Wanda Opalinska
Biography
Wanda Opalinska is an English-Polish actress, known for playing the part of Polish immigrant and Underworld factory worker Wiki Dankowska in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Opalinska went to drama school before studying English at the University of Birmingham from 1988 to 1991. She then qualified as an English teacher and taught in South London. She was a teacher of English and Drama at St Thomas More R.C. Secondary School, (Sloane Square, London), before leaving to further her teaching career at Whitgift School (South Croydon). There she was appointed first House Mistress (Ellis's) in the schools 400-year history. During her time at Whitgift her critique of George Orwell's Animal Farm was published by Longman as part of their acclaimed York Notes series. Opalinska joined Coronation Street as a seamstress at the Underworld factory. Opalinska's first on-screen appearance as Wiki was on 26 February 2007. Wiki worked for Underworld manager Carla Connor (Alison King), and witnessed her friend Kasia Barowicz (Irena Rodic) die as she fell down the steps of the Underworld factory. She has appeared in ITV's The Sitcom Trials and the BBC's The Last Laugh. Opalinska then appeared in Waterloo Road in the episode first broadcast on BBC1 on 28 October 2010. (Series 6, Episode 10) Other television appearances include Doctors (BBC One) where she played Sue Pruce and Jackie Reynolds,[ Law and Order UK (ITV) where she played Marta, and Some Girls (BBC Three) where she played the part of Marie (Series One, Episode Three). On 28 February 2013, Opalinska appeared in her first episode of the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Magda Bakowska, the carer for Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker). Opalinska made her final appearance as Magda on 4 March 2013. For theatre, Opalinska was recently in the Royal Court production of Truth and Reconciliation by Debbie Tucker Green. In 2022 she played the roles of Nadia and Marcella in All of Us at the Royal National Theatre.
Known For & Full Filmography16 Titles
Drama Series - 2013, 16 episodes • as Rosemary Johnson
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
Drama Series - 2013, 16 episodes • as Rosemary
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
Drama Series - 2013, 16 episodes • as Mrs. Johnson
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
Drama Series - 2006, 16 episodes • as Susan
Waterloo Road is a British television drama series set in a comprehensive school of the same name, first broadcast on BBC One on 9 March 2006, and concluding its original run on 9 March 2015. It was recommissioned in 2021, and resumed starting 9 January 2023. At the failing comprehensive school, and later academy of the same name, the professional and personal lives of the students and staff are examined. Affairs, scandals, blackmail and many, many headteachers. Who said education was easy?
Drama Series - 2018, 16 episodes • as Klaudia
A security consultant hunts for a ruthless assassin. Equally obsessed with each other, they go head to head in an epic game of cat-and-mouse.
Drama Series - 2018, 16 episodes • as Karolina
A security consultant hunts for a ruthless assassin. Equally obsessed with each other, they go head to head in an epic game of cat-and-mouse.
Drama Series - 2020, 16 episodes • as Bailey
40 years in the future, space captain Ryan Clark and the crew of the luxury space cruise ship Avenue 5 navigate disgruntled passengers and unexpected events after experiencing technical difficulties onboard.
Movie - 2016, 2h 15m • as Female Nurse
12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
Drama Series - 2019, 16 episodes • as Ruth
Family duty sends a lawman to London to look for his mob-assassin brother as a yakuza war threatens to engulf Tokyo. Trust is even tougher to find.
Drama Series - 2013, 16 episodes • as Customer
The Mimic is a British shown on Channel 4, starting 13th March 2013. The series centers on the fortunes of Martin Hurdle, an everyday maintenance man with an uncanny ability to mimic voices and stars Terry Mynott in the lead role.
Movie - 2015, 2h 15m • as Charity Lady
Northern England, 1912. The dinner of a wealthy family is interrupted by Inspector Goole, who only announces that a young woman has committed suicide. Then, he simply asks everyone present, one by one, if they knew her.
Movie - 2015, 2h 15m • as Alexandra Peters
On 7 May, churches, school halls, and back rooms of community centres will be turned into polling stations, staffed by council workers and volunteers. A church polling station is the backdrop for a real-time play for theatre and TV, called The Vote, staged at the exact moment in which the action is set - the last 90 minutes before polls close.
Movie - 2016, 2h 15m • as Pathologist
Drama exploring the story of ten-year-old Damilola Taylor, who died on a housing estate in South London in 2000. After leaving Nigeria to embark on a new life in the UK, the young Damilola and his family are full of optimism. Little do they realise that their lives are about to be shattered
Movie - 2014, 2h 15m • as Countess
In 1953 Dylan Thomas went to New York for the last time, his marriage a wreck, his drinking out of control. He was on his way to meet Stravinsky and to wallow in New York acclaim - but what was he escaping? How did such a triumph become a requiem? The last days of a great poet.
Movie - 2024, 2h 15m • as Book Club Host
It's Marcella's 30th birthday and this year she's determined to sort her life out. Luckily she's found a life coach who's prepared to help with that mammoth task.
Movie - 2022, 2h 15m • as Nadia / Marcella
Jess has a great life: a job she loves, a sharp sense of humour and a close group of friends. When austerity threatens the world she has worked hard to build, Jess makes a stand to protect those she holds most dear. Inspired by real life experiences of disabled people in the UK, All of Us captures the humour, sadness and joy of everyday life, and is a passionate and timely look at the human cost of abandoning those who struggle to fit in.