Actor Tom Beck has been in the happiness of a father for two and a half years. In his new RTL series “Friedmanns Vier” he plays Mischko – a father whose life is turned 180 degrees by a stroke of fate.
The death of his wife brought Mischko Friedmann’s life to a standstill from one second to the next. Now he is solely responsible for his three daughters and has to manage to be there for his family without being broken by the death of his wife. In the interview, actor Tom Beck, 44, talks about the biggest challenges of the role and reveals how much of him is in the fictional character Mischko.
Tom Beck: “I was emotionally affected”
GALA: What were your first thoughts when you read the script?
Tom Beck: I didn’t have to think too much about it, but was immediately drawn into the story. I was emotionally moved, laughed, was immediately immersed in the topic and had to read on straight away. It’s not every day that I get such great books to read and I thought it was exceptionally good and was addressed directly.
How did you prepare for the role of Mischko, which is already very emotional?
I talked a lot with my coach about the role, because of course you have to think about how to deal with it and how I can put myself in the character’s shoes. It’s hard to play it like there’s always some kind of veil in front of your face when you get a message like that. And even in such extreme situations, you still manage to think clearly. And at the same time I thought about the role model function for the children. You also have a task. And if I let myself go completely, it doesn’t help anyone. That’s why Mischko also has the task of saying: “So, now let’s pull ourselves together, life goes on.” In every scene I made a conscious decision about how I want to play this now and tried to look at each scene as a new thought of its own.
Did you improvise a lot during filming?
In between, yes. You’re always trying to bring a scene to life. And the easiest way to do that is to be spontaneous. If the script says that I should prepare a toast, then I made a face like this for the little one on the cucumber toast. And you have to take the liberty to do that. But most of the time that comes more during rehearsals.
Tom Beck: “The biggest challenge during shooting was…”
You play a father with three daughters. You’re a father in real life too. What qualities of being a father did you carry with you into the series?
Well, I’m still a new father. And I can just about deal with other topics than truancy and alcohol at school. These are still relatively harmless things that I have to deal with. But of course I’m me, Tom. And that’s what I can bring to the role. Many things are of course predetermined and I don’t know yet whether I would act similarly as a private person. It’s mixed. I also see some of Mischko’s behavior in me and then there are things that are very far away from me – but I find them nice to play. I’d say it’s 50/50 – what’s in there of me and what aligns with Mischko’s characteristics.
Your child is still small. Are you already thinking about puberty?
Not concretely yet, but one does wonder how certain things will be dealt with in the future. What do I do if I ever catch him with a cigarette? So before he’s 18 (laughs). So how do you talk about things like that? How do you make him realize that you really don’t want that? And it’s obviously not the right thing either. And of course you want the child to figure it out for themselves. And I want to give him some freedom. You had a youth yourself and know roughly what you did and how you found the behavior of your parents in the individual situations. And the crux is finding the right mix. I’m concerned about it, but I don’t yet know how I’m going to deal with it. Time will show.
The series shows a family in a state of emergency and Mischko tries to keep everything together. What was your biggest challenge while playing?
My biggest challenge was: “How do I create the emotional arc? How is the emotional journey of the character Mischko Friedmann? When does he actually realize death? How does he mourn? Does he go straight into suppression mode or does death come to him? When does it stop Does he have feelings? When is he going to break down?” Those were the most important questions and they also challenged me the most.
Tom Beck: That means family for him
The series deals a lot with death and loss. How do you deal with losses privately?
I feel very blessed that I haven’t had to suffer so much in that direction. Of course I’ve also lost friends and family members, unfortunately that’s part of life and it’s hard. At the same time, I try not to think about it much and to draw something positive out of everything.
What do you hope viewers will take away from the show?
I’ve already received so much positive feedback on the series that I didn’t expect at all. I never imagined the show doing so much with people. I got personal and individual messages like: “It really touched me how you played it” or “I experienced that too and I think it’s great that you are shown or can see how to deal with loss”. . For the TV broadcast, too, I hope that the series encourages the viewers and has a lasting effect on them. That it conveys a life-affirming feeling, despite the tragic situation, and that the viewers can take something with them for their lives.
The whole series is about family, relationships with grandparents, relationships between children and parents, and relationships between siblings. What does family mean to you personally?
According to Wikipedia I have seven siblings and of course I know what it’s like to grow up in a big family (laughs). But I’m actually an only child – I don’t know who wrote that down either.
For me, family is a feeling that cannot be put into words. There are so many facets in it – love, hate. It’s never just a perfect world. In the end we are connected to it for life. And in the best case, you manage to master all situations through good, honest communication and direct dealings with each other.
One of the greatest treasures of family is that you belong together and you should use this potential, even if it sometimes hurts. The question is whether to use it. Every family is different. But I personally think it’s nice when you try to do justice to the word family.