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Franz Rogowski: “A Tonne of Beer is Incredibly Authentic”
Things are going well for Franz Rogowski. Last year, he walked the red carpet in Cannes with Isabelle Huppert and directing icon Michael Haneke for “Happy End”. Then the Berlinale called for the actor not once, but three times.
On one hand, Rogowski was among the ten “European Shooting Stars” – just as Daniel Craig, August Diehl, or Daniel Brühl had been before him. On the other, the actor appeared in two competition films. In Christian Petzold’s “Transit”, he plays a refugee in Marseille. The great festival favourite, however, turned out to be the magical love story “In the Aisles”. As a shy forklift driver, Rogowski falls in love with his colleague from the confectionary department, played by Sandra Hüller, at a wholesale market. His performance earned him the German Film Award for Best Actor. [030] reporter Dieter Oßwald spoke with the 32-year-old actor.
Mr Rogowski, are you the young maverick of German cinema?
Rogowski: Yes, I am very wild, by nature. And very young. That’s sometimes difficult. But I’m quite confident that it will all turn out well. That the path is the right one, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come. The work began long before this. The attention is there more now. But I was just as focused on my projects ten years ago as I am now. It’s simply that now more people are watching, that’s what has changed.
Some see you as the German Joaquin Phoenix – flattering or annoying?
Rogowski: I heard that quite a few times at the Berlinale. Annoyed? No. I honestly take it as a compliment. (Laughs)
How did you get involved with “In the Aisles”?
Rogowski: At the time, director Thomas Stuber invited me to watch his “Herbert” at the Berlinale. I was very impressed. You can only act as well as you can work with the director. One cannot act well in isolation. It’s a very intimate collaboration that develops there. Besides, the script is incredibly well written – you’d have to work hard to mess it up.
How do you see your character, the shy, hopelessly-in-love forklift driver?
Rogowski: Christian is relatively taciturn. He was knocked down early in life and drifted a bit off the rails. Right now he’s at a stage where he wants to take control of his life and shoulder responsibility. However, he’s not the sort who can just reinvent himself. Instead, he moves forward with heart and longing, taking a new step in his life.
Do you need some overlap with a character, or can you play anything?
Rogowski: I can play anything! (Laughs) I’m not the sort of actor who knows exactly who this character is. Because I don’t exactly know who I am myself. I can give a few basic facts, but I can answer this question no better than the question of who I really am.
Is driving a forklift a bit like a children’s birthday party?
Rogowski: There’s hardly anything that can help you in acting quite as much as a forklift. When you’ve got a tonne of beer floating over your head, it’s very, very concrete. If the load falls, that’s the end of the film. And game over for acting as well. As an actor, you’re often desperately searching for something that could be authentic. A tonne of beer is incredibly authentic and very helpful for acting.
You obtained the official permit for industrial trucks. What’s so tricky about stacking high?
Rogowski: It’s really not that easy! With a forklift, turning the wheel left doesn’t always mean the forklift goes left. Even now, I don’t fully understand how it works mechanically. In any case, turning the wheel one way might well mean the forklift goes the opposite way.
You’ve filmed with directing icon Terrence Malick. Are the trailers on set bigger than on German productions?
Rogowski: Malick has quite a small set. He works very improvisationally; you don’t sense anything ostentatious about his method. Of course, there are large extras, and theoretically, anything is possible. But Malick’s fundamental rule is to have a small, light, and mobile set you can improvise with.
What’s the most important quality an actor should have?
Rogowski: You possess a certain basic colouring from the experiences you’ve had in life. Depending on what those experiences are, it gets interesting – or perhaps not. The mentality of “What’s the most important thing?” – I’ve long abandoned that for myself, because I don’t believe in it. There simply aren’t those exclusive points of relevance; instead, there’s always a context, from which a kind of scale can be worked out in terms of what’s important at that moment. But there are no universal answers to simple questions. There are almost as many answers as there are actors.
“In the Aisles” is in cinemas from 24 May.
Photo: © Marco Krüger