Jacek Koman grew up in theatres, the son of two actors performing their way around Communist Poland in the 1950s and 1960s.

At school he’s more interested in learning Russian than stagecraft, by the time Jacek reaches university he decides to follow in their footsteps and go to drama school.  

But, after a night out ends in a brush with the Polish secret police, Jacek and his brother make a run for the West.   

Over the years, he rebuilds his career from scratch to become one of the Australia’s most cherished actors on stage and screen, with roles in Belvoir Street plays, The Secret Life of Us and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. 

But Jacek’s rusty Russian also plays a reprising role when he’s called to become the front man of a band performing the songs of the Russian criminal underground.