Zazie Beetz
In Hollywood, she’s in the fast lane
Zazie Beetz.
© Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
Zazie Beetz first caught the eye of many as a neighbor of the “Joker”. But the Berliner has long been one of the new stars of Hollywood.
She is in the taxi when we reach her at the agreed time for the video interview. Classic New York yellow cab, skyscrapers appear to the left and right in the camera image of her mobile phone, her words are sometimes drowned out by car horns. Zazie Beetz, 30, actually wanted to speak to GALA from home. But at the moment appointment follows appointment, photo shoots, meetings with important film people. Born in Berlin, she is now really involved in Hollywood.
Zazie Beetz is making a name for himself in Hollywood
She has just shot the action film “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt, 58, and Sandra Bullock, 57, which will be released in cinemas in July. “A great experience, the spirit during the shooting was really great,” enthuses Zazie. In the spring we will go on a premiere and advertising tour together.
She has no great reverence for stars. Rightly so. Joaquin Phoenix, 47, may have won an Oscar in 2019 for his title role in the ‘Joker’ movie, but Zazie Beetz also garnered plaudits for her small but important role as the psychopath’s neighbor. The year before, she had already shone as a superheroine in “Deadpool 2” alongside Ryan Reynolds, 45. And last year, the fashion label Max Mara gave her the “Face of the Future” award.
Strong performance: Zazie Beetz 2019 with Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker”.
© Everett Collection / imago images
An award that she sees as an incentive to work to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men in her industry: “I really wish that in the future there would be many more women not only in front of the camera, but also behind it. “
Her own way into the film business began in Berlin
Her grandfather was a professor at Humboldt University, her father worked as a carpenter, and her mother, an American, worked as a social worker. The family later moved to New York, but Zazie spent the summer holidays in Berlin or in the Allgäu. She still visits grandma and grandpa at least once a year.
Even if it sounds like a cliché: I am very tidy
“Of course we all speak German because they don’t speak English,” explains Zazie with a smile. Their children should also grow up bilingually. For family planning with her boyfriend David Rysdahl, 34, one thing is certain: “If we have children, I would like them to learn German and get to know my roots.” Did she discover typical German characteristics in herself? “Even if it sounds like a cliche, but I’m really very tidy and don’t like things lying around somewhere,” says Beetz.
Zazie Beetz lives in New York with her boyfriend, actor and author David Rysdahl. Together they also develop film materials and TV formats.
© Taylor Hill / Getty Images
Order is important, but so is creative chaos. She lives this out with her penchant for fashion and upcycling, even as a teenager Zazie cut up her T-shirts and sewed clothes out of them. Your style role models? “Rihanna or Carrie from ‘Sex and the City’ – just women whose looks are individual and who take a risk with it.”