It has been 28 years since Ben Becker and Ulrike Folkerts stood in front of the camera for a legendary "crime scene" episode. Now the two have worked together again as TV investigators - which for Becker was a manifestly emotional affair.
"I was so in love with this woman 30 years ago," Becker told the "Bild am Sonntag". "But unfortunately I'm biting on granite, and maybe that's a good thing." The openly lesbian Folkerts is in the role of Lena Odenthal the longest serving German TV policewoman. Since 1989 she has been working as an investigator in Ludwigshafen in the "crime scene".
For the anniversary "Tatort" entitled "The Palatinate from Above" SWR connects to the legendary TV thriller "Death in the shredder" from 1991. The film was considered scandalous at that time, and politicians joined in the debate about it (more about it here). In the current episode, Odenthal meets a policeman with whom she had a tête-à-tête back then: this officer is Ben Becker.
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Ben Becker: Memories of 1991"It was a very, very nice feeling to take over the same role again, which never happens to an actor," said Becker. "It was incredibly exciting to see how quickly the character was right back in. In addition to that, it's really nice to play together with Ulrike Folkerts, it was like then.
Folkerts, too, hangs on the "scene" - but on every episode in which she is involved. "I'm watching this. I have to look at it," she said the other day. "I have to on that day, that's something sensual, with the nation together at the same time at 8 pm already news and then watch this one and a half hours together."
Folkerts had chatted about her private life only a few months ago in an interview. The actress, who has been with Katharina Schnitzler for more than a decade and a half, felt the time after her outing was very difficult. "That was like being thrown by a wave," she said.
The current Odenthal "crime scene"
"If you discover that you are gay, life turns upside down." The 58-year-old has lived openly for more than 20 years. At the time, this was not as normal as it is today: "To come out was a huge show of strength." Folkerts has lived with her partner in Berlin for 16 years now. "I can enjoy it every morning when I wake up and see my girlfriend - with her I feel like I'm being loved the way I am."