EXBERLINER Issue 170, April 2018

Portuguese
for beginners
Her characters are as deutsch as
it gets, but TV actress Cristina
do Rego hasn’t forgotten her roots.
By Rachel Glassberg
On first impression, the only thing Brazilian about Cristina do
Rego is her name. The 31-year-old has made a career out of
playing very German characters in very German productions:
Katharina Kuhn in Berlin sitcom Türkisch für Anfänger; comedian
Bastian Pastewka’s niece Kimberley-Jolante in the long-running
Pastewka; not one but three made-for-TV movies with Schnitzel in the
title. “When I was 15, my first agent told me I should consider changing
my name because I wouldn’t get offered German parts otherwise,” says
Do Rego. “But after a few years, people knew who I was.”
It’s hard to believe that not that long ago, Do Rego was fresh off the
plane from Brazil, a seven-year-old with a hip-swaying gait that her classmates
made fun of and, despite all the efforts of her German mother, no
knowledge of the language besides the word “grün”. Born in Ancieta, she
recalls a “happy, colourful” childhood spent in the country’s northeast.
“My father’s a Brazilian theatre actor, we always had actors and singers
around... Our house was full of life.” But spurred by their desire to provide
their two daughters with a better education, her parents moved the
family to the Ruhrgebiet, uprooting Do Rego’s life. “It was January, I had
to go from walking around barefoot to wearing shoes that were so heavy
I couldn’t lift my feet...” she recalls. “When you look at my childhood
pictures, you can see my facial expression change the moment we arrive
in Germany – from a very carefree child to a serious one.”
She’d adjust soon enough, as school productions and an appearance
on the kids’ talent competition The Mini Playback Show ignited her
love of acting. But that frown was good practice for the grouchy Kim
Pastewka, Do Rego’s first big break at age 17. For the first five seasons of
Pastewka, in addition to having a permanent schlechte Laune, she had to
wear a fatsuit and acne makeup. “Honestly, I always thought the fatsuit
was a good thing for me as an actress – it was nice to play someone else,
something far away from me,” she reflects. “Also, I could go out in
public without it and nobody recognised me.”
These days, Do Rego can’t take the U-Bahn in Cologne (where she
still does most of her shooting) without getting approached. In Berlin,
BRAZIL IN BERLIN
where she’s lived for the
past 10 years, “people
might look at you, but they
don’t come up and speak
to you.” Aside from the
occasional selfie request
from teenage Türkisch für
Anfänger fans when she’s
out walking her dog Milo
around Friedrichshain,
she’s mostly undisturbed.
When she has time, she
goes to the occasional
Brazilian concert or cultural
event. “And I get books and
food at A Livraria (page
17) – it’s nice that there’s
a place where I can feel
connected to Brazil.” She’s
friends with some Brazilian
expats here, and recalls that
“it was a bit weird” introducing
them to her German
clique. “Brazilians are used
to being received with open
Nico Stank
“Brazilians are used to being
received with open arms,
which isn’t exactly the German
way of behaving!”
arms, which isn’t exactly the German way of behaving! When I’m in
Brazil, I see everyone hugging and touching each other all the time – I’m
not used to it, either.” She spends a month or two in her home country
each year, visiting her father (who moved back after her parents
divorced in her teens) and extended family, including “like 500 cousins”.
What does Do Rego’s Brazilian family think about her German
career? “Well, they don’t understand anything, but they’re impressed
that I’m on TV! And they all want me to have a career there.” But
it wouldn’t be that simple, she says. “If someone asked me to do a
project in Brazil I’d be the happiest girl on earth, but I wouldn’t want
to go through the audition process over there. I feel more insecure
when I’m acting in Portuguese – I just don’t have the same sense of
comic timing.”
She’s played one Portuguese-speaking character in Germany: Filipa,
a veterinarian on the ZDF series Frühling. But after a few episodes subtitling
her lines, the network decided Filipa should learn German. “The
audience for that kind of series is a bit older...” Do Rego says diplomatically.
“So now I’m going to be speaking in German with an accent
I invented. I heard my dad talk with a Portuguese accent while he was
living here, so I tried to talk like him... I don’t know if I did it right.” n
Il barbiere di
Siviglia
Gioachino Rossini
Buy your
tickets
now!
April 6th, 2018
All performAnces with english surtitles!
0049 030 47 99 74 00
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