Dagmara is one to watch

It might seem strange for a young woman to empathise with Alexandre Dumas's classic adventure tale The Count Of Monte Cristo - after all, its central character is a man who is falsely imprisoned and keeps himself alive with thoughts of revenge. But Dagmara Dominczyk, who stars opposite Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce in the new film version, says she immediately felt 'connected' to the story, 'because vengeance was a big theme in our house'.

The 25-year-old, Polish-born, New York-raised actress's potent point of contact was her father. A leading member of the Polish trade union Solidarity, he was jailed by the communists in the early Eighties, and freed only when he agreed to be exiled with his family to America. 'I remember the night they came for him - the men pounding on the door and carting my father off in a big van,' says Dominczyk. 'I was six. We visited him in various jails and I would smuggle him letters in the hood of my jacket. In New York he would say, "When you grow up you have to fight. You have to avenge our country and our family."'

Although she still regards herself as Polish, 'Dag' has remained in New York, where a need to communicate in a new language turned into a desire to act. Before Monte Cristo, she understudied Anna Friel in Closer, on Broadway, and appeared opposite Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston in the film Rock Star. 'I played a crazy transvestite - so I was a woman playing a man playing a woman. I had a strap-on penis and everything.' She also had to kiss Friends star Aniston. 'Jennifer had to drink a couple of margaritas. I just thought, "This is one mouth removed from Brad Pitt."'

The Count Of Monte Cristo
Cert: PG