Ms. Szyszkowitz, you can be seen in the ZDF film “A Summer in the Black Forest”. Did you know the region before?
No, I had only been there once before filming, during a theater tour.
The shoot took place in his “very special, almost magical location near St. Blasien,” as you wrote on Instagram. Tell!
We shot on an old, completely isolated farm. It was just a very special place. There were chickens, sheep, cows and horses, as well as large fields and orchards. You had the feeling that you had arrived in a different era.
The people who live on the farm have consciously decided to work a lot by hand and only with simple tools. They are committed to a certain way of life. That impressed me.
To personAglaia Szyszkowitz (56) started studying medicine after school, but then decided to pursue acting. She then appeared on the theater stage before appearing on television for the first time in the mid-90s. The Austrian has appeared in more than 100 film and TV productions. She is known, among others, from series such as “Einsatz in Hamburg” (as agent Jenny Berlin), “Billy Kuckuck” (as bailiff) and “Zimmer mit Stall” (as boarding house landlady). On January 21, 2024 at 8:15 p.m., ZDF will show the film “A Summer in the Black Forest” (also available in the media library). Szyszkowitz is married and mother of two sons. She lives in Munich.
In the film you play the farmer’s wife Marlies Wehrle. She has bees, an herb garden, makes cheese – she is self-sufficient. Can you relate to this way of life?
I think this is great and I wish I had a little bit of Marlies. To be so connected to nature and the animals, to live so archaically…The couple who live on the farm are exactly like the two in the film.
They have a cheese dairy and sell the cheese at the weekly market. They eat what they grow and harvest themselves. I think that’s wonderful. I would like to cut off some of this grounding, because I don’t have it myself.
Did you find points of contact with Marlies?
The figure is actually very far away from me, which I thought was nice. Marlies carries a great sadness within her that everything else is subordinated to. When she meets the townswoman Fiona, who is stranded in the Black Forest, she has the opportunity to wake up again.
Marlies is a person who is very lonely and trapped in grief. Luckily I was spared something like that in my life. But I like the way the character tells the story of how she and her husband built a life for themselves.
Are you trying to live sustainably?
I live in the middle of the city, in Munich. Of course you can shop regionally there, you can bring your own bags, use paper instead of plastic, cycle a lot and don’t use a car much. But other than that you can’t do much, it’s different in the country.
Marlies Wehrle (Aglaia Szyszkowitz, left) shows her garden to lawyer Fiona Holzmann (Wanda Perdelwitz), who is stranded in the Black Forest. | Image: Walter Wehner/ZDF
Did you get a glimpse of real country life while filming?
A little bit. We were there for two weeks, I talked a lot to the people who live there because I’m really interested and fascinated by how they live their lives. I found her very likeable. But the time was too short to really gain insight.
Was you still able to take something with you from this time?
I would like to say yes, but it is not the case. The time was too short for that too. I also have to say that I actually found the Black Forest as a whole, this black forest, threatening. It’s very lonely there, very dark. For example, driving alone there at night was just a bit too scary for me.
Quite a few people leave the city for the country. In the ARD series “Room with Stable” you played a city girl who wants to realize herself in the country. That wouldn’t be for you personally, would it?
Not at the moment. We moved from the country to the city a few years ago. Now I could also imagine going back because a lot has changed. I don’t have any desire to move back to the country straight away, but I wouldn’t categorically rule it out. I’m still looking for a suitable lifestyle for myself, I’m still very unsure whether it’s a city or a country and in what form. I just don’t know what my future holds at the moment. But: I wouldn’t want to live as lonely as the couple in the Black Forest.
Joseph (Martin Lindow) and Marlies Wehrle (Aglaia Szyszkowitz) have to deal with a stroke of fate. In the background: Sascha Gerber (Tobias Licht), who also lives on the farm. | Image: Walter Wehner/ZDF
Last year you published a book, “Off the Roll: How I Rediscovered the Love of Life.” In it you talk about a crisis you went through, including anxiety disorders. Did writing help you process?
Above all, I really enjoyed it, but yes, it also helped me to reflect. I really enjoy writing. And I’m also going to write a second book because I fell in love with writing so much. I don’t know what exactly, but it probably won’t be a novel.
The fears I had were simply there and I had to deal with them for a long time. I was also able to take some of that feeling with me into the role of Marlies. I also knew how lost she was, her sadness.
Did you find it difficult to talk about your fears?
I thought about it for a long time and hesitated, but I came to the conclusion that the topic shouldn’t be taboo and that as a public person I also have a responsibility to name it and say: I was feeling bad. Many millions of people know such fears.
At a time when everyone is or wants to be politically correct, tolerant and open, it must be possible to also address psychological crises. For me it was a difficult but formative time. Experiencing something that is so challenging makes a person mature in a different way.
You might also be interested in ZDF That’s why actress Jessica Schwarz loves being in the Black Forest
You are in your mid-50s. Is that a good age for you, especially as an actress?
No, it’s a really difficult age. All my colleagues will confirm this. Because you’re no longer young, but you’re not really old either, but somewhere in between. My agent always says: Between 47 and 60 is the most difficult phase, there aren’t many roles. And then you have to make the jump to the older subject?
Did you have or are you having a career low as a result?
After a herniated disc in 2022, I had to turn down roles for the first time in my career, which catapulted me backwards. I’m in the process of working my way back up, gradually reclaiming my territory. But that is not so easy.
2024-01-21 22:38:26
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