Helena Zengel
The acting prodigy conquers Hollywood
Helena Zengel
© imago images
Helena Zengel is an acting prodigy. At only 12 years old, she now has the chance of a Golden Globe.
Andrea Benda
This is not a fairy tale, but it sounds like one: Nora Fingscheidt invited 200 children to audition for her film "Systemsprenger". Helena Zengel was the fairytale number seven. A tender nine-year-old from Berlin who can smile so broadly that her face can't keep up with the size. And who until then had considered acting more of a hobby, while her hotter interest was anything to do with horses.
A perfectly normal girl, but after auditioning for the role of the neglected problem child Benni, who slips through all the auxiliary systems while it becomes more and more aggressive in its desperate need for support, everyone else was able to wrap up. In no second of the film does one get the feeling that Helena Zengel is playing – she is Benni with her whole range between irrepressible turning around and touching childlike attachment. "Systemsprenger" was showered with prizes, there was the Silver Bear and Lola as best actress for Helena herself (which she celebrated with a large glass of milk).
Helena Zengel at the side of Tom Hanks
What could come after that? Well: Hollywood called. Since February 10th we can see Helena on Netflix at the side of Tom Hanks, in the western "News Of The World", in which she plays an inaccessible, orphaned girl – we know that she can do that. That the 12-year-old has talent should be clear now at the latest – and Hollywood also recognizes that the little one is really big. With her first international role she achieves what every actor and actress dreams of: She has been nominated for the Golden Globe in the category "Best Supporting Actress".
Can Zengel prevail? We will find out on February 28, 2021. It's not that important to you yourself. For them, just being nominated is an honor. But she's really looking forward to the Golden Globe Night: "We have a designer for the outfit. It'll be a kind of jumpsuit, but with a new-fashioned style. I'll definitely get some popcorn! We'll be in a very nice hotel – I think it will be a really great night, "said the student in an interview with" dpa ".
Nevertheless, the uncomfortable Drew Barrymore feeling lurks in the background: If a child star is praised so highly so early, isn't a possible fall all the deeper? However, Helena's mother, who manages her daughter, does not seem to be one who wants to push her child to success at any cost. In the podcast that Helena records from time to time, she sounds like a happy twelve-year-old who has just switched to high school and happens to know Tom Hanks. Helena herself sees it quite calmly: "Still, I'm quite normal. I'm still a school child and only twelve years old. I enjoy this big and blatant Hollywood parallel world, which I also enjoy very much – and yet I just want to stay on the ground . " With so much talent and down-to-earthness, it's no wonder that Helena already has new offers on the table.
Maybe it goes like this: a girl who enthusiastically lives out her playful instinct, sometimes with world stars. And that grows up mostly normally, with horses and friends and well, film prizes. The hope remains that Helena Zengel is such a systematic that the often tough rules of business simply do not apply to her. Just like in a fairy tale that has come true.
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