The Cast

Jan Sosniok

I still remember our first meeting to this day. Doreen and I are standing at Hackischer Markt in Berlin when, looking cool and relaxed, the guy who would be perfect for the role of Borowski walks toward us: Jan Sosniok. Of course, as a film student, your knees go weak, and you find yourself wondering, „What’s going to happen now? How will he react? Will we hit it off, or will we end up realizing it’s not going to work out after all?“

And the very next moment, the charismatic Jan shook our hands and said, „Hey, you two! That’s an interesting project you’ve got going on. I know a cool café around here where you can tell me all about it.“ And our entire collaboration turned out to be just as warm and welcoming as that greeting.

But let’s start a little earlier. When I write a role, I always have a specific person in mind. Usually someone I already know. In this case, it was Moritz Bleibtreu - ambivalent, funny, but also somehow dangerous. It quickly became clear that he wouldn’t be available for projects of this nature. So we started looking around - and found Jan Sosniok pretty quickly.

Jan was a particularly good fit for the role of the rather villainous character Borowski because, as seen in the portrait above, he himself has a face that is both attractive and angular, with strong features. Add to that his distinctive, smoky voice and his laid-back, commanding acting style. Paired with a leather jacket and hoodie, this created the Borowski we had in mind: strong, dark, and subtly devious.

After an initial discussion with his agent, it turned out that Jan was actually interested in taking on the role. I owe the fact that it all worked out so well especially to Doreen, who arranged and finalized our collaboration with great enthusiasm and perseverance. Jan later told me that, in his day-to-day work on set, original material is rarely adapted for the screen. Television is often formulaic fare with clichéd characters. So he was simply up for a slightly different role, one that was rougher and darker in a film noir setting - something rarely seen in the German film landscape.

It’s common knowledge that Jan himself is an easygoing, super-friendly, and funny guy. And so, to this day, we’re bound by a close friendship that goes far beyond the world of film.

Reinhard Friedrich

I already knew Reinhard from the production company 4me studios in Weimar back then. His voice, in particular, really stuck with me at the time. I also knew that he had played major roles at the Erfurt Theater. And he was such a perfect fit for the part that, once Jan had agreed to join us, we absolutely wanted Friedrich on board. Believe it or not, one phone call was all it took, and Reinhard was on board right away.

Actually, we had envisioned the character of Neuhäuser differently. We had previously spoken with the actor Ezard Haußmann and managed to get him on board for the project. But in the end, we couldn’t offer him the conditions he was used to on set. This made it clear to me once again that not every actor will stick with a project just because the script is good. Expectations of the producer can vary greatly in this regard.

As we said, it took just a few days after Ezard turned us down for Reinhard Friedrich to join the project. Looking back, this change of plans felt like a stroke of good luck. Friedrich was someone who was full of ideas and inspiration, and he worked with us in a completely relaxed manner. Even while we were filming, I was able to learn many practical acting tips from him. And it wasn’t to be our last collaboration.

Unfortunately, Reinhard Friedrich passed away in 2016 at the young age of 59. I would like to thank him for the great passion and dedication he showed toward us.

Max Schreiner

Max, the third character in the film, was the last to join the cast and was recommended to us. At the time, he was performing in the younger theater scene and was the kind of actor who is hard to reach. Eventually, we got him on the phone before filming began and secured his commitment.

We should have seen it coming: on the day of filming, there was still no sign of Max. That really had us worried. We’d even found a stand-in and started rehearsing the scene with him when Max finally showed up around midnight - thank goodness! Because he and Jan hit it off right away, and he played the bartender brilliantly.