Spotted: Barnard alum playing a maid on the Upper East Side.
That’s right, Gossip Girl’s Dorota is Zuzanna Szadkowski, BC ’01.
Protected from the sun in the shade of Barnard Hall, Szadkowski is relaxed as she sits down for her interview before her final performance in The Secret Life of the Office Worker, which was performed at Riverside Theater through April 25. She explains how her experience at Barnard helped her become one of the most recognizable character actors on television today.
Szadkowski was bit early by the acting bug. “I started acting when I was a kid, probably sixth or seventh grade. The first appeal for me was getting dolled up and the makeup and the drama of it,” said Szadkowski.
Szadkowski talks without a trace of Dorota’s well-known accent, though she herself was born in Poland. Moving to the United States at an early age, she acted in community theaters until she came to Barnard, where she majored in theater. “I wanted to have a liberal arts education and Barnard was perfect for me because ... it was a small program but I was still able to do really serious work with the acting and without going to the conservatory program.”
In addition to her well-rounded theater education at Barnard, Szadkowski had the unique opportunity to study theater abroad. One of Szadkowski’s favorite memories of Barnard is of using her Centennial Scholar award money to participate in the theater community in Warsaw. “My project was a huge deal for me. It allowed me to connect with my family over there,” said Szadkowski.
Though her Barnard education was invaluable, Szadkowski felt that she needed graduate school experience to actually land jobs. But even with an MFA in theatre from Harvard A.R.T. Institute, Szadkowski never expected to be more than a character actor on the stage. When she booked her first television gig in 2007 on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, she realized there were more opportunities for her to explore. “It was my first time that I realized that there were character roles in TV and film—it wasn’t just super gorgeous people,” said Szadkowski.
But when her agent got her into auditions for Gossip Girl, Szadkowski did not think it was a huge deal. “They were looking for a sixty year old lady to not say anything ... it’s just a maid, whatever,” she explained, “and it ended up being my most fabulous gig ever.”
According to Szadkowski, Gossip Girl is not just fabulous on screen. The atmosphere on set is warm and friendly and everybody is very professional. “I’m actually in awe of how they [the stars] are young, very attractive celebs, and yet they are on point at work and very welcoming to everyone around them.”
Despite her love of her current television role, Szadkowski could not stay away from the stage for long, which brought her back to Columbia. “If I go a certain amount of time without working in the theatre I start to feel imbalanced,” said the actress. “The ideal life for me would be to work in TV and film and also do plays.”
But this working actress started out just like any other Barnard or Columbia student, with high hopes and a soft spot for Ollie’s and The Heights. Her advice for current students: “Juice as much fun out of it now. Take chances and take classes that maybe don’t fall directly in line with some sort of life plan that you have ... because what you end up doing or how your life will take shape might be very different from the fantasy you have for yourself now.”
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