She is best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) and Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza, 1981).

In 1982, she played the lead character in Ryszard Bugajski's film Przesłuchanie (Interrogation), which first premiered seven years later in 1989, following the collapse of communism.

In 2020, she won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in drama film Dolce Fine Giornata.

Her accolades and honours also include the Zbigniew Cybulski Award (1978), Gold Cross of Merit (1989), Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture (2005),[4] Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011),[5] and Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival (2019).

She graduated from the Wojciech Gerson State High School of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Polish: Zespół Państwowych Szkół Plastycznych im.

[9][10] She made her film debut in 1973, when she starred in the historical-based TV series Czarne chmury ("Black Clouds"), but a turning point in her acting career came with the role of Agnieszka in Andrzej Wajda's Man of Marble (1976).

[11] She became known for portraying strong and determined female characters with complex personalities in her film roles.

[17] In 2000, she embarked on one of the biggest tours in the history of Polish theatre, entitled Sto twarzy Krystyny Jandy (One Hundred Faces of Krystyna Janda).

She is also a member of the supervisory board of the Fundacja Okularnicy, which is a foundation dedicated to the promotion and popularization of Agnieszka Osiecka's poetic legacy.