When Zuzanna Szadkowski first auditioned for "Gossip Girl," she never dreamed that one day she'd hear throngs of teenage fans screaming her name. After all, the part she was up for—a demure Polish housekeeper employed by wealthy glamour girl Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester)—had no lines and was relegated mostly to the background, clutching a tray of champagne.
And yet, as the show progressed, the role started to grow. Suddenly the character had a name—Dorota—and an amusing rapport with Blair. Fans took note, declaring their love for Szadkowski on Internet message boards and creating Dorota-centric chat icons. The character became so popular that Szadkowski landed her own spinoff of sorts: a series of mobile and online "Gossip Girl" mini-episodes focusing on Dorota's surprisingly exciting behind-the-scenes life.
Szadkowski says she had some idea that Dorota was becoming a fan favorite, but the full impact didn't really hit until she heard a gaggle of teen girls shrieking for her during a location shoot. "The first time I ever felt cool was when they asked me to sign autographs, and for some reason they were having their iPhones autographed," she says, chuckling. "I was, like, walking around signing people's iPhones. I felt very weird."
It just goes to show: You never know which roles are going to provide the greatest opportunities. A part may not look like much on paper, but if you invest yourself fully and viewers sit up and take notice, sometimes it can morph into something greater. "It's like an actor fantasy," Szadkowski says. "You go in, it's a possible recur, and then you get to have this really fun ride and a cool gig. It really blew some doors open for me."
"I don't think a smaller role's any different than a bigger role. You invest in it with all your blood. I certainly don't try to make myself small or avoid taking the moment."
And when you take that approach, you can often find little things in the character to capitalize on. From the get-go, Szadkowski notes, she had a fully formed idea of who Dorota was within Blair's world—a caring maternal figure with lots of unspoken opinions—and used that to inform her performance. "When I was in a scene, I was attempting to engage it full throttle," she says. "The setup, being a serving person in an über-rich universe, it's a lot of fodder for silent reaction—an eye roll here and a smirk there. I was always trying to contribute in the background, and I feel like sometimes the editors would actually use some of my little takes or faces I would make."
In expanding her character for the mini-episodes, Szadkowski says she tried to be mindful of what made Dorota popular in the first place: "On the show, I'm more of a sideline commentator than a direct player. It's very different to be a lead character. I wanted to keep her the same person and to see how that person has fun or has their own love life. It was about, 'How do I play a whole scene and keep all my Dorotaness in effect?'
Szadkowski notes that, perhaps most important, landing the role and seeing it grow has helped her realize that you never can tell which auditions are going to lead to greater things—so you'd best get in the habit of going in with an open mind.
"I feel like, on paper, Dorota was supposed to be an older character, and it could've been anyone," she says. "As actors, we tend to type ourselves out right away: 'Oh, this is the one for me; I better get it. This one's not for me; I better just make a good impression.' This might've not seemed like it was going to be my best gig, and there's no way to foretell. It helps me to be hopeful every time I walk into a room now. I could be exactly what they want, even if it doesn't seem that way to me." [source]
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