POP CULTURE! Issue

First I’m going to ask Gloria a few questions. Gloria, is this your first
leading part in a movie?
Gloria: No, it’s not my first leading part in a movie, but I never had a
big part like this. I had to be there every single day of shooting, the most
complex one with the longest journey I ever had.
Needed Ben to persuade you?
Gloria: No way! When I read the script, I immediately felt a connection
to Lucy.
You’ve known each other for a long time now because you’ve
previously worked together, is that right?
Gloria: Yes, we have. We worked on “Nachtbus“ together and since
then we waited to work together again. When we did this short film
we recognised that special bond between us. There’s not much talking
needed, just one glimpse of him I know exactly what he wants me to do.
It’s like telepathy.
Ben: We had three days for the “Nachtbus“ shooting and on the first day
I gave Gloria nearly no instructions and in the evening I thought, “I hope
it doesn’t feel strange for her!“. So we had a chat about it and I told her
that she’s doing fine if I don’t tell her what to do.
Gloria: I trusted you from the beginning. I worked with directors where
I cried in my hotel room at night, because I had no idea whether they
liked my performance or not, but I always trusted you, Ben, because I
saw how you worked with other actors and actresses. So I lay myself into
your hands and knew that if you didn’t say anything then you were going
to like it.
But Gloria, you’re studying direction as well?
Gloria: Yes, I just started it.
Does this change your opinion about Ben’s work and the whole
concept, because now you know way more about this stuff than “just
acting“?
Gloria: For sure, but I always loved movies as it’s own art form. It’s kind
of the reason why I started acting, because movies always excited me. I
also performed at the theater but movies always were my big love. On the
side I always recognise if the director’s also a good actor or actress! Ben
is a great actor, but no one knows it, it’s a well kept secret. And I always
see it if a director is able to empathise. I guess it’s a big value being able
to switch sides.
Ben, where and when did you create the idea for this movie? Was it
your script?
Ben: Cherokee Agnew and I had the idea when we studied at the
Hamburg Media School, Cherokee Scripting and I Directing. When we
shot “Fliehkraft“ we created the idea of “Strawberry Bubblegums“, but
we thought more about the character than the story. And the character
we thought about was an male ex porn star and the second one was a
young girl searching for her Dad. We thought about this theme another
time so we threw both ideas into a pot and created this.
Was it a hard movie to shoot?
Ben: Just a short reminder that we needed a few more days of shooting
as 22 days were not long enough and there could have been a little more
budget, but anyone would tell you this about their movie. But this was a
road trip, we had a lot more locations than in regular movies and we had
a lots of actors. Changes to these factors would have altered the movie
a lot.
There are many incredible locations!
Gloria: For me it’s important to mention that I’ve never had so much
fun at making a movie! And it’s mainly due to all of the scenes simply
working out. So many good actors and every single one enjoyed playing
their parts that I always felt like I was living the actual scene at that
moment in time. Although we had an overall lack of time during the
making, I had such a great time. When Ben said “Action!“, actually he
always just said “Bitte!“, everyone was
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in his part. The whole crew was so
excited about the decor and the costumes, Ben created a concrete world
that I could walk through. Yes, it was stressful, but it worked out so well.
Ben: Yeah, sometimes we were able to keep the stress away from the
actors and actresses, sometimes not.
Gloria: No, I recognised that, because I wanted to. We’re friends! But the
scenes worked out that well that you shouldn’t think about it anymore.
Ben: It just would have been way more relaxed if there would have been
three more days. If you want to make a movie in Germany on a more
international level, a bigger budget would help, but we all know that
there are movies out there with a bigger budget and a lower level. If it’s a
bad movie, it’s a bad movie!
Gloria: I had parts in productions that had fourfold bigger budgets than
this one and in the end I sat in my room feeling so desperate because I
knew it’s simply shit what we’re doing there and I have to try to turn it