Joanna Kulig

Kulig was born on 24 June 1982 in Krynica, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Her mother worked as a cook at a local kindergarten and her father was a folk poet. She was raised with four siblings—two older brothers and two younger sisters—in Muszynka. One of her sisters, Justyna Schneider, is also an actress and adopted their great-grandmother's surname to avoid confusion as their first names are similar.

As a child, Kulig sang in a church choir. From 1995, she studied piano at the Frédéric Chopin First Degree State Music School in Krynica, graduating in 1999. At 18, she moved to Kraków, and enrolled at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School Complex, from which she graduated in singing in 2003. In the meantime, she also completed the Kraków Vocational Technical High School for Hotel Administration. After four years of studies, she earned an acting degree with a specialisation in singing from the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków in 2007. She was the first in her family to graduate from a university. Kulig initially wanted to be a professional jazz singer. She applied twice to study jazz at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, but was rejected on both occasions. She was also interested in conducting, but was also unsuccessful. She explained: "no one wanted me, so I went to university to do drama and singing," which started her acting career.