Jeroen Krabbé briefly considered quitting making his new series Krabbé looking for Chagall. “There have been days when I didn’t know what to do with it,” Krabbé told NU.nl.
On Tuesday evening, the first episode of the fourth series of Krabbé looking for… broadcast. In previous seasons, the 75-year-old actor and presenter has already researched painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Paul Gauguin.
Krabbé studied Chagall for a year and experienced days when he no longer liked it. “I thought: I’m going to quit. I don’t know what to do with it. I’m not going to succeed. I find it hard. But then the enthusiasm comes to my mind and I think: How special how he reacts to this setback and what nice thoughts he has on a certain subject. Then I pull myself out, as if I have to convince myself. “
“Don’t go whining”
In addition, says Krabbé, he taught himself an iron discipline in his time as a stage actor. “On those days I also think: Listen, there are four or five people depending on me. Persist! If you say yes to something, you do it, then you will not piss.”
Chagall is already the fourth artist at the center of Krabbé’s program, but that says nothing about the appreciation he has for the artist.
“I have many more darlings. I can make six new series this way, but then the artists in question must really interest me. Otherwise it will be work and it should not be. The first series about Vincent van Gogh was offered to me “I only wanted to do that if I was allowed to do it my way. I didn’t want to walk the standard paths and AVROTROS agreed.”
That series became successful, after which Krabbé decided to focus on Pablo Picasso. “It was complicated, because he had a rather complicated life. There were eight episodes and I had the idea to put a woman in Picasso’s life at the center every time. He changed women quite often and also changed style every time. Gauguin I then really wanted to do it, because he has a lot of interfaces with Van Gogh. And I chose Chagall, because it was my childhood hero when I was about five years old. “
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