by Andrew Kittell
As her US visa classification suggests, Austrian-born Edith Bukovics is a rare talent. She cultivated some of her intellectual, artistic, and athletic abilities while an International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB Diploma)-pursuing student at ACS Cobham International School, graduating from there in 1997 and soon thereafter matriculating at St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge where she studied English. Bitten by the acting bug while at Cambridge, Edith is now an established actress working in live theatre, film, and TV. Something of her passions, interests, and life’s work can be found on her website: www.edithbukovics.com, and her most recent film reel below. This as they say is the rest of the story.
Like so many ACSers before and since her, Edith’s early life was one of nearly constant movement with several international relocations managed and a childhood enjoyed in perpetual cross-cultural transition. By the time she was 14, Edith’s father’s work with Shell had taken their family to The Netherlands, Norway, Austria, New Zealand and Houston in the US. This globetrotting didn’t initially strike Edith as unusual. She explains, “ To be honest, it took me quite a while to truly appreciate that this was not the norm, and that I’d been incredibly lucky to learn four languages by the age of six, to experience so many different cultures and see so many varied landscapes by the time I was a teenager.”
Moving from Houston to the UK at 14, by then Edith had already attended both state and fee-paying schools in several other countries. Although initially enrolled in a top tier girl’s school in England where she completed her General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams, Edith always felt most at home and energized by an international school environment, one in which her global perspective could be fully appreciated and her many talents equally encouraged. She was “less different” in schools like ACS and Houston’s Awty International School where she was enrolled during her first years in the States.
Deciding early on that the IB Diploma would be the capstone of her secondary education, Edith and her parents searched for schools in the UK then offering what was still broadly a new school-leaving qualification there. Living a mere 15-minute walk from the ACS Cobham gates in one way made their school-choice decision a no-brainer. Location wasn’t the only driver. The school’s more than 30 year track record with the IB Diploma made a difference. But there was more.
A now-adult Edith recalls some of her then-teenage self’s school-defining must haves, “The school campus was magnificent, with great sports facilities and art studios (both were really important to me). What’s more, after going to English schools which finished around 4:00 pm, I was excited about going to a real American/international school, where a 3:00 pm finish meant there was still time to play basketball afterwards, and get home before it got dark, even in winter.”
An exceptionally worldly young person and academically strong student with many varied interests, Edith fit in from her first day of classes at ACS Cobham. She recounts those days laden with possibilities, “I felt at home right away! I think I was able to slip into the international side of things quite quickly, by which I mean making friends with people on my IB course. Partly this may be because quite a lot of new students came in at the same time I did, at 11th grade. For example, there was a big Dutch contingent and it was fun to try and remember how to speak Dutch again, which I hadn’t done since age nine.
My closest friends came from people I met particularly in my art and English classes, and playing basketball. Ever the nomad, I don’t think I ever had one ‘group’ of friends, - more like a network of close friends from different areas.”
Edith with her ACS friend Maaike Moller in 1997
When asked recently about the IB Diploma as a thirty-something woman with career connections to London, New York, and Los Angeles, Edith is as passionate about the experience today as she must have been when a teenager on the ACS Cobham campus. Some of her most compelling reasons why follow:
“If I think back to when I first heard about the IB, at school in Houston, I do seem to remember this vaguely cool air that the IB kids always had. There was something about their swagger I guess! But actually I think what was translating was their worldliness, and that may simply have been a result of studying so many varied subjects -getting the opportunity to focus on the arts as well as sciences and humanities.
To be honest I don’t think it’s natural to ask a 15 year old to focus on just 3 or 4 subjects – which is what my friends in the English system were being asked to do. I think very, very few people at that age know what they want to specialize in – and even if they do, giving up languages or other subjects can restrict their way of looking at the world, which comes at a huge cost.
This remains the main reason why I love the IB – Not having to exclude any reference of learning whilst getting an education about the world. In my family I had been influenced by many spheres of knowledge – dad’s side included great scientists in particular chemists and physicists, and both my mother’s parents were established musicians and artists, so I felt there was a lot of different inspiration to draw from. I remember thinking it would have been heartbreaking to give up any particular way of learning about the world.
This is one of the reasons I also loved the supplementary Theory of Knowledge course – how many high schoolers get to study philosophy and practical aesthetics, in a dynamic way which becomes relevant to their other subjects? When I started the actual IB curriculum I began to appreciate how much my learning in one subject would influence my grasp of another. Even though friends in England doing A Levels might have gone deeper into certain subjects (I stress ‘might’ because I believe IB subjects probe extremely deeply, especially with the encouragement of great teachers) I realized how much I was gaining from the connections I could make across subjects’ traditional borders – what I was learning in my Physics Higher in the morning would stay with me when I went into Subsidiary Psychology that afternoon.
Having grown up trilingual and understanding full well what the benefits are of being able to speak different languages – such as feeling at home in different cultures and developing greater empathy and cultural sensitivity – it was perfectly logical to me that the IB tasks all students to study at least one foreign language right up until graduation. That truly is a gift, even if you don’t fully realise it at the time!
And finally, the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) hours always struck me as a pretty nifty way to encourage even greater diversity in education and foster involvement in fun projects outside of school hours. Because ACS finished at 3pm (as opposed to 4 or 4:30 pm which was the case at some British school alternatives) there were plenty of daylight hours during which to get involved with other meaningful activities. CAS allowed for some kind of structure there –at the time we may have bemoaned having to fulfill those Action or Service hours, but because we were all in the same boat it became a source of fun and invention – so many of us played for school teams (Basketball was my thing) and we got creative about what we’d like to do for the other requirements. For example, friends and I worked on a building site which was making housing for homeless people in Surrey, and I also started a school charity called Agape, which allowed me to have fun fulfilling my Service hours with friends. We started organizing so many events that we quickly moved beyond the required hours and enjoyed the thing on its own merit.”
While studying English literature at the world-renowned University of Cambridge, Edith pursued acting as well, staring in several local productions. It was on the eve of her last performance in Lorca’s Once Five Years Pass that she decided she couldn’t step away, announcing to her parents and then boyfriend at the play’s after party what her future professional plans would be. Edith recounts the moment, “I remember telling them my feelings and how scary but exciting that decision would be. Each was supportive, if a bit curious and surprised because I hadn’t mentioned anything along these lines. Buy they realized how inspired and ambitious I was becoming about acting, and backed me right away. Actually, there had been some actors in my dad’s family as well, and his great-grand father had been artistic director of Vienna’s Volkstheatre, so they probably recognized some genetic disposition taking effect as well.”
Upon leaving Cambridge, Edith spent a few months exhaling. After nearly 17 years of nonstop study, it was a good time to take a break while charting a course for what would follow. More study, but of a highly specific and intimate kind. Edith explains, “I knew I didn’t want to go straight into another full-time institution. So instead, I sought out great teachers whom I respected and who taught at wonderful schools, to study in their external classes. I began working on short films directed by graduating students at big film schools like the National Film and Television School and quickly landed my first agent who helped me move into the London theatre scene. After doing plays at the Soho and Arcola theatres, I spent four months in Cyprus starring in my first feature film. This was followed by a stint working in Vienna (I enjoyed properly living in my home town for the first time!), and I then began spending increasing amounts of time in Los Angeles, getting to know casting directors and producers there, and certainly enjoying the SoCal lifestyle too.
I landed more film roles, enjoying success in independent films such as My Last Five Girlfriends which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. I had always wanted to spend time working as an actor in the US, so I successfully applied for my Green Card on the strength of my film work, and when this came through two years ago my husband and I decided to make the move to New York. After living here for 12 months now, I’ve found it the perfect place to enjoy the wealth of great theatre, TV, and feature films that are made here, and also a wonderful way to stay connected with both the West Coast and Europe.”
What’s kept Edith striving to become a better actress are some of the same qualities that made her an outstanding IB Diploma student at ACS Cobham: an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, a desire to test the boundaries of one’s own abilities, and the free exchange of ideas and opinions with inspiring people. Edith puts it this way, “
. There’s so much to learn from the other moving parts; when a film set or theater production is based on mutual respect and a real interest in collaboration, you can enjoy the give and take between departments, between actors, and so on – and end up in a much stronger project as a result. I like working with people who are interested in asking what others think.”
When not focusing on her next project, Edith enjoys a wide range of downtime interests and activities. She’s a big fan of vinyl, the kind one spins to hear music. Recently given a record player, Edith is becoming a fan of technologies past. The same could be said for film, a medium she enjoys on big screens and small mobile ones, and even projected on the wall of her own home. An Austrian at heart, Edith feels best in nature and at altitude. Friends and food make for an unbeatable combination with this talented baker freely sharing her Apfelstrudl, but not necessarily the family recipe.
Edith with husband Oliver
With a life lived in constant change and stimulation, Edith and her husband Oliver are about to add a layer of complexity to their mostly fast-paced days, a delightfully complicating addition, one that may be a boy or a girl. Care to predict how many languages, landscapes, and limits this fortunate child will try? As a nearly 50 year old international school community that’s now enriched the learning journeys of over 60,000 young people, we can only hope that part of Edith’s and Oliver’s new child’s life will involve an ACS-style education.
