Exclusive Interview With Tom Schilling On A Coffee In Berlin

You mentioned that Jan Ole Gerster is an old friend of yours. Where did you meet?

Tom Schilling: On a film set, funnily enough. We have a mutual friend, Daniel Brühl. You know about him. Back then, he was shooting a film which was quite a success called Good Bye Lenin! I had a small set visit. I just wanted to say hi because we shot a movie together years ago. And I met Daniel in his trailer, and pretty much like the scene in [A Coffee in Berlin] where they have a visit on a film set and spend some time in the trailer, Jan Ole was also in the trailer. [Gerster] used to be the assistant to Wolfgang Becker, the director of Good Bye Lenin! He worked actually for the company who’s bringing out the film in Germany back then. He was an intern.

What do you love the most about the city of Berlin?

Tom Schilling: I was born in Berlin, I hardly know anything else. So, I can hardly imagine living somewhere else. Berlin is constantly changing, it’s culturally diverse. A lot is going on here. There’s a strong history to this city obviously, it’s got a strong story. There’s just something about it, you know? Each decade has something to it. I would prefer, actually, living in Berlin in the ‘80s, when David Bowie and Nick Cave used to live here. It was much more interesting. It was a bit more morbid and dark. It’s not changing to the good, I think, but still it’s a good place. It’s extremely cheap. It’s a great city. If you’re going here for bed and breakfast and you rent someone’s apartment, in most cases, [the apartment is] a palace.

You are attached to many English-language films. How long did it take you to develop an expertise in English?

Tom Schilling: I learned English in school and then I once had a scholarship, which I won for a movie I did in 2005. I went to New York for half a year to study at the Strasburg Institute. I spent half a year there, in New York. Since then, I did three English-speaking movies. I have to improve a lot. I think there are many good European actors – for example, Matthias Schoenaerts from Rust and Bone, he speaks English just like a native. That’s unbelievable. I think there’s some great actors from France or Belgium, and they’re very disciplined and have a very strong ear. For example, Daniel Brühl, he’s also very strong with accents and language.

What are you working on next?

Tom Schilling: Next, I’m shooting just a little, tiny part in a Harvey Weinstein production. I worked with him last year on Suite Française. It was also a small part, but much bigger than the part I’m doing now. That was fun. A couple of days in Vienna, the film is called The Woman in Gold. It’s about Gustav Klimt’s picture of Adele Bloch-bauer I. It was auctioned a couple of years ago at Sotheby’s for $135 million.

That concludes our interview, but we’d like to thank Tom very much for his time. Be sure to check out A Coffee In Berlin, as it’s now playing in select theatres.