The Zookeeper’s Wife is a 2017 war drama film adapted from DianeAckerman’s book of the same title. It tells a true story of the heroic life of a Polish couple, Antonina and Jan Zabinski, who rescued and hid over 300 Jews in their Warsaw zoo, away from the Germans who wanted to execute them during World War II. Zookeeper and his wife were portrayed by Johan Heldenbergh and Jessica Chastain in the film directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman. The film was produced by 5 different producers, including Jamie Patricof. Four production companies were in charge of producing the film and it was distributed by Focus Features.
The 126-minute film was produced on a budget of $20 million. It was filmed in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively. The film was first screened in Warsaw, Poland on March 8, 2017, before being released in the United States on March 31, 2017 and in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2017 by Universal Pictures International. Upon its release, it earned $26.1 million at the worldwide box office.
The Zookeeper’s Wife Cast
Jessica Chastain (Antonina Zabinski)
California-born actress Jessica Chastain played the female lead in the film as the Zookeeper’s wife. Chastain’s character, Antonina Zabinski, is a Polish writer whose husband was the director of a zoo in the Polish capital. When the Germans invaded Warsaw during World War II and began to search for and murder Jews, Antonina and her husband helped hide Jews in their Warsaw zoo, among several other hidden places, away from the Germans who were looking for them. .
Jessica Chastain is an American actress and producer. She was born on March 24, 1977 in Sacramento, California to rock musicians Michael Monasterio and Jerri Renee Hastey. His parents had it when they were still teenagers. Chastain won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty. His role in Zero Dark Thirty also earned him one of his two Oscar nominations. The actress is married to Gian Luca Passi de Prepasulo and she has one child.
Johan Heldenbergh (Jan Zabinski)
Zookeeper Jan Zabinski was portrayed by JohanHeldenbergh. Jan Zabinski was a Polish zoologist who ran the Warsaw Zoo, where he and his wife hid the majority of Jews who did not allow themselves to be executed by the German army.
Johan Heldenbergh is an actor, director, director, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for starring in The Breaking of the Broken Circle (2012), The Misfortunes (2009) and Moscow, Belgium (2008). The Belgian actor was born on February 9, 1967 in Wilrijk, Flanders (Belgium). He also starred in other films like Confessions (2016), Through the Air (2015), Ben X (2007) and Antonia (1995). The actor dated Belgian actress Joke Devynck. They lived together for 19 years and were never married. They separated in 2013 and have three children together.
Daniel Brühl (Lutz Heck)
Daniel Brühlwas cast as Lutz Heck, the film’s antagonist. Lutz Heck is a German zoologist, Adolf Hitler’s chief zoologist, and head of the Berlin Zoo. In the film, he was forming a rivalry with Jan Zabinski and developing a romantic interest in Jan’s wife, Antonina.
David Brühl is a German-Spanish actor born in Barcelona, Spain on June 16, 1978. The actor has been a professional actor since 1995. He was born to a television director father, Hanno Brühl, a German born in São Paulo, Brazil. His mother is a Spanish woman named Marisa Gonzalez Domingo, she was a teacher of Catalan. He also has two siblings named Miriam and Oliver. Daniel has starred in many productions like Killing for Love (2016), Captain American: Civil War (2016), Alone in Berlin (2016), A Most Wanted Man (2013), The Face of an Angel (2014) , Inglorious Basterds (2009), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007),The Fifth State (2013) and Rush (2013). Daniel Brühl has received numerous awards, including the Bavarian Film Awards for Best Young Actor in 2002, the Bambi Awards for Best National Film, the Shooting Stars Awards for Tip Young Actor, four European Film Awards for Best Actor, and the Jameson People’s Award Choice of the best actor. in 2003 and 2004 respectively. It has also received nominations from leading bodies such as the Golden Globe, the British Academy Film Awards and the Saturn Award. Daniel is married to psychologist and former model Felicitas Rombold. The couple got married in 2018. In 2016, before their wedding, they still had their first and only child, a son.
Iddo Goldberg (Maurycy Fraenkel)
Israeli-born British actor Iddo Goldberg played Maurycy Fraenkel, a Jewish friend of the Zabinskis.
Iddo Goldberg was born in Haifa, Israel on August 5, 1975. He and his family moved to the UK when he was 10 years old. He made her first film appearance when she starred as Junkie in the 1998 film Fast food. The following year he starred in the television movie Jesus as Seth. Since then, he has starred in Uprising (2001), The Defender (2004), A Little Trip to Paradise (2005), Belsen’s Relief (2007) and Last Passenger (2013). He has also featured in TV series such as Attachment, Diary of a Call Girl, Salem,Peaky Blenders, Mob City and The Last Tycoon. The actor is married to actress Ashley Madekwe.
Michael McElhattonJerzyk
Michael McElhatton was cast in The Zookeeper’s Wife as Jerzyk. Michael’s character is a loyal Zookeeper who works with Jan and Antonina.
Michael is an Irish actor and writer. He was born on September 12, 1963 in Dublin, Ireland. He is best known for his role as Roose Bolton in Game of Thrones. He joined the HBO series in its second season and became a regular cast member in the show’s fifth season. His role in Game of Thrones ended in Season 6. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate also starred in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), The Outsider (2017) and Justice League (2017). He also starred in TV series such as Genie and Strike Back: Legacy.
Shira Haas (Urszula)
In the film, Shira Haas played a minor role as Urszula, one of the Jews trying to evade capture and execution by the German army.
Haas is an Israeli actress born May 11, 1995 in Hod Sharon, Israel. The young actress started her acting career in 2013 and has starred in 8 movies and 5 TV series so far. She made her screen debut in 2013 when she starred in the television series Shtisel. Her role as Ruchami Weiss in the series continued until 2015. Also in 2015, she starred in the films Princess and A Tale of Love and Darkness, as Adar and Kira respectively. Of the six nominations she has received since coming onto the scene, she has won three. Her first win was at the 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival, where she won Best Actress for her role in Princess At the 2015 P&L Film Festival in Sweden, she won Best Actress for her contribution in Princess yet again. Then, at the Israel Film Academy in 2018, Haas won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Nobles Sauvages.
Is the movie based on a true story and does it have a book?
The answer to both questions is yes, it’s a real story and it has a book. The film was adapted from the fiction book written by Diane Ackerman, poet and naturalist. Her unpublished diary was greatly influenced and aided by Antonina Zabinski, who recounts how she and her husband, Jan Zabinski, helped save hundreds of Jews by hiding them from the German army seeking to execute them. The historic event began when the German army invaded Warsaw on September 1, 1939, during World War II.
It was through Antonina’s diary that Ackerman got most of the details for her book about this event, she made Zookeeper’s wife the main character in her book.
The Zookeeper’s Wife book has been written in history, biography, and non-fiction form. It was released on September 4, 2007 by WW Norton in the United States. The Zookeeper’s Wife is 288 pages and its ISBN is 0-393-06172-8.
The book was ranked number 13 on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list published by Times on February 10, 2008. In the same year, the book won the Orion Book Award. The play also got a lot of attention and later prompted the filmmakers to work on it. In 2010, Angela Workman was adopting Diane Ackerman’s fictional book The Zookeeper’s Wife. On April 30, 2013, Jessica Chastain signed on to play the role of the title character, Antonina Zabinski. Around the same time, Niki Caro was asked to direct the film. In 2015, Johan Heldenbergh was cast as Zookeeper. As expected, the film was produced and first released at the story location which is in Warsaw, Poland on March 8, 2017. It was released in the US and UK on March 31, 2017. March 2017 and April 21, 2017. , respectively.