Kida Khodr Ramadan became a star in 2017 with the series 4 Blocks. He played Toni Hamady, the boss of a criminal clan. Since then he has been one of the most sought-after actors in Germany and has received numerous awards.
BILD am SONNTAG: Mr. Ramadan, what do these honors mean to you?
Kida Khodr Ramadan: Prices are not important. Of course I’m happy, but my life doesn’t depend on winning an award. You know what? I’m a winner if my kids have a full fridge and are healthy.
You can now make a good living from your job…
…but not for long. In 2013 I was nominated for the German Film Award for “Ummah”. I got nothing and drove straight from the show to the restaurant, took off my tuxedo jacket and went to the kitchen to wash dishes.
Successful series “4 Blocks”: Kida (from left), Frederick Lau (33), Veysel Gelin (39)
That has changed since 4 Blocks.
Ramadan: I really never expected it, but I was suddenly at the top. Angela Merkel recognized me, Jogi Löw wrote me an email. All the big stars we know from TV suddenly became my fans. Everyone wanted interviews, companies wanted to sponsor me, cars, clothes. Insanity.
A great feeling?
Ramadan: To be honest, I didn’t get it. I became a star overnight, way too fast. I couldn’t handle this sudden success at all and became a real asshole at times. Of course, I wasn’t unfriendly all the time, but I still treated a lot of people pretty badly, especially on the set.
Kida Khodr Ramadan 2022 at the German Film Awards in Berlin
How did that happen?
Ramadan: See, all of this came way too fast for me. Suddenly everyone was celebrating me and that made me kind of blind to reality. The people on the set behind the camera, the team members, they were honest with me. But I only listened to those who only celebrated me thanks to my success.
When did you come to this insight?
Ramadan: During the shooting of my new series “Asbestos”. When I saw my whole team burned for the project, how the members worked themselves out for it, I thought: man, what an ass I am! Of course, it was also the case that I suddenly felt a different kind of pressure. Every project that came after “4 Blocks” was watched 1000 times more closely how I perform. And that put me under additional stress.
I am a perfectionist in my work. Of course, that shouldn’t be an excuse for my behavior. I still regret that to this day and I can only apologize for it. If you make mistakes, you have to take responsibility for them. And I do. “Asbestos” made me a different person.
Her first directorial work for a series, it is about the clan scion and aspiring soccer player Momo, who goes to jail innocently.
Ramadan: This is the background story. Momo has to hold her own in prison. He has respect for the relatives who got him into it. On the other hand, he worries about his mother and wants her to have a better life.
It’s all about respect and loyalty to family. One grows up with these values, especially in Arabic culture. Unfortunately, these values are often misinterpreted in the circles Momo comes from.
Kida Khodr Ramadan and Alian Koder (left) in “Asbestos”
Five episodes can be seen in the ARD media library from January 20th. Will there be a sequel?
Ramadan: A second season is planned. It would be a matter close to my heart to implement this. It’s a bold topic, so I’m particularly grateful to my editor Carolin Haasis from ARD Degeto for her trust.
Her family comes from Lebanon and had to flee shortly after she was born in 1976 due to the civil war.
Ramadan: We were doing well in Lebanon, in Berlin there was nothing in our first apartment but an oven. While my father went to work, we children went outside with our mother to collect wood and at least be able to keep the apartment warm. We didn’t have blankets back then.
“Asbest” (from January 20th in the ARD media library): Ramadan (left, with Isaa Alaaedine) plays a one-eyed prison godfather
How was your youth?
Ramadan: Kreuzberg was a tough place. Now the menus are in French and you can order eggs by the jar. In other pubs, the waiters only speak English and make your coffee with oat milk. Dude, what is that, oat milk? Unbelievable!
Was it possible for you to go to a restaurant at the time?
Ramadan: No, not even a doner kebab. I used to stand longingly in front of the snack bar until the clerk took pity on me. At the pizzeria around the corner, the chef would sometimes hand me a leftover piece of pizza through the kitchen window in the evening.
Have you ever left Berlin?
Ramadan: The big dream of my youth was a holiday in the snow. When my friends’ parents strapped their skis onto the car roof and headed towards the Alps, I watched them enviously.
Kida Khodr Ramadan
Have you been skiing by now?
Ramadan: No, because that should remain an unfulfilled wish of my youth. For many years, a family vacation was an unfulfillable dream for me. In Berlin there used to be the Badeparadies Blub. If a visit was planned there on a Sunday, I couldn’t sleep for three weeks beforehand because of the excitement.
Sometimes we were able to persuade my father to visit the fast food joint. That was an event! Unfortunately a very rare one. Nevertheless, I am grateful for this time.
Why?
Ramadan: I come from the bottom and have worked my way up. My agent Katrin Wans, who always stood by me in good times and bad, also played a decisive role in this. Today I go to the restaurant of my choice and can travel anywhere.
Nevertheless, I don’t want to miss my youth, I laughed a lot and would do everything the same way again. During that time I learned that nothing in life is given to you.
Ramadan with his children Momound Dunja. Both have cameos in “Asbestos”
How do you convey this to your children?
Ramadan: We recently went shopping for winter boots, together with the usual sentences: I don’t like these shoes, but I want that color. I listened to that and then I was like: you know, there are people who would be happy if they could just warm up in a shoe store. My winter boots used to be my soccer shoes.
I got them from the Red Cross old clothes collection. I often even wore them to bed at night for fear of losing them. I’m happy to be able to give my children today everything I never had.
Today you are one of the best-known actors in Germany. Do you think your job is the best in the world?
Ramadan: Good question. I would say yes, but the film business is definitely a shark tank. People pat me on the shoulder today who used to not look at me with their ass. I always say that to my son Momo.
He would like to be an actor and is also really talented. I would also support my daughters with this career choice at any time. But they have less interest in filming. And as nice as the job is, it also gets to the core.
How do you feel that?
Ramadan: I often work seven days a week. I don’t do anything half-heartedly, I always give 200 percent and rarely give myself a break. I’m 46 now and have made over 100 films so far. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up this workload until retirement.
Rather?
Ramadan: My goal is to work hard for another five to seven years. Then I withdraw from the industry into my very tranquil bourgeois life. I dream of driving through the garden on my lawnmower. In the evening I watch the news and go to bed at 10 p.m. I do not need more.
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.
