In the past few years, Marlene Morreis, who was born in Munich, was always a good choice when there were roles to be cast in productions with Bavarian flavor, for example in “Rosenheim Cops”, “Schwarzach 23” or “Munich 7”.
Now the 44-year-old is playing the main role in the new ARD “Denmark crime thriller”.
Unlike other crime figures, she does not play a detective, but a patrol officer named Ida Sörensen, who is on duty in the small town of Ribe.
The opening film is entitled "Rauhnächte".
What do you have in common with Denmark?
Actually nothing.
(Laughs.)
I did study Scandinavian studies, but with a focus on Swedish.
Before shooting this film, I was only in Denmark once, in my early twenties, at the Roskilde Festival.
And why Swedish?
After graduating from high school, I had no idea what to do. But when I was 16 I was on a school exchange in Sweden, thought it was a beautiful country, thought the boys were nice too and thought: You’re studying Scandinavian Studies. I approached the matter a little naively.
Back to Denmark and to the "Denmark-Krimi", one of the many Thursday thrillers on ARD that are set in other European countries. What was the decisive factor for you to say yes to this?
What I like about the character I play is that it is very normal, a person with rough edges and a difficult private life. Not a "Where were you at 8 pm yesterday?" - a policewoman, but one who tries to make up for a big mistake.
Whereby there are such figures.
Naturally. But not that many. I'm not a crime expert, but I guess there are more police officers on TV than patrolmen. And that makes a difference in the way you do your job.
Even if the patrol officer Ida Sörensen is investigating like a criminal investigator, on top of that on her own.
That is not part of her job, of course, she does it out of necessity. But she does not always handle the situation with confidence, and repeatedly makes tactical investigative mistakes. She wears her uniform because it gives her support. After all, she has a lot to prove to herself. If she hadn't made this mistake, the whole film wouldn't exist.
It's about a serial murder, a subject that is typical of the Scandinavian crime thriller. In your opinion, what is so fascinating about the fact that there are always several victims in a thriller?
I think there is something archaic about serial killing. Perhaps it is the size of the act that fascinates viewers. The more monstrous the crime, the easier the audience is when it is cleared up. But maybe you would have to ask a media psychologist about it.
(Laughs.)
There is a chief investigator in this film who is very strict with Ida, but who at some point confesses that she herself suffers a lot from the pressure of her male superiors. In your experience, does that also exist in acting? Men's societies against which you can assert yourself, against which you have to prove yourself? To be occupied, for example?
Naturally! The debate has been going on for some time now, and it has already started something, but still, in most of the books that you get that way, the majority of the characters are inherently men. In my experience, there are rarely the same number or even more women. And I can't prove myself in roles that don't even exist. Most of the writers and directors are still men.
Would you like to have that changed? For example, through a quota?
Well, there are often characters in a book for whom it doesn't matter at all for the story whether they are men or women, they are still written as men. That goes against the grain of me. But this does not only apply to women, but much more so to “People of Color” or members of the LGBTIQ community. There is still a lot to be done.
But that didn't stop you from taking up this profession.
If something like that would prevent you from taking up a certain profession, as a woman you would hardly need to take up a profession at all. We're still lagging behind on equality and pay.
But your job at “Denmark-Krimi” is safe. Or do you have to wait for the quota first?
Yes, of course we are waiting for the quota.
But is there another book in preparation?
It is being written, but I know little about it. I like to read it when it's finished and let myself be surprised. Nor do I blindly say yes to every book. It has to fit.