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Lars Eidinger as Richard III.
Photo: Arno Declair / Schaubühne Berlin
"At the moment, incredibly complex debates are popping up everywhere, but only in the rarest of cases is there the space to express oneself in all complexity," he said, among other things, he was "alarmed" by this culture of debate.
The actor Lars Eidinger explained to the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (NOZ).
Because the discussions are so moral.
"That's what amazes me most - how many are ready to rise above others morally."
For the portrayal of Richard III.
for example "cripping up" has been accused.
Cripping Up is made up of the English terms "crip" ("cripple") and "up" ("high") and describes the stage practice when healthy actors slip into physically or mentally handicapped characters - like Eidinger in his popular one Role as Richard III.
at the Berlin Schaubühne: When Eidinger plays Richard, he puts on a hump and a clubfoot, for example, and straps a helmet around his head that people usually wear who have to protect their heads.
In contrast to blackfacing, the racist practice in which white actresses and actors paint their faces black, cripping up has so far been less of a focus in the debate about discrimination and the representation of marginalized groups.
On the contrary, actresses and actors usually received a lot of fame and awards when they played people with a physical or mental disability or a mental illness - like Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump", Sean Penn in "Rain Man" or Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in "The Discovery of Infinity".
"Where is the line?"
For Eidinger, the criticism that such a representation discriminates physically and mentally handicapped people, in that it deprives them of their visibility, is incomprehensible.
"I play a handicapped man, I celebrate success with it; and I am not allowed to do that. Because - I am not handicapped at all. Where is the limit?" Asked Eidinger in the interview.
"If I play someone who is sad and I am not at all - don't I rise above everyone who is really sad?"
At the beginning of the year, Eidinger found himself in a shit storm, which was also about appropriating the reality of life for a certain group of people: He designed an expensive Aldi bag made of leather and posed with it in a homeless look.
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evh / dpa