European Shooting Stars 2015

Sven Schelkers (Switzerland)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

The chance to create new worlds, stories and people, and to have a voice and listeners.

What was your big break?

It was back in 2004, when we were rehearsing Woyzeck in school. It was the first play I was part of.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

The Coen Brothers. They seem to be very cool guys, their work has its own style and is just captivating and very intense and honest.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

It’s probably the biggest honour I can receive as a young actor so early in my career and it’s a big opportunity to get to know new and interesting people.

What are you working on next?

On a play called The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other, written by Peter Handke.

Abbey Hoes (The Netherlands)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

I never really had one particular person who inspired me. When I was younger I really looked up to Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas, but I can’t call them the reason why I started acting.

What was your big break?

For me, it was [Boudewijn Koole’s TV drama]  Maite was Here. 

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

Wes Anderson. He is such a colourful filmmaker. All of his shots are like little paintings and I really appreciate what he gets out of his actors, they always surprise you. 

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

I’m so looking forward to meeting filmmakers from all over Europe. It’s such an interesting list of people that I have become a part of.

What are you working on next?

I just shot the movies Ventoux and Escape and the [TV] series The Black Tulip. They will all be released in 2015. As for me, I’m still studying at the Theaterschool in Amsterdam. 

Natalia de Molina (Spain)

What or who inspired you to become an actor? 

This is something that has been inside of me since I was a little girl. I have family videos where you can see my artistic aspirations. Sometimes I really think I was born to become an actress because I cannot do anything but this, despite my shyness.

What was your big break?

My big break was getting the audition for Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed. David Trueba trusted me to play the role of Belén and all the good stuff that’s happening to me is related to this wonderful movie.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

I would like to work with new talented directors, in their early films, like Carlos Vermut or Xavier Dolan. I also hope to have the chance to work with David Trueba, Enrique Rivero and  Juan Miguel del Castillo again.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

I could never have pictured being one of the Shooting Star 2015. It’s crazy. If I think about myself just one year ago… well, I wouldn’t have believed it.

What are you working on next?

Right now, I have some projects but they are not official yet. So I’ll cross my fingers and hope everything works out.

Maisie Williams (UK)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

I am a bit of an accidental actress, I was training as a dancer when I was spotted by my agent and she thought I should try acting. Game of Thrones was only my second audition.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

Tim Burton, I just love his work.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

It’s a great honour, I’m just so happy people like what I do and it inspires me to achieve the best I can.

What are you working on next?

It’s a feature in the US called The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea which starts in about a month. It’s a great role and I’m very excited.

Jannis Niewöhner (Germany)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

My father is a theatre actor. When I was about 11 years old an agency from Cologne asked if there are kids who want to do a casting. I did and was taken into that agency. I started making movies; first TV series and graduation movies of young film makers. When I was 12, I completed my first movie for the cinema.

What was your big break?

One of my most important roles is Gideon De Velliers from the Ruby Red Trilogy.  It’s a mainstream fantasy project and about time traveling. Gideon is a, sensitive person, but on the outside he seems cold and arrogant. For me it was an interesting, many-sided character.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

I’d like to work with Inarritu or Steven Soderbergh.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

I don’t know yet. But many actors I really like became shooting stars which gives me a big motivation to keep on acting.

What are you working on next?

We are shooting Emerald Green [the third in the trilogy] this year. I am also playing in a movie called Jonathan. 

Aistė Diržiūtė (Lithuania)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

Ever since my childhood I’ve been searching for ways to express myself. And after many searches and challenges finally I have found acting. A profession and a lifestyle in which one can combine everything.

What was your big break?

The Summer of Sangaile.  It is my first film and my first main role. The whole process was such a great pleasure. Now I can divide my experience of acting in two parts: before and after The Summer of Sangaile.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

I want to work with creative, intelligent, open-minded, deep thinking and hard-working directors. Making a film is like going on a long, hard and great journey. So, if the script is good, if you, director and the whole film crew collaborate together – you’ll hopefully have a wonderful film.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

It is a big honour, opportunity and responsibility. Becoming a Shooting Star can be an amazing start to your European or even international career.

What are you working on next? 

Just after Berlinale I have the premiere of a play by Dostoyevsky at Panevezys Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre. It is my final year of acting studies at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre academy. 

Hera Hilmar (Iceland) 

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

My dad is a film director and my mum, who is an actress, had me at drama school. She basically popped me out during Christmas break and then went back to school. So I sort of had to find my own way in that world, as well as taking inspiration from my grandmothers who taught me to follow my instincts and take risks in life.

What was your big break?

A high school play Icelandic Family Circus when I was 16. Film director Gudny Halldorsdottir saw it and offered me the lead in her film The Quiet Storm, playing a mentally disturbed girl, which was a big game changer for me.

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

Mike Leigh and Woody Allen. Both had a huge influence on me as a kid and still do.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

It is a tremendous honour and it means a lot knowing your work is getting out there and having some effect on people.

What are you working on next?

The third season of Da Vinci´s Demons is coming out this March and a film called Summer Children later this year. I’m prepping for a couple of films that are both in the very early stages.

Emmi Parviainen (Finland) 

What was your big break?

In 2013 I played the lead role/title character in Eurydice at the Finnish National Theatre, (directed by Yana Ross), and later that year I played the lead role in the film The Princess of Egypt (written and directed by Jan Forsström).

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

Lars von Trier, to name one. I admire his ability to hold both his movie characters as well as his audience in a tight and gruesome grip, while still maintaining a compassionate and humane sensibility.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

I feel both honoured and thrilled for my work being appreciated like this. For an actor this offers a lot of opportunities, including meeting colleagues from around the world.

What are you working on next?

There are interesting and inspiring projects coming up.

Moe Dunford (Ireland)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

I always loved movies, I grew up watching them with my father. I lived in a town on the southeast of Ireland, I was a parochial kid, then one day I saw Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout and it had an effect on how I saw things.

What was your big break?

Playing Patrick in [Terry McMahon’s] Patrick’s Day. It was my first leading role and a chance to dive into a role I was very passionate about. It allowed me opportunities I didn’t have before and moved me forward in my career and my life. 

Which director would you most like to work with and why?

Nicolas Winding Refn, because of what his characters come up against in his movies. A lot of the time their biggest obstacle is against themselves.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you?

It’s a great opportunity, and we’ll wait and see what comes of it. I’m going to enjoy Berlin I know that and am honoured to be representing Ireland. 

What are you working on next?

I’ve shooting the first bit of footage for a new Irish movie in March, then back to Season 4 of Vikings in April. I’m very excited to work with Terry again on his next project. The Dancehall Bitch, a dark prison movie.

Joachim Fjelstrup (Denmark)

What or who inspired you to become an actor?

My mum kept insisting that I should be an actor, and I told her to stop trying to tell me what to do. I wanted to be something clever! Now here I am: An actor. It’s a little annoying, actually. But I enjoy it very much - it’s not like we’ve got a Black Swan kind of thing going on.

What was your big break? 

My debut, Itsi Bitsi. We started shooting two months after I graduated acting school, it felt like a really cool extra semester with a touch of added anxiety of failing.

Which director would you most like to work with and why? 

Mr. Tarantino. He manages to make every last one of the frames in his movies important so he never loses your attention. And I imagine he must be fun to work with.

What significance does becoming a Shooting Star hold for you? 

I’m not sure. I just know that some of the recipients from the last 15 years are actors that I admire insanely, and I would be thrilled to have half the career that they’ve had.

What are you working on next? 

It’s theatre time for me back in Copenhagen. I’m part of a play about trafficking. I hate being a man these days. We’re such bastards.