HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPH!
The ARTE documentary aired yesterday in honor of Christoph's birthday and I translated the interview parts for everyone who doesn't speak German. I added the time stamps so you guys can match the translations to the documentary.
I've known Christoph for nearly half a century, that's no exaggeration. I've known him right when he finished the Reinhardt Seminar and Christoph hasn't changed at all, it's almost creepy. He has his clear convictions of what is right and what is wrong, while maintaining a sense of humor, which might be viewed as no sense of humor by people who have very exact world views. But he has a very good and dry sense of humor, which I very much appreciate
He is a man in the public eye and when it's about promoting his films or giving interviews he does it very well. But he does it for the project, as for himself, he prefers to stay anonymous and in the shadows.
[Talking about Fidelio and its villains]
My initial thought was he tell the story via its villains. But in our conversations, I discovered he was more interested in the love story of the 2 people and I liked that approach just as well.
He told me very clearly that he didn't want to take the spotlight he wanted the focus to be on the story and the work.
Reinhard Schwabenitzky 9:55
Christoph was still attending the Reinhardt Seminar when we filmed Der Einstand. The problem was that the students weren't allowed to film anything while they were attending. But after seeing the audition tapes, Christoph was the best by far. So I asked him to take the role and he risked getting kicked out of school. Christoph was brilliant, especially in the little nuances. And he really showed what he had to offer.
He has always been a young gentleman, always dressed well in a suit and tie. I can't remember him ever wearing jeans but he was always orderly and very intelligent.
He was never loud or cheeky, he never rebelled, he was always someone who paid attention and listened, always a very precise boy.
Christoph guards his true self and he's wearing a mask. Why? That's his secret and it's his to reveal, although I doubt he ever will. But I believe it's a mixture of not making himself too important and simple shyness. But he has no reason to be shy. Why should he be shy as an actor who's always on stage? Maybe he's merely self critical, he thinks "who am I to make myself that important?"
Reinhard Schwabenitzky 20:40
He had a bit of an attitude for a brief time. While I was filming with him in Berlin, we were shooting 2 seasons, he went to Strasberg in New York in between filming. And when he came back he was different and it didn't do him any good. I even stopped talking to him after that because it became too complicated. And he probably behaved similarly around others. Then he had his big TV break with the role of Roy Black.
I think his biggest strength is not announcing anything special and not always doing something special, or talking about how difficult and complicated it is to play his roles and how hard they are to prepare for. He does none of those things. He more or less arrives on set, completely unwatched, and suddenly, the character is there. He effortlessly fabricates it and that's what makes working with him so comfortable.
Andreas Mailath-Pokorny 26:50
[Talking about Christoph's musicality and his stepfather, composer Alexander Steinbrecher. When Christoph visited the city library in Vienna, he studied the scores of his stepfather.]
To my surprise, something none of us had anticipated happened: He really immersed himself into it, not just the score of his stepfather but also into other valuable scores we have here, like 'Die Feldermaus' and other originals. And he let the staff explain everything to him far beyond the agreed upon time slot while listening curiously. It was a joy for us to see someone who is world famous and such a great talent as an actor to be moved and interested by what we told him. I gave him a copy of the score [holds it into the camera]Â and he was very happy to accept it.
Elisabeth Urbancic-Waltz 28:55
He strictly separates the private from the professional and I'd say that's a good thing.
Reinhard Schwabenitzky 33:20
I'd argue that real comedy is always rooted in tragedy. You have to feel the tragedy to make it comical by overplaying the tragedy.
[ Talking about King Schultz, a character who is American through and through. Christoph had to put aside his German roots without abandoning them completely.]
Reinhard Schwabenitzky 38:30
When an actor has it in him, it's especially great. He embodied it well and I thought he was brilliant in Inglourious Basterds. I don't know anybody who could have played it like him.
Quentin wanted German actors for German roles, meaning he wanted to feel the German essence. The costumes, the makeup...it's all very German.
Basically, it's almost impossible to choose your roles, you are chosen for them. I don't believe it was his dream to play a Bond villain. It's clearly something where he knows it's going to be seen by the whole world, it's funny and it's paid very well.
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