| Douglas Henshall: A good man in the frame The famous British actor, the hero of the movie How I was stolen by the Germans. ‘ If every festival is like Nis, I think I should come to Serbia more often. ‘ Milos Radivojevic movie "How I was Stolen BY the Germans" had its premiere at the recent film festival in Niš, but the audience in Serbia had an exclusive opportunity to see the famous British actor Douglas Henshall, who plays the German officer Werner Kraus in the film. Was it hard to film and even play in in this movie, due to the history clearly set by Germans during the war? I think that in every country, at any time in the history of war there has been bad people and good people in the same war. Werner Krauss is a good man, and I just saw that in the screenplay by reading his character and I tried to recreate that goodness so as not to condemn him. As an actor, you have to be on the side of the character that you play. I did not want to deal with the historical or political context, I wanted to portray a good man, and I did. I was not interested in wearing that uniform. What did you do to build the character? I was quite independent, relying on my own experience. There was no pressure from the director Milos Radivojevic, who did not tell me about his expectations. Maybe I was occasionally directed to react in a certain way, but essentially Krauss was my game. What kind of reception did you get for the film in Serbia? Reception to the film was great, and I received a fantastic welcome. I have never been to a Serbian festival before. If every festival is like Nis, I think I should come to Serbia more often. How did you get the role? Svetozar Cvetkovic told me once that I should come to Belgrade to make a film in Serbia. I asked him to send me a script. Six months later I had the script of How I was Stolen by the Germans in my hands. I read it and I thought it was great, but most of my dialogue was in German, and I do not speak any. That's what I said to Cvetkovic, and he replied "but you're an actor, learn." What are you doing now, where else can the Serbian audience see you? I just finished a West End play by Harold Pinter on which I worked for four months. Now I am unemployed, currently you can see me in this film, and then we’ll see……. Translated from an original interview at novosti.rs - 28th August 2011 |
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