Ben Becker
He talks about his grim drug crash
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Actor Ben Becker experienced a life-threatening drug crash in 2007. A moment in his life that he now looks back on with dismay and shame.
Ben Becker: “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done”
In August 2007, the “Comedian Harmonists” actor made a momentous decision while intoxicated. As he explained to “Stern” at the time, he came home drunk and grabbed a syringe from the table “and then, without thinking too much, I pushed up my sleeve, completely amateurishly, without taking any precautions, pushed the stuff in and fired until there was nothing left in it.” Shortly afterwards, he noticed that it was “shooting.” He could not remember the rest of the night. What followed was a three-minute cardiac arrest.
All of that happened more than 17 years ago – and yet the issue seems more present than ever. In an interview with “Bild”, Becker now reflects on the darkest hour of his life. “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” he says. It was not a “near-death experience” because it was simply thoughtless and careless.
“I have processed this”
The actor also explains that he is “a little ashamed of myself” for his actions. He is aware that this issue will come up again during his program. However, he does not want his performances to be associated with his past actions. “He was a complete idiot who fell off the table and fortunately got back up again, reformed,” he reflects.
However, he now seems to have left that time behind him. “I’ve dealt with it, even if it took a while,” is his conclusion on the subject. An important realization that is surely doing him a lot of good after all these years.
Here he celebrated his successes
Ben Becker has enjoyed great success as both a film and theater actor. He has worked at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf and Hamburg, among others. He became very famous with films such as “The Einstein of Sex” (1999) and “Comedian Harmonists” (1997). He also played in “Polizeiruf” and others.
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Becker’s current stage programme is about the subject of death and the attempt to make it more bearable. “The text explains in a wonderful way that one need not be afraid of this transition into the great unknown. In this respect, the text is also life-affirming. One understands that life continues somewhere else, that it is a complex whole in which we have been embedded,” is his explanation of the author’s sermon. It sees life as a duel with death. It was written in the presence of King Charles I (1600-1649). It was the last text before the death of the poet John Donne.
Sources used: bild.de, stern.de, richter.direct/todesduell