafał Szatan [pl]. Together they have two children, Hanna (born 2012), and Henryk (born 2020).

## Stage credits

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Theatre |
| 2008 | The Trial | Leni | Wojciech Kościelniak | National Academy of Theatre Arts (Kraków) |
| 2008 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Helena | Wojciech Kościelniak | National Academy of Theatre Arts (Kraków) |
| 2010 | The Lobotomobile | Mrs. Nash | Janusz Wiśniewski | New Theatre (Poznań) |
| 2010 | W sobotę o ósmej | Zoe | Mariusz Puchalski | New Theatre (Poznań) |
| 2010 | Mary Stuart | Second voice | Waldemar Zawodziński | New Theatre (Poznań) |
| 2012 | Singin' in the Rain | Lina Lamont | Wojciech Kępczyński | Roma Musical Theatre (Warsaw) |
| 2015 | Legally Blonde | Elle Wood | Janusz Józefowicz | Kraków Variété Theatre (Kraków) |
| 2016 | Miłość w Saybrook | Sandy | Eugeniusz Korin | 6th Floor Theatre (Warsaw) |
| 2017 | Chicago | Roxie Hart | Wojciech Kościelniak | Kraków Variété Theatre (Warsaw) |

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Iskra | | Short film |
| 2009 | Enen | Iwona | Feature film |
| 2010 | Ciacho | Receptionist | Feature film |
| 2014 | Dzień dobry, kocham cię! | Basia Mazurek | Feature film |
| 2015 | Wkręceni 2 | Jadźka Zarówna | Feature film |
| 2017 | Things That You Don't Know About Men | Andżela | Feature film |
| 2018 | Narzeczony na niby | Kasia | Feature film |
| 2018 | Unlucky Is Not a Sin | Weronika | Feature film |
| 2020 | Swingers | Sylwia | Feature film |
| 2022 | Love on the Front Page | Herself | Feature film |
| 2023 | Miłość ma cztery łapy | Jowita | Feature film |
| 2023 | Tips for Cheating 2 | Gosia | Feature film |

### Television series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Plebania | Iwona | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Two Sides of the Coin | Nurse | Episode no. 14 |
| 2007 | I kto tu rządzi? | Natasza | Episode: "Czerwony smok" (no. 12) |
| 2011 | The Clan | Anita Sochacka | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Na dobre i na złe | Halinka | Episode: "Śmiertelnie zakochani" (no. 451) |
| 2011 | Usta usta | Woman in a hotel | Episode no. 33 |
| 2012–2013 | Barwy szczęścia | Hairdresser's clinet | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | First Love | Agnieszka Sikorska |
| 2014–2021 | L for Love | Joanna Chodakowska | 62 episodes |
| 2016 | Wielkie teorie Darwina | Herself | Episode no. 3 |
| 2016 | Wmiksowani.pl | Sabina Piorun-Drągalska | 3 episodes |
| 2017–2020 | W rytmie serca | Maria Biernacka-Żmuda | 61 episodes |
| 2019 | Father Matthew | Sylwia Lehman | Episode: "Nieboszczyk na plebanii" (no. 273) |
| 2019 | Mały Grand Hotel | Hotel guest | Episode no. 4 |
| 2021 | Świat pełen niespodzianek | Basia | Television special |
| 2022 | Domek na szczęście | Marianna Bondarek | 20 episodes |
| 2022 | Mecenas Porada | Berenika Gajda | Episode: "Super szewc" |

### Television programes

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016–2018 | Kocham cię, Polsko! | Host | Game show |
| 2016–2018 | The Voice of Poland | Host | Talent show |
| 2018 | The Story of My Life. Historia naszego życia | Guest | Talk show |
| 2018–2019 | The Voice Kids | Host | Talent show |
| 2019 | Dance Dance Dance | Host | Talent show |
| 2019 | Dancing with the Stars. Taniec z gwiazdami | Contestant | Talent show |
| 2021, 2023 | Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo | Contestant | Talent show |
| 2022 | Mask Singer | Contestant | Talent show |
| 2022 | Poranny rogal | Host | Talk show |
| 2022 | Project Cupid | Host | Game show |
| 2023 | Cudowne lata | Host | Game show |

### Polish-language dubbing

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Maleficent | Thistlewit | Feature film |
| 2016 | Barbie: Star Light Adventure | Barbie (singing voice) | Feature film |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Dawn Bellwethe | Feature film |
| 2017 | My Little Pony: The Movie | Captain Celaeno | Feature film |
| 2019 | Maleficent: Mistress of Evil | Thistlewit | Feature film |
| 2021 | Space Jam: A New Legacy | Lola Bunny | Feature film |

## Awards

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2013 | TVN Turbo Plebiscite | Woman of the Year | — | Nominated |
| 2015 | Snake Award | Worst Actress | Dzień dobry, kocham cię! | Won |
| 2015 | Telekamery | Best Actress | — | Won |
| 2016 | Snake Award | Worst Actress | Wkręceni 2 | Nominated |
| 2016 | Telekamery | Best Actress | — | Won |
| 2017 | Telekamery | Best Actress | — | Won |
| 2018 | Telekamery | Złota Telekamera | — | Won |
| 2019 | Snake Award | Worst Actress | Unlucky Is Not a Sin | Nominated |
| 2019 | Gwiazdy Plejady | Best Style | — | Won |