One of the most prominent German actors tackles Hollywood’s quirks and “sores” for his stint in directing, with Next Door, in theaters Wednesday, December 29.
After having experienced success at 25 with Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), a German drama that portrayed Ostalgia, that form of nostalgia felt by East Germans after reunification, Daniel Brühl saw his career take off. A success that allowed him to make a name for himself in Hollywood, especially in the franchise Captain america and in series. Experiences of her own admission sometimes humiliating, which he drew on for his first directorial film.
Next Door tells the story of Daniel (a role he takes on himself) who lives in a gentrified district of Berlin, is about to leave to shoot in a superhero film, and stops in a bar to rehearse his text. In an attempt to better understand the character he must play, Daniel frantically calls the leaders of Marvel to implore them to provide him with a few more pages of the scenario, top-secret, to prepare. All under the watchful eye of Bruno, a mysterious bar customer who knows more than he should about his life.
A verbal battle begins between Daniel and Bruno, who does not appreciate the arrival of new wealthy residents in the neighborhood, who drive up prices. Daniel Brühl, himself living for twenty years in Prenzlauer Berg, one of the most “bobos” districts of Berlin, and whose parents live in Barcelona, says he has always felt “like an invader“.
“I’m conceited and narcissistic but I’m not as horrible as the character in the movie“, he told AFP, laughing, during the presentation of the film at the last Berlinale, which was held online. On the Hollywood side,”I also had experiences where I felt ridiculous and humiliated“, he adds.”For example, getting a totally blurry (scenario) page, with only three (readable) lines without any context, and people hoping you get a magical performance out of it. And you, you say to yourself ‘damn, what the hell!’“.
“To show this humiliating aspect in a film was like catharsis“, he adds. At the risk of biting the hand that feeds him?”Someone like Kevin Feige (the boss of Marvel) has a great sense of humor. That’s what I love about Marvel. I hope that by seeing the movie they will understand the joke“.