For half her life, Anna Maria Mühe (37) has been in front of the camera. In 2004, she made her breakthrough with “What good does love do in my mind”. Through her job, she keeps getting to know herself anew.
She loves these challenges – and especially her 10-year-old daughter. Not least because of this, Mama’s new thriller series is taboo for her.
An interview with Anna Maria Mühe about her stunt training, injustices in the film industry, her new series “Totenfrau” and life as a single mother.
Profound thriller: In the series “Totenfrau” (from January 5 on Netflix) Anna Maria Mühe plays a undertaker who wants to take revenge after her husband’s death
BILD am SONNTAG: Ms. trouble, many female colleagues complain that women are still paid significantly less than men in your profession.
Anna Maria trouble: “I absolutely do not understand at all why this gender pay gap still exists, and not only in our profession. It’s absurd. When I started we were taught that we should never talk about our contracts.
And certainly never be allowed to say how much we earn. But now we’re talking to each other about it. This creates more transparency.”
Has anything changed in recent years? Or has it stayed with the symbolic solidarity of men with women?
Effort: “I’m not sure. People are always saying what is supposed to have happened, but from the feeling we have only taken minimal steps so far. The proper step, after which everyone feels treated fairly, I don’t see that yet.”
In your new series “Totenfrau” you play a mother who loses her husband and on the one hand has to give strength to her children, but on the other hand also mourns herself. Which perspective is closer to you?
Effort: “I am a mother lion. If someone were to harm my child, I would always stand in front of it, no matter what. But every mother does that, so I don’t think it’s that special. However, I am not a helicopter mother.”
Despite your surroundings in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg?
Effort: “Yeah great, right? But seriously: Of course, I also know what it means to lose people. That’s part of life. I believe grief changes over time and with age. A loss for me now would be different than it was years ago.”
Jenny Gröllmann († 59) and Ulrich Muehle († 54), Anna Maria Muehle’s parents, died in 2006 and 2007 within just 13 months. editor
Is it hard work these days not being a helicopter mom?
Effort: “No, but that is certainly also dependent on the type. I don’t want to judge that, there are always reasons why mothers or fathers are one way or the other. I think that as a non-helicopter mother, you get a lot of weird looks these days – at least in Prenzlauer Berg.
I find it irritating that a whole generation grew up with a lot of freedom and an anti-authoritarian upbringing and is now limiting itself and its children so severely again. Luckily, I have friends who all tick and think in the same way – also when it comes to parenting issues. That is helpful.”
Would you actually watch your series at home?
Effort: “With my daughter? No, absolutely not. But she knew from the start that it wasn’t for her. I know that from my own childhood too. It feels like my parents only made films that I wasn’t allowed to see until I was 16 or 18.”
You push your physical limits with your role. How do you like this combative side?
Effort: “It was a great new experience. There are colleagues who have no fear of contact with scenes that go to the physical substance. I, on the other hand, always have a hard time with it. Before I can slap someone in a scene, I have to practice it in the air at least three times.”
So you had to practice a little more for “Totenfrau” …
Effort: “Oh yeah. I worked with a stunt team for two and a half months and trained hard.”
Did you learn something for life from it? Or just how you fight as clearly as possible?
Effort: “I definitely learned that. In general, I think that if you do a lot of sport or train a lot, then you have a different self-esteem and self-confidence afterwards. For example, I didn’t eat any carbohydrates for the role for months.”
Anna Maria trouble in her new series
Was that difficult?
Effort: “I like food very, very much. And I love pasta and pizza. So that was difficult, but you get used to it. At some point, the renunciation was no longer so great. Because I noticed that the energy balance then works differently. If you work long hours and a lot, such a change in diet actually only benefits you.”
Do you remember your first plate of pasta afterwards?
Effort: “Yes, of course! I was really looking forward to it. Towards the end of the shoot I allowed myself a cheat day once a week to slowly get back to normal. I shot in Austria for four months, Monday to Friday, and then I always went home at the weekends to see my daughter. That was a feat. I felt like I was missing two nights of sleep a week. At some point you need a plate of pasta.”
As a single mother, the “free” weekends are probably not free either…
Effort: “That’s correct. I wanted to meet my daughter’s needs on the weekends, not mine. We then caught up on a lot of cuddling.”
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.
