Gerit and Anja Kling are sisters. And best friends. In the exclusive GALA interview they talk about closeness, distance and taboo topics.
The title of the joint film by Gerit, 58, and… could be more appropriate Anja Kling, 53, not his: “family ties”. But while the actresses lived under the same roof in real life until seven years ago and are one heart and soul, there is an ice age between the film sisters.
Gerit and Anja Kling: They really are that inseparable
GALA: Do you also know such arguments?
Gerit: Yes, of course, we can really argue. Then we feel stupid for a while.
Who will approach the other first?
Device: I used to usually do that. Today we have a different culture of debate. We avoid the argument because we have no strength or capacity for it. We have become more addicted to harmony.
Anja: It’s a bit like an old married couple. You no longer approach each other so hot-headedly, you swallow more and save your energy. But we are an exceptionally harmonious sibling pair.
Has your relationship changed since you lived apart?
Anja: At first I didn’t think it was good when Gerit told me that she wanted to move out. That was planned differently, I thought. But now we enjoy being able to visit each other again.
Gerit: When we lived together, we couldn’t avoid each other, we heard everything about each other. Now we sometimes don’t see each other for several weeks and have a lot to tell each other. We’re not just sisters, we’re best friends. There is no one who is closer to me.
Was it always like that?
Anja: Yes, it was even more extreme in childhood. It was a very great love. I admired my big sister for everything she could, did and said. I was always the shy one, she was the extroverted one. We thought what each other broadcast was great.
Gerit: Anja was a very tender, very profound and such a sweet, pretty, smart, dutiful girl. Being five years older than me, I always had a protective instinct. My little one, that’s so burned in. That was the foundation we laid for the years we grew up and went into showbiz. Today it’s all mixed up, sometimes I’m even the little one.
Sister duo in show business
What does it mean to you to be in front of the camera together?
Gerit: That was really fun. We’ve been wishing for years to finally play equally big roles again. Now mine is smaller, but that’s okay too.
Anja: Yes, we shot far too little together for our taste. But maybe something will develop. If you let women over 50. It’s not like we’re as inundated with offers at our age as we were at 30.
Gerit: Well, and for me it’s even worse, I’m a few years older. The roles then no longer have names, they are called “the pharmacist” or “the lawyer”. This is due to youth madness, including on social media. The creators are afraid that the audience will get too old, their motto is: rejuvenate, rejuvenate, rejuvenate.
Anja: Gesine Cukrowski initiated a great campaign to draw attention to women over 47. We are big supporters of the idea that women are noticed, that they do not become invisible. Something urgently needs to change in society.
As strong women, what do you value in each other?
Anja: Gerit’s positive attitude to life, her humor, there is no one in the world with whom I can laugh as much as with her. Every trip with her is adventurous, you are never afraid of boredom. Yes, life is fun with Gerit.
Gerit: I can only give it all back. What I also appreciate about Anja is that she intervenes when I am sometimes undiplomatic, too quick or thoughtless. I listen to her when I have something on my mind. She is a good advisor.
Are there any taboo topics?
Gerit: Yes.
Anja: What?
Gerit: Yes, we are not the sisters who constantly talk about sexual experiences. We just don’t do that.
Her life away from the spotlight
Have you passed on your sense of family to your children?
Gerit: Our sons live together in a house and each have a small apartment there. So they continue to live the model of life that they learned from us as children.
Anja: And my daughter is already waiting for something to become available in this house so that she can move in with her boys.
Do you already see yourself as grandmothers?
Anja: Hopefully that still has a lot of time, but in my circle of friends it’s actually starting to happen that some people are becoming grandparents. I can well imagine that too.
Gerit: I once had a phase in which I really wanted that, but it calmed down again. I don’t push.
Can you imagine living under the same roof again in the future?
Anja: As very old grandmothers, with long white hair, when the men have died, we live together again. Then we look out the window and people say: “Those two there, they used to be actresses, even quite successful ones.” (laughs)