"I can really stand it, getting older"? Heike Makatsch about the ravages of time
BARBARA.de: You once said that you do not think it's bad when you think it's difficult. Is that correct?
Heike Makatsch: That was in relation to the question in the #metoo debate, whether a woman is considered difficult as soon as she is opinionated. Yes, that is basically correct. I can withstand that when I see what I'm fighting for justified. I also think I can really like it when I'm close to me, so I do not have to bend. If I think I was really difficult or overshoot, I'll go to court or apologize.
Do you think addiction is a woman problem?
Men have other ways of adapting or working well, they may forget what they want to stand for to be smooth on the whole.
"I do not want my children to be affected by what I do professionally"
I personally would like to be a man sometimes. How about you?
I'm glad to be a woman, I think women are great. I think guys are good, too.
You yourself live among other things in a household with three daughters. However, you do not like to talk about your private life. Why?
I talk about how I see things, but I do not tell any anecdotes from my private life. There are others involved? they may not want that. I also do not want my children to be affected by what I do for a living.
You have hardly changed optically in the last 20 years, you still look very girlish. How important is appearance to you?
Of course, I want to feel good. I do not lunge with hands and feet against the passage of time. I can stand it very well, getting older. But of course I am also pleased when I can prepare myself for the right occasion and think that the woman I see in the mirror represents what I feel. For me regular care is important, the Revital Lift line from L'Oréal makes my skin look and feel good. Feeding well, exercise, joy in the heart, that also makes everything nice .... and finally, I am happy about the matching concealer, the refreshing rouge and radiant mascara.
Are you going out without make-up?
Clear. Already in the morning. It always depends on where I go. Sometimes I have the ambition to look better. But I can hide well if I am looked at, it should be so, I hardly notice. I think I walk around so unvarnished that nobody recognizes me (she laughs), I feel in my neighborhood in Berlin under no performance pressure.
"I love life, it would be nice if you could stop it sometimes"
You up to 46. Does this number matter to you?
The only thing I find age-pity is that life is over sometime. This is getting closer, the years go by faster and faster, even if the end of course feels a long way off for me. I love life, it would be nice to be able to stop it sometimes. But time is so relative. I was born in 1971. I used to think, 2020 is a crazy vision of the future, everyone would fly around with small UFOs. But it's not so different from 1980's. That's the same with people. A core always stays the same.
But problems change with age ...
Hopefully. I want to be in the phase of life that I am in now. 28 was good too, just different. Each phase has different urgencies. Nevertheless, I still like to do a cartwheel inside (she laughs), I can actually do that quite well.
And if you're not doing a cartwheel, are you watching Netflix? Are you going to the cinema? What do you like to see yourself?
I am not a serial gazer. I'm interested in German cinema productions, purely out of curiosity, to see what colleagues do. But actually, I'm always looking for a movie that tells me myself or the world. Manchester by the Sea? for example, touched me a lot. This movie was existential.
You do not see you very often on celebrity eggs or red carpets. Do you like to be famous?
I do not cherish and cherish "being famous" in my daily life. When I make a movie, I want it to be seen and people touched. I am happy when my work is successful and when I get recognition for it. Being public in itself does not interest me, but my work is associated with public appearances.
How much do you currently work?
I am very satisfied if I can shoot two beautiful projects per year.
What makes a nice project for you?
Director, screenplay, cast. There are different pillars that play a role.
"My life does not differ much from that of other mothers"
You have enough to do, right?
Everything suits me because I still have a family with whom I want to spend as much time as possible. I'm very much at home outside of shooting. I have long journeys where I am primarily a housewife. My job is sometimes very intense? and then he will not be back for a long time. My life does not differ much from that of other mothers. I just do not go to the office every day, but work two months straight.
However, actresses often complain that they get less scripts from a certain age. Can you understand that?
I find it difficult to associate a lull in the job with my age. Sometimes there is more to do, sometimes less. This has always been in waves in my working life. Of course, there are times when you think of where the screenplays are, and then again, where you do not know how to reconcile multiple projects at the same time. It is unstable. I experience it so that there are always good and bad phases.
Easter Monday, the next crime scene is with you. A heart project?
Crime scene is different than other projects. You do not get a script and then decide if you do it. In the best case you can get involved. But that's important to me, I want to help shape the tonality of such a film.
But not only do you play, you also sing. In some movies, you have both connected. Is there something you would like to do in the future?
In fact, I'm currently preparing for a movie that I would call a heart project. It's a movie musical, "I've never been to New York ?, a turbulent story about love, told through the songs of Udo Jürgens. I've often sung in movies, dancing is new. This is a dream for me and an exciting challenge at the same time. In addition, I am currently recording the third children's songs album together with Max Schröder for the DiogenesVerlag. This time we dedicate ourselves to the Christmas songs from the "great songbook".
Many actors say they can not stand themselves on the screen. Do you like to see yourself?
I'm not afraid to see myself on the screen. If it's good, then I'm happy. If the result was not successful, I had a bad day shooting, then of course I do not like that. But if my work was on the point and a scene is as I wished for, I am satisfied. It really does not matter to me whether I look awful or have unclean skin and shadow under my eyes.
You are not perfectionist?
I have clear ideas about things. But I also make the way chaotic. And it does not kill me if the goal is missed. Perfectionist sounds driven, as if you can not let go. I think I can already ....
