Rising Star Maximilian Osinski On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
Learn to use a camera and create your own content when you’re starting out. Learn the process of self-taping as soon as possible…that’s the new audition room.
As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Maximilian Osinski.
Maximilian Osinski is a Polish American actor who has worked in theatre, voice-over, film and TV. Born in a refugee camp in Austria, Max’s parents immigrated to the US from Poland in the mid-1980s. Max studied drama at Syracuse University and abroad at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London, he was also selected to be a part of Sorkin Week a program at Syracuse for students who excelled in their program. Max’s film credits include The Express opposite Dennis Quad, Taking Chance opposite Kevin Bacon, In Time Dir. by Andrew Niccol among others. Max’s TV credits are extensive and he can currently be seen on the final season of THE WALKING DEAD WORLD BEYOND on AMC.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure. I should probably start with how I came to live in the US. Both my parents are from Szczecin, Poland. They escaped in the winter of 1983 fleeing communism while my mother was pregnant with me. They had to pretend to not know each other because couples weren’t allowed to leave the country. They arrived in a refugee camp in Eisenstadt Austria in November that year, and I was born there in April. They stayed there while they waited to enter the US. When I was two months old they finally arrived in the US settling in Chicago, which at the time had a large Polish American population. I’m the oldest of two boys, my brother was born in Chicago. We grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood called Logan Square. My father worked in a drill bit factory and then become a used car salesman while my mom got her degree in nursing and to this day is a Psychiatric RN at the VA. As they assimilated to their new home country, they made sure to keep their culture and traditions intact. My weekends were filled with piano lessons, Polish school, Polish boy scouts and Polish folk dancing. The dancing opened up my world in terms of travel, with trips to Israel, Europe, I even got to go to Rome Italy to dance with my group for Pope John Paul the 2nd at the age of 13. Our group photo is up somewhere in the Vatican museum apparently. I went to public schools, surrounded by a diverse group of kids & families, it was wonderful for me growing up having friends from all different backgrounds. As years went on, unfortunately, my parents divorced and I went on to attend Maine East High School in Park Ridge IL. Custody was shared but I lived with my mother and spent time with my father on the weekends doing all those Polish activities I mentioned. I then went off to Syracuse University to study drama, where I also studied abroad at the Globe Theatre in London. Post-graduation I moved to NYC to begin my career and after about 4 yrs I found myself in LA where I currently reside with my wife Dichen Lachman, our daughter Mathilda and dog Whisky.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
While in Polish school on Saturdays which I always resisted going to, I felt American school was much “cooler”, I did a lot of clowning around in class. One day my teacher said, since I seem to like the attention I should recite this poem by a famous Polish poet at the graduation ceremony, most likely as a punishment. I must have been about 12. I accepted the challenge. I worked on understanding and memorizing it. When the day arrived to recite it, I remember being on stage alone in front of a mic with the whole school looking my way. I dove into the poem and focused on telling the story. By the time I finished, I received a standing ovation and people shouting for an encore… I was excited by the energy of being on stage, so I happily obliged. It was that experience that triggered and informed the decisions I made moving forward. The feeling I got from being able to emotionally move a group of people, get them to connect to a story I was telling. I guess that’s when it began.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
There are two. When I was still living in Chicago I must have been 15, Kevin Bacon was shooting a thriller in my neighborhood, I think it was called Stir of Echoes. My mother thought it be a fun idea to try and meet him since she was a fan, she took me down to base camp which was located where I was attending polish school. She found his trailer and just walked up, believe it or not, and knocked on the door! An assistant stepped out, my mom asked if we could say hello and get an autograph. He was sweet enough to do so and we got to meet him. We got invited to come back later that evening to see a street scene being filmed and I remember standing there watching. Totally fascinated by the whole experience of movie-making on MY STREET. Years later after drama school, I booked an HBO film titled Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon and ended up working with him on the film as an actor. Never in my wildest imagination could I have predicted such a full circle moment. He was still the nice guy I remembered all those years back. The stories about him being a pleasure to work with are all true and I look forward to getting another opportunity to work with him again.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
After graduating college, I was lucky enough to get interest from agents and managers in NYC. My first meeting was with an agent. I remember not knowing how to dress for one of these meetings, so I decided to play it like a traditional job interview. I wore a full black suit, in the summer, in NYC. I walked in dripping with sweat like I was interviewing for a finance job. The agent seemed a bit thrown off, I looked more like an agent's assistant than an up-and-coming New York actor. The meeting didn’t go too well, and that suit went to the back of the closet. I decided to be more myself and casual in future meetings and ended up signing with a terrific manager, who I owe a lot to for getting me started. From that experience, I learned that being myself and feeling like me was the best thing to do in this business. Because after all, you are the product, and the clearer that is the easier it is for people to get a sense of what kind of person and actor you are.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
The Walking Dead World Beyond was definitely one of those projects. I had a terrific role-playing a former golden boy CRM soldier who’s trying to pick up the pieces of his life, in this post-apocalyptic world. It was a wonderful chance for me to explore a character that had a lot of layers and sides. As well as join an amazing franchise that has such a loyal and passionate fan base. I’m looking forward to how the rest of the season plays out and how audiences react to the character and story. As for what’s next, I’m not sure but I’m excited. Being in this business always keeps you living on the edge. It’s a bit of a rush, there’s something to that I think. It attracts people who like risk. Aside from that though, I’m also working on other things creatively that fulfill me and hope to see them come to fruition in the future.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
I tend to joke and say Don’t do it! But if a person is motivated enough it doesn’t matter what you say. Go in knowing it can be tough and don’t take it personally… it's just business. Stay positive and be happy no matter what, I believe to some degree, what you put out into the world you attract.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
It’s been great to see more diverse storytelling and diversity on screen. My wife is an actor, she was born in Nepal and is half Australian. For her, seeing people that looked like her on-screen made her feel like it was possible to pursue this path. Everyone needs role models, and everyone should have a window into what it’s like to live in different countries and cultures. The world is big and we need to step outside of the lines we drew for ourselves, especially in entertainment, and just be open-minded. There’s a lot of ways to be diverse. I think progress has been made and I’m optimistic. It’s also really important because it helps different stories get told from a swath of unique perspectives. So I celebrate it.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Don’t wear a black suit or any suit when going to meet representation, especially in the heat of NYC summer.
2. Learn to use a camera and create your own content when you're starting out. Learn the process of self-taping as soon as possible…that’s the new audition room.
3. Avoid getting into debt before you even start your career. There is no set pathway to success in this business. I’ve worked with trained actors, childhood actors, people who got off the bus and took a few acting classes. All equally talented and capable. Eventually, the cream rises to the top and you’ll find your path. For me, at the time going to college was the only way I could envision myself getting into the world of acting, I’m not certain it’s true… I won’t say it doesn’t help at all. It depends what your financial background is.
4. Learn as much as you can about investing and taxes. After my first studio film role, I wish I had taken a portion of that paycheck and invested it. Instead of just living off it until my next gig.
5. Skill stack. Learn a few skills that can make you a more valuable collaborator and communicator. ie writing, public speaking, marketing, business ext.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Great question. I saw this on an Instagram account a while ago and it rang so true. “If you died tonight your employer would have a job posted to fill your role by the end of the month”… But your friends and family would miss you forever. Don’t get so busy in making a living in this business that you forget to work on making a life”. I think it’s important to try and choose to be happy and be positive. Highs can be as disorientating as lows, keep a balance always. I continue to try and practice that. Fill your life with meaning. At the end of the day, you don’t want acting to be the only thing that brings meaning into your life. All these things are easy to say. If you’re not growing as a human you’re not growing as an actor. It all goes together. I’m still figuring things out too. But that’s the journey.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
My friend Damien Bodie really influenced me. It changed my life and made it better. I hope I can do for others what he did for me. Now, I always try to encourage people to be more positive, to show people in your life you have gratitude and appreciation for them. Focus on the things you want, and not what you don’t. Be solution orientated…. Also to be open-minded. Willing to listen to the people around you and have compassion and empathy. These days I feel like we are so binary, with all the stimulation incoming from our devices, we forget to look up at the people around us and just be in the world. It’s not really a movement, but it’s a perspective we have somewhat lost over the years and I hope we get it back.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are more than a few… From my high school drama teacher Karen Hall to my college drama professor Geri Clark and Rodney Scott Hudson, to my acting mentor Lynette Sheldon. The rock in my life has been my wife Dichen. We’ve been together for 10 yrs now and she’s been so supportive and inspiring to me. We also understand how to help one another… At the end of the day, everyone has a long list of people they have to be grateful for. It could be someone random that said or did something that just knocked you in the right direction to someone that was there for you everyday. You’re so right in saying no one succeeds on their own. Everyone is relevant in the journey.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’ve said this before, and I guess I just have to say it again “Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.” I don’t remember where I heard this… but I love it, it puts the onus on me. If you can improve and be a little better of a person then you were yesterday, you won’t recognize yourself in 3 months. Stop worrying about what other people are up to.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
On a personal level, I wish could have lunch with my grandfather on my dad's side. I never met him. He passed away in Poland when I was a teenager. He fought in WW2 and the stories I heard about him from my dad and cousins, make me wish we could have gotten to know one another. Career-wise I’d love to sit down with Daniel Day-Lewis aka the GOAT. Get to know him, his approach to work and life. I’m manifesting I’ll work with him one day but I think he isn’t acting anymore…
How can our readers follow you online?
You can find me on Instagram @maxrosinski or Twitter @maxosinski and of course, there’s IMDB
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thank you for having me and for such thought-provoking questions. It’s been a pleasure.
