Alexandra Maria Lara
“I would have liked a job as a forensic psychologist too”
Alexandra Maria Lara as memory researcher Dr. Jasmine brown
© TVNOW / Hardy Brackmann
Alexandra Maria Lara plays a forensic psychologist in “8 Zeugen”. In an interview, she reveals what she has learned about the job.
Alexandra Maria Lara (42, “You Are Wanted”) embodies the legal psychologist and memory researcher Dr. Jasmin Braun, who is asked by the police for help when questioning a kidnapping case. Each episode is dedicated to a witness of the kidnapping and his memories in a chamber play-like arrangement. TVNow publishes all eight episodes on March 25th, later broadcast on VOX is planned. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Alexandra Maria Lara reveals what attracted her to the series as a crime fanatic, how she deals with memories from her childhood and how her everyday life has changed as a result of Corona.
Your role as a memory researcher approaches your work in a very specific way. How would you describe that?
Alexandra Maria Lara: Dr. Surprisingly, Jasmin Braun is brought in for a police operation and is supposed to help evaluate the testimony of witnesses. Despite initial skepticism, she takes on her task. However, from the very first minute she draws attention to the fact that her work does not normally take place with the witnesses personally, but that she works with transcripts. At the same time, her interrogations are different from what the police would do, which means that the witnesses reveal things about themselves that surprise them themselves. In our story everything turns out differently than expected.
What do you like about crime series?
Lara: I like crime novels in general and can’t put the book down while reading, for example, because I absolutely have to know what happens next. I was immediately fascinated by the special concept of the series and the fact that such a multi-faceted female character is at the center of the plot. This chamber play-like element, that there are one-on-one conversations between the forensic psychologist and the respective witnesses, was also a great attraction for me. Unfortunately, I never did much theater, but I grew up with the theater and have always had a great desire to play a role in which you have to make the text your own in such an intense way.
How did you experience the shoot then?
Lara: We shot some parts in one go and had takes of fourteen minutes, which was almost like sitting on a stage. I’ve dreamed of doing something like this for a long time. But of course I was also under a certain amount of pressure and had the responsibility towards everyone to be reasonably rested the next day and still have around 20 new pages of text ready to conduct the conversations and interrogations. I slept very little in the seven weeks of shooting (laughs).
What did you personally take away from these surveys?
Lara: For example, I wasn’t aware that my own memories can actually be so deceptive. When you start thinking about it, it makes perfect sense. But you first have to understand and unravel that for yourself, for example the question of whether, when you tell something from the past, it is a lived memory or a recounted memory. Which childhood story do you really have in your memory? And which ones have been told over and over again by siblings or parents over the years?
Are you someone who can remember your childhood very well?
Lara: I’m 42 now and it’s a nice feeling to be able to look back with my friends on the last 22 years or even longer. That welds you together because you automatically have these memory themes. But when it comes to childhood, for example, I don’t find it that easy. It is more difficult to tell whether it is the very own memory or whether elements from outside still influence the memory. Also to deal with the questions: What do you suppress? Why was something suppressed? When do you get something out again? – that’s very exciting.
Would the job of forensic psychologist be something for you too?
Lara: That would have been something for me too and I would have been very fascinated to deal with the brain and its complex processes. But scientists also work a lot alone, of course. I always work in a team and I really enjoy it. I would miss that.
At the age of 16 in the ZDF series “Mensch, Pia!” started. You were later seen in the Amazon Prime series “You Are Wanted” and now you are part of a streaming series again. How has the world of series changed for you?
Lara: I think if you want to look at it positively, there are many new opportunities for viewers to be able to freely design their entertainment program. Really great things are being filmed all over the world and there are many offers. For me as an actress, a series format is exciting because you have a lot more time to deal with your character. For me personally as a consumer, cinema is and will always be my great love. I just find nothing nicer than to sit in the cinema and then the lights go out and you immerse yourself in the worlds on the big screen.
Has Corona changed your professional life a lot?
Lara: I couldn’t believe that last year of all times I was able to play two wonderful leading roles and that we were able to complete both projects under the new circumstances. In addition to Dr. I played Jasmin Braun in the film adaptation of “Töchter” next to Birgit Minichmayr. So far I’ve been very lucky.
Has your everyday life changed?
Lara: Because my husband is also an actor, we both know what it feels like to be at home for two or three months after an intensive period of filming, not having to go anywhere and automatically living this private isolation. For most people who leave the apartment or house in the morning and only come back to the family later, it was certainly a major change and certainly not always easy.