Be more like Pippi and not Annika, so cheeky and wild and wonderful…
Inger Nilsson (63) became an idol for several generations in her role as the red-haired girl Pippi Longstocking. The adventures that she was able to experience in her prime role when she was nine years old are still popular to read and watch today.
Since that time, the now 63-year-old has remained associated with Pippi and knows all the ins and outs of life as a former child star. In Düsseldorf, Nilsson spoke to BILD about then and now.
The presentation of the German cosmetics prize “Gloria” took place on the sidelines of the Düsseldorf beauty fair. Among those present were entrepreneur Dagmar Wöhrl (68), model Natascha Ochsenknecht (58), actress Anja Kling (53) and Let’s Dance juror Jorge Gonzáles (55).
(from left to right) Dagmar Wöhrl, Anja Kling, Sabine Postel, Stefanie Powers, Natascha Ochsenknecht, Jorge Gonzalez and Frauke Ludowig at the presentation of the Gloria German Cosmetics Prize
However, the Swedish actress Inger Nilsson was particularly noticeable on the pink carpet with her cheerful and still childishly mischievous smile.
Logically, in our minds she is still Pippi Longstocking, the wild icon with the pigtails sticking out and the little monkey on her shoulder, only now she has aged a bit.
The smile made Inger Nilsson a star – to this day she is associated with Pippi Longstocking, her big role, which she was allowed to play as a child
Pippi Longstocking 2023: I’m not about beauty, I’m about talent
But a few decades have passed since the Pippi Longstocking films. BILD told Nilsson how she feels when she looks at her old films today: “It’s very difficult for me. Well, I can watch the very old films when I was still a child. But the films when I was a young woman. This is very hard. Because I have a certain image in my mind of how I look. But that’s probably the case for a lot of actresses.”
BILD reporter Bettina von Schimmelmann met Inger Nilsson on the sidelines of the “Gloria Awards” in Düsseldorf
From time to time Stars try to to preserve their youthfulness through small tweaks or surgical interventions. Nilsson has a very clear stance on the subject: “I may be of a different generation. For me that’s out of the question. I’m all about being a good actress. It’s not about beauty, it’s about talent. I like being a character actress and not a groomed beauty.
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“I’m used to Pippi,” but…
For the Germans, Pippi Longstocking is one of the best-known Swedish imports, along with the band “Abba” and the large blue and yellow furniture store. When Inger Nilsson starts to smile, you know immediately: THIS is Pippi. Does that bother you?
“I’ve gotten so used to it since I was eight or nine years old. But of course I like it when people mainly know my new roles, such as “The Inspector and the Sea”. Or I just had a role in Sweden, where I played a terribly run-down woman with yellow teeth and neglected – I like that. I can really kneel down there, ”she tells BILD.
Inger Nilsson (2nd from right) also wants to be seen in her other roles – she plays alongside Walter Sittler (hl) in the ZDF crime series “Der Kommissar und das Meer”
But whether she likes it or not, hearts still fly to her today. Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books, which were filmed in the late 1960s, have sold almost 70 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over 70 languages.
But Inger Nilson sometimes just doesn’t want to have her around and has even forgotten some scenes: “A lot of it wasn’t real. I wore a wig. The freckles were just drawn on, all for the role.”
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