LA LOUPE ZILLERTAL NO 2

“Passion is a good

“Passion is a good prerequisite for my job – not the desire for fame and money.” G.B. ⁄ Well, the “Family of Nutters” (the Kinigadners, editor’s note) for one thing – through the Paris-Dakar thing we basically did a family reunion and now we’re extremely “gleim” (i.e. tight) as we say in Tyrol. Apart from that I’ve ridden my motorcycle to Zillertal and over Gerlospass several times, it’s a wonderful tour! L.L. ⁄ Do you have a favourite spot there? G.B. ⁄ Yes, the Kreuzjoch! I’ve been up on the plateau with my bike and skied there, too. L.L. ⁄ Something we’ve clearly heard during this interview: Your passion for your motorbike. Where does it come from? G.B. ⁄ I’m the youngest of four boys and everything the older boys did, the younger ones imitated. And when our oldest brother turned up with a Honda CB 750 Four a long time ago, all of us fell for it! Also, for my generation the motorcycle was the cheapest option to get from A to B. Cars were much more expensive. As a young actor you earn very little money so I really couldn’t afford anything else. “Of course, a theatre project that went wrong is less fun than a successful film project.” 46 L.L. ⁄ Would you sometimes rather be a racer than an actor? G.B. ⁄ I wouldn’t be able to do it because I lack that winner-gene, the absolute will to win. I do possess a certain amount of self-assertion and determination, yes, but I also don’t mind losing. I simply don’t care if I finish first or one-hundredth, I simply enjoy the game or the race itself so much. Bad prerequisites for a professional athlete … L.L. ⁄ The most beautiful experience at the Africa Race 2013 and the most important thing you learned from it? G.B. ⁄ There were uncountable moments that are going to be with me all my life. Apart from the great friendship that now exists between the Bloéb/Moretti and Kinigadner families and apart from the beauty of the desert I can’t even begin to put in words … A rally is a condensed life, really, and everyday you experience complete failure at least three times. But then, out of nowhere, you see a silver lining and you realise: The kind of fear that’s always with us in all areas of our lives is completely for nothing. What’s the point of this fear of failure? In a rally I really might die, on the stage the worst that

can happen is that 2,000 people laugh at me – so really, I can try something new sometimes! There’s a reason I was successful professionally after the rally, because I chose to go my own way. L.L. ⁄ Does the poverty in those countries make you more humble? G.B. ⁄ Yes, definitely. With the motorcycle you reach the most remote areas – we once ended up somewhere in the Atlas Mountains at 3,000 m above sea level, with people who live in stone huts but still invite you in for tea and bread right away. That’s simply beautiful and makes you really thankful. I would prohibit club holidays by law and send people on culture- and people-tours instead! L.L. ⁄ You mentioned the risk during the rally. Do you, as a family man have to justify your sense of adventure more than others? G.B. ⁄ I do not think that wife and child should make the difference because you’re never alone in the world. If you don’t have them it’s your mother! Dealing with risks is always difficult. A short while ago one of my best friends was killed completely innocently while on his motorbike and he leaves a wife and three small children behind. Humans have come up with the word “fate” for that, whatever that means … The only thing I can really do here is to do everything with a certain degree of seriousness. During the rally our primary goal was to survive and we trained hard for it. At the end the risk was about as high as when you drive your car from Vienna to Tyrol – that might just kill you, too. L.L. ⁄ After your adventure in Africa you turned your focus back to your acting. Is it possible to have a strategic plan for a successful career or do you think a certain amount of passion will make it happen all by itself? G.B. ⁄ If it were possible to plan something like this, everyone would do it! You can only do something out of passion and because you have to. That’s a good prerequisite for the job – not the desire for fame and money. Everything else will happen by itself and if it doesn’t, you’ll at least have done what was your great passion. And what does that even mean, career? A great audience, large salaries? A role at the regional theatre or in Hollywood? Simply do every project as well as you can and at some point the next one will come around and then the one after that … “The kind of fear that’s always with us in all areas of our lives is completely for nothing. What’s the point of this fear of failure?” “Everything somehow makes sense – that’s my philosophy and that’s exactly what Wings for Life stands for.” 47