Florian Stetter

"Overwhelming is the only word for it!" Florian Stetter beams when asked about everything he has experienced during the first weeks and months of 2014. Quickly, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, he goes on to say: "In the positive sense, of course. I have enjoyed it very much indeed, it has all been incredibly exciting." Although it is highly unlikely we would fail to catch his meaning, as his face expresses such obvious delight.

The actor even had two films representing him in the competition of the Berlinale this February: he played Friedrich Schiller in Dominik Graf’s historical love triangle "Die geliebten Schwestern" ("Beloved Sisters") and a priest in "Kreuzweg" ("Stations of the Cross") by Dietrich Brüggemann, which came away with a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay in the end.

"To be in the running with two films at this festival – in the main competition at that – was a bit like Christmas four times over," Stetter says, laughing. "It felt like a very special present for me that these two particular films were the ones represented, because both works mean a tremendous amount to me, and there is nothing I like more than to talk about them. That’s why the attention and interest didn’t put me off, it gave me real pleasure."

Extraordinary as the degree of attention has been here, the 37- year-old is not a beginner to the German film business, by any means. His debut on the big screen was premiered in Locarno as long ago as summer 2000, with the powerfully visual road movie "L'amour, l'argent, l'amour" by Philip Gröning. "That was when I felt the magic of cinema quite personally, literally physically for the first time," Stetter recalls. During the shooting of the movie he had just begun to study acting in Bochum; the film brought him a "Young Generation Award at the Max Ophüls Festival". After these, his first steps in front of the camera, he immediately broke off his training but restarted at the acclaimed Otto Falckenberg School after taking a break in Ireland.

Stetter’s subsequent career went much as it does for many other graduates of German drama colleges: a lot of theater work (including in Munich, Salzburg, Zurich, and as a member of the ensemble at the Maxim-Gorki-Theater in Berlin), occasionalTV crime programs, small roles now and then in cinema films such as "Napola" or "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage" ("Sophie Scholl – The Final Days").

"I was never bothered about reaching a large audience as quickly as possible or even becoming a star,” the Munich-born actor explains when I express surprise that he failed to make a real breakthrough in all those years. Although he did manage to take home the highly-respected Grimme Prize for the TV film "Die Freunde der Freunde" ("Friends of Friends"), his first collaboration with Dominik Graf, as early as 2003. "Instead, I have been able to stand behind all my work, one hundred per cent, always looking for roles that challenged me and demanded something from me."

Nevertheless, it is clear just how much pleasure the family man with the sparkling eyes and the unmistakable, gentle voice is getting from the beginning of a new chapter following his two much-acclaimed Berlinale roles. And it is not lessening, either, just because the festival in Germany’s capital city is over and "Kreuzweg" ("Stations of the Cross") was launched in German cinemas some time ago. In 2006 Stetter already enjoyed the honor of traveling to Los Angeles for an Oscar® ceremony with "Sophie Scholl". The fact that both Brüggemann’s film and "Die geliebten Schwestern" ("Beloved Sisters") have now been acquired many times abroad means even more to him: "I am looking forward immensely to touring through other countries with these two films and going to more festivals. I’m terribly excited about what awaits me there, and the people I will meet. Not only after my experiences at the Berlinale."

And what about offers of roles from abroad? Does he intend the new path his career has taken to lead in an international direction, as well?

"I certainly won’t be knocking arbitrarily on lots of doors in America just because I had two films at the Berlinale and a good review in Variety," Stetter laughs, but it is obvious he has given some thought to the matter. "However, that doesn’t mean that I’m just going to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs. I am looking out for things. And if there is any sign, I’ll be there right away. But first I need to wait and see whether there is any interest at all."

He figured out his ideal role model with regard to that important next step some time ago – and met him personally at the Berlinale: "I thought the way things happened in Christoph Waltz’s case was admirable. His international career just seemed to happen to him after the encounter with Tarantino. Before that, though, he was already a brilliant actor – and he never complained when perhaps not everyone in Germany seemed to have noticed that. I’m quite happy to copy some of his approach, just letting things happen with such a relaxed attitude."

Author: Patrick Heidmann