Leszek Teleszyński

Bogusław on screen

Leszek Teleszyński played Bogusław Radziwiłł, a member of a powerful magnate family and an adversary of Andrzej Kmicic¹. Through this character, political betrayal also becomes a personal conflict: Bogusław exploits Kmicic's predicament, while his interest in Oleńka sharpens the rivalry. His relationships with Kmicic and Oleńka, however, belong to Sienkiewicz's story, not to the documented biography of the prince².

A historical prince in a fictional plot

Bogusław Radziwiłł was a real person. His name appears in connection with the Treaty of Radnot of December 1656, concerning a proposed partition of the Commonwealth by its enemies³. This history helps explain his association with the Swedish side in the novel and film. It does not establish the fictional conversations, motives or clashes with Kmicic as fact. Teleszyński portrays a historical figure filtered through literature.

The actor and the part

The Deluge belongs to the early period of Teleszyński's career; his filmography also includes Hoffman's Trędowata (1976)⁴. The actor said he did not want Bogusław to be an unambiguous villain. He tried to leave the character some charm, finding an entirely hostile figure less interesting to play⁵.

A duel the horses could not perform

Hoffman recalled a mounted clash between Bogusław and Kmicic, eventually filmed at an airfield in Łódź. The crew first shot the actors on horseback and close-ups of the horses' heads. For the tight shots in which the opponents had to come almost together, the director said he carried each actor in turn on his back while a stunt performer supported the other. Editing joined the shots because the horses could not safely come so close⁶.

Passion beyond a ready-made label

In a 1999 statement republished by Rzeczpospolita in 2012, Teleszyński said that winning viewers’ sympathy mattered to him. He wanted to portray Bogusław as a man driven by passion, capable of extreme actions for the woman he loved⁷.

In the same article, Braunek recalled his ability to give charm even to a villain. Teleszyński also discussed typecasting: his appearance encouraged directors to repeat similar offers⁸. Bogusław shows that screen persona alongside an attempt to make it more complex.