Kulich visited the theatre often,[1] and when he was approximately five years of age, his uncle allowed him to run errands, which mostly involved fetching pitchers of beer between intermissions.
[1] In his ice skating, he was offered additional encouragement from John Ferguson, Sr., who was a notable Montreal Canadiens' player and frequent audience member of Kulich's games.
Kulich failed to make the cut, but soon he began playing for one of the team's minor league farming affiliates at Port Huron, Michigan.
[2] Unable to find a definite focus, Kulich eventually moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he started a whitewater river rafting business located near Chilliwack, B.C.
[1] One weekend, a couple of producers from the program 21 Jump Street scheduled a whitewater rafting trip with Kulich's company and were impressed by the unique look of the Czech-Canadian.
[4] In January 1990, he decided to try his luck in Hollywood and drove from Vancouver to Los Angeles, California with the intention of giving himself one month to get his foot in the proverbial door.
Relying on his rafting business to keep him grounded, Kulich knew he would need to return to Canada in the spring to get the operation up and running if the move didn't work out.
The experience left Kulich feeling somewhat daunted due to the perceived lack of interest his efforts had been shown, and he elected to return to Vancouver a few days earlier than originally planned.
[citation needed] After repeatedly being sent to audition for roles as Nazis and terrorists he had grown so dissatisfied with his agent that he fired him without bothering to arrange for other representation first.
By the time of his screen test, Kulich had recognized the potential of the high-profile project and had hopes that it would provide him with the "big break" he needed.
Despite having never ridden a horse prior to portraying Buliwyf, a character based loosely upon the mythical hero Beowulf, Kulich naturally took to the role.
Unfortunately, the film never lived up to its initial promise due in part to creative differences between producer/author Michael Crichton and McTiernan, the eventual departure of the latter from the project, and the studio's resultant hesitancy to promote the finished product.
[2] After completing work on The 13th Warrior, Kulich returned to the Czech Republic with his earnings and considered buying a home there and quietly retiring.
[1] When casting agents for the television series Angel, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, first contacted Kulich about portraying The Beast, the actor knew little about the show.
After arriving for a subsequent reading, Kulich was approached by the show's executive story editor, Mere Smith, who took a moment to express her appreciation for his performance in The 13th Warrior.
Kulich had recently undergone laser eye surgery to correct a vision problem and was worried that the contacts might inadvertently cause damage.
[2] Though the costume left him feeling cocooned, the experience was ultimately a positive one, providing Kulich with a great deal more promotion as an actor than he had received for The 13th Warrior.
[8] In May 2004, Kulich again signaled his intention to give back to fans and aspiring artists alike by signing on as a guest speaker for 15 Minutes Plus, an entertainment industry symposium that took place at the University of Southern California[9] and offered workshops and demonstrations on such topics as film, theatre, music, animation and screenwriting.
Kulich returned to acting in late 2005 when he was offered the role of the enigmatic character known only as The Swede in the action movie Smokin' Aces.
[10] Upon first meeting with Kulich, Joe Carnahan, the project's writer and director, professed his admiration for the actor's work in The 13th Warrior and did not hesitate in offering him the job.
[11] Kulich intends for the venture to provide assistance to foreign companies seeking to utilize his homeland for future film projects.
The Freeze the Disease Foundation is a volunteer organization that sponsors an annual "friendly" hockey match-up benefiting children and young adults suffering from cystic fibrosis.
Though he has been trained to tackle woodworking and electrical tasks, his favorite aspect is house redesign, which includes such major alterations as removing walls to add more space.
His injuries, which included a ruptured spleen and five broken ribs, required a three-day hospital stay that was extended to ten days after he suffered an allergic reaction to the pain medication he was being given.