Idil Üner plays the new investigator Tülay Yildirim in the ZDF series “Nachtschicht”. A conversation about right-wing extremism, filming in times of Corona and acting colleague Armin Rohde.
Ms. Üner, how do you like the night shift?
It is great. The team is absolutely great, the long-term collaboration between Armin Rohde and author and director Lars Becker speaks for itself. It’s like a surf wave that you can jump on with your board and get swept away. I got on very well with Armin Rohde. It went back and forth like ping pong. I was very sad when the shoot was over and we had to stop. But luckily it will continue in autumn.
Corona is the subject of the film “Blood and Iron”. Masks are required and people have to keep their distance. How was that for you as an actress?
We started shooting in mid-June, when Corona was already an absolutely present topic. We worked with a hygiene concept behind the camera anyway. The question then was whether we should incorporate what was behind the camera into the film. Lars Becker has decided that it should flow in, but not be the focus. The script had long been written. I think it turned out well, but not pushed with all force, but even humorous in some places. When the suspect tells the policeman to keep his distance, for example.
The episode “Blood and Iron” is about right-wing extremism. How important is the topic to you?
This is still a socially relevant topic, not only in Germany, but worldwide. Fortunately, I was not personally affected or only marginally affected in the course of my life, but I know those affected. And I think we should keep dealing with the issue until it is no longer an issue. There are so many people who hate other people because of fear or a lack of self-esteem. Not only people from other countries, but also women, parties or certain groups.
So have you never been a victim of racism?
At some point, I think in seventh grade, I heard someone say “Turks stink and have no money”. Fortunately, that was the only line I heard. But I don’t take that to heart, even if I don’t want to excuse it. What I do notice is that my name is never pronounced properly. It’s very easy. Idil. Four letters, two Is, a D and an L. That is the case for many with foreign names, and that is a form of ignorance.
How do you react to that?
I directed the theater project “Funk is not dead”. We spent all of our experiences humorous. For example, incorrectly pronouncing the name. We took it to the extreme, took a particularly complicated name and turned it into artful words. This is my way of dealing with something like that. But I can understand when people don’t feel taken seriously because of something like that.
What else do you have to do professionally this year?
I am currently rehearsing as an actress at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. Then there is one little thing that I might do as a director. I’ll be doing the next “night shift” in the fall, and I’ll also have a small role in an Annika Decker movie.
Not bad for the fact that culture is in crisis.
Right, I’m lucky. I still remember how the first lockdown came about and projects were postponed. My husband is also an actor, so we were both affected – and then we asked the organic supermarket around the corner whether they were looking for unpackers. And indeed there was a need. Then I unpacked cardboard boxes.
Would that be an alternative to acting for you?
No, not in the long run. But I can imagine doing it again and again. That was an exciting insight, very different from going shopping yourself. Instead of being on the buyer’s side, I was on the seller’s side – and you notice a lot, look at people, notice who is impatient, who is friendly, and so on. Since we actors have to do research for characters from time to time, it was a great experience.
TV TIP
- “Night Shift: Blood and Iron”
- Monday, March 29, 8:15 p.m.
- ZDF
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