Foto: Tatjana Dachsel, 2023

Kristiane Kupfer in conversation with Karim Chérif

Karim Chérif

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karim_Chérif

https://www.filmmakers.eu/de/actors/karim-cherif

Kristiane Kupfer

Special Coaching Actors Studio www.special-coaching.de

Karim: I have been working with you for years. Your views of the scripts has always helped me and, above all, the way you enrich my own with your imagination. What is your approach to different colleagues? Can you describe how you specifically work with the actors?

Kristiane: Every actor is different, every script is different, the circumstances are always different. My goal always remains the same: to get the best out ofthe actor and the production. It is always important to me to first clarify what exactly it should be about and how much time we have for it. It doesn't always have to be about acting problems. Why? I work with professionals.

First of all, the correct steps and their correct order must be discussed. For example: Are special skills required? Do you need to drive aspecific car? Do you have to dance or sing? Do we need certain knowledge of other professions? Where can we get these from in such a short time? Do we need to know something about a historical time, about a specific social milieu? Or is our personal experience and ourpersonal level of education sufficient? Is there something that bothers us about the book, is there something missing, does it contain logical errors? Who would be our contact person in such a case? The director, the writer, the producer? It's a huge spectrum that is new and different for every actor and every project.

Karim: I remember avisit to the district court, where we went in preparation for a casting. We put a lot of effort into it. You picked everything out, a special case. The atmosphere and the partial absurdity of this case was very interesting.

Kristiane: That wasn't something historical, which you have to approach completely differently. I can briefly try to explain it this way: I mean, the city is big and it's so interesting that there are so many people with so many different jobs. And it is absolutely valuable to us that there are so many institutions where you can “get a taste of the air”, so to speak. Even if you go to the police, you can't explain what's going on. You always leave with some sort of oppressive feeling. You usually get a question answered differently than you expected. And you often get answers to things that you didn't even ask, but which can expand your horizons quite a bit. I always think the city is different when I go out there and our work on the script continues.

I see it as my job to provide a range of ideas so that the actor caninitially choose what he finds useful at first glance. Or we talk to people who are not doing so well or go to parts of the city that are not so nice. Or we're in the oldtimer car workshop or we look at custom made shoes, whichever might be an interesting approach to the role. The palette is large.

Karim: I can only say, that it always helped a lot that you offer so many touches of colour and one can pick out something that's appealing, and then we can see where the path continues.

Kristiane: And when an actor says that there is very little time to prepare, then that gives me a special kick. Working under time pressure particularly mobilizes me. But if you have a lot of time, you have to be careful not to get bogged down. It's always about making sure the actor is as fit as possible when filming begins.

Karim: I recently called you while filming abroad because I wanted to discuss something with you because it was important to me.

Kristiane: Of course, for an actor with whom I have started a project, I am also available throughout the entire filming period because I see it as my job to provide maximum support in the background. If that's not necessary because things are going well, I'm always happy to receive positive feedback.

I see my work primarily as a support for the actor and therefore for the project. I really enjoy working backstage. It is my aim to make everything as good as possible and as individual as possible. If the day has 24 hours, I'm available 24 hours, and if a project is on good terms, you can actually always get anything done, provided the actor is motivated and looks forward to the work.

Karim: I also had the same experience with you. Thanks for the short conversation!