Making his Mark
Profile of young actor Sebastian Urzendowsky
by Jed Medina

“I’m a fan of French cinema and French culture in general. I like François Ozon a lot, especially Under the Sand, but I wouldn’t dare say I’d like to work with him. That seems so unreal to me, “ says Sebastian Urzendowsky.

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The rising young German star began to make a name for himself in German cinema five years ago with Kai S. Pieck’s The Child I Never Was. This controversial film is about a fifteen-year-old boy named Jurgen Bartsch who tortured, murdered, and then sexually molested four young German boys. Urzendowsky played the main character to critical acclaim. The actual killings were not depicted in the film, but the way the story was told provided the viewers with a mesmerizing tale of guilt, sexual repression and murder. While the success of the film is not credited solely to Urzendowsky’s performance, it nevertheless paved the way for the young actor to secure more challenging roles working with some of Germany’s cutting-edge filmmakers.

The shy young actor is unlike many of his contemporaries who like to party and be seen in German media.

“I’m not the type who likes to party a lot. Anyway, some of the media - especially the tabloids - are never interested in the type of films I make, so I don’t think I’ll have paparazzi take pictures of me anyway. I’m not complaining! I just think that this sort of publicity would create a different image of me, not the real me. Lately, I’ve been somewhat noticed due to PingPong being part of Cannes. It seems the media is a bit more curious about me than before, “ noted the actor.

In 2006, Urzendowsky took centerstage when he was chosen to play the lead role in the film Ping Pong. It was directed by Matthias Luthardt, a well-known German filmmaker who has produced some impressive documentary films of late.

Ping-Pong is about the inner workings of a family - the private world each member lives in. On the surface, it seems everything is fine and everyone feels happy, but deep down inside something different is going on - loneliness, rebellion, sexual tension…

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Urzendowsky plays the part of Paul, a relative who turns up uninvited. With his unexpected entry, the idyllic world vanishes and conflicts arise. Having recently lost his father, Paul is searching for an ideal world, and he intrudes upon the seemingly ideal family. After at first rejecting him, his Aunt Anna slowly drags him to her side. Paul is attracted to her but realizes too late that he has been taken under her control, and is now at her mercy. Paul’s hurt drives him to an act of desperation.

“There were two castings for Ping-Pong. I didn’t attend the first one and the second took place because someone dropped out. I only read the book the day before the casting and then they opted for me very quickly. I was delighted because I thought the part and the whole script were really exciting. There is a lot of time for the characters to develop. Also the whole atmosphere during the casting and everything was great. Matthias, Marion and I had a meeting, for example, in which we only thought about the background stories of our characters. The film starts at a point where a lot of things must have happened beforehand in order for it to result in the events shown in the film,” notes Urzendoswky about his casting and the film itself.

After the Cannes premier of Ping-Pong, Urzendowsky appeared in a number of feature films. In The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher), Austria’s official entry for an Oscar for best foreign film, he was once again noticed by film critics for his supportive yet challenging role as part of a team of counterfeiters during WW2.

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“I think people are becoming increasingly interested, especially those who know foreign cinema well and who are interested in knowing more about German cinema,” observed the young actor.

He is absolutely right. After The Lives of Others won last year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar, German cinema has been in the limelight. Films like Downfall, Sophie Scholl -The Final Days, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and currently The Edge of Heaven and The Runaway Horse, German filmmakers and actors have been doing quite well on the world stage, and young actors like Urzendowsky may look forward to more enlightening and challenging roles up ahead.

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This profile is part of the German HotList, a tMF special feature of young German actors in today's cinema.

[ Sebastian Urzendowsky @CineEuropa ] [ Ping Pong official movie site ]

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