Letting his Work Speak for him
"To be honest, I rather enjoy being a little unapproachable." Tom Schilling looks serious when I talk to him about the public attention an actor of his reputation is naturally required to deal with. The Berliner is rarely seen in talk shows, and he cannot be found on Facebook or Twitter. "It’s not important for me to give the impression that I’m everybody’s friend," he continues. "And when people see me at the cinema, I think it’s better if they recognize me from one of my earlier films. Not because they remember me sitting on some sofa on television."
Indeed, there are more than enough films from which the public might recognize him. Schilling went to a first audition – still in the GDR at the time – when he was only six years old, and as a school boy he appeared on various Berlin stages working for directors like Werner Schroeter. He had not even graduated from school when he took on his first major cinematic role in "Crazy". Roles have come thick and fast since then, ranging from "Napola – Elite für den Führer" ("Napola – Hitler's Elite") to "Elementarteilchen" ("Elementary Particles"), "Pornorama oder Die Bekenntnisse der mannstollen Näherin Rita Brauchts" ("Porno Rama and The Baader Meinhof Complex") and even an appearance as Hitler in the theater adaptation "Mein Kampf".
Over the years Schilling’s boyish appearance has become his trademark, like his preference for smart suits and slim ties. But today other qualities are what distinguish the 32-year-old actor from so many of his contemporary colleagues, making him into a favorite actor with directors like Oskar Roehler and Leander Haußmann: a talent for subtlety, of course, or a modesty so far from egocentricity or a stage-hogging attitude. And not least, there is the seriousness with which he pursues his chosen profession, relatively unconcerned with luxury or fame. "I had some invitations to film festivals abroad," the father of two children points out with respect to the past couple of years. "But I turned most of them down because I prefer to devote time to my current work or to the family."
But this lack of desire to travel has made no difference: his already successful career and degree of fame reached entirely new dimensions in 2013. More than seven million viewers in Germany alone saw the three-part television drama "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" ("Generation War"), a story from the Second World War that sold to more than 80 countries and was even shown in cinemas in the USA. In the same year Schilling not only received a nomination for the European Film Prize for his part in the Berlin film "Oh Boy" ("A Coffee in Berlin"), but also the German Film Award as Best Actor in a Leading Role. That black and white comedy of drifters also made it to cinemas in the USA in 2014 – and divided opinions there even more than on home soil, as Schilling reports: "There was some friction here, too, but someone like Niko Fischer is near enough to an asocial freak in an achievement-oriented society like the USA."
However, both productions led to a brand new awareness of Schilling abroad more than controversy. For example, his latest leading role in the hacker thriller "Who am I – Kein System ist sicher" ("Who am I – No System is Safe") was met with standing ovations at its world premiere in Toronto recently, and for a change he was actually there to receive them in person. Even his first international appearances are now in the can, alongside Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott-Thomas in Saul Dibb’s "Suite Française" and together with Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds and Daniel Brühl in "Woman in Gold" ("Die Frau in Gold").
Nevertheless, Schilling – who lived for sixth months in New York in 2006, attending the Lee Strasberg School –merely shrugs his shoulders to the repeated question of whether he dreams of Hollywood: "Ultimately, this work is the same everywhere. You stand in front of the camera and try to be as authentic as possible, no matter what language you’re speaking. And a bad script is a bad script, nothing can change that, just as a good one is a good one. No matter whether it’s in Germany, in Hollywood or a Taiwanese film." He won’t have anything to do with great aims and certainly not with a master plan for his career. "When I dream about something, it’s generally something very banal. To make some music some time, or to become a better tennis player," he adds, modest as we have come to know him. And as unapproachable as he wants to be.
Author: Patrick Heidmann