Cologne “Tatort” star Behrendt in an interview: “Also a good team in private”
Berlin. He has been going with them for 25 years Dietmar Baer in Cologne on the hunt for crooks: Klaus J. Behrendt aka “Tatort” commissioner Max Ballauf – 1997 solved Ballauf and Schenk their first case together, the two audience favorites are now among the longest-serving investigators on German television.
The detective “crime scene: Four years” next Sunday is the first of three new missions by the Cologne team in the anniversary year – this time it’s about the murder of an actor, for which a TV star played by Thomas Heinze was apparently innocently imprisoned for years.
Mr. Behrendt, the crime scene in Cologne with you and Dietmar Bär turns 25 this year. How do you want to celebrate?
Klaus J Behrendt: We’re not planning a big celebration for our silver anniversary (laughs). Jokes aside: 25 years, a quarter of a century, that’s a lot, of course, and you put a lot of yourself into it. Let’s see how we can celebrate in times of Corona.
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The character Max Ballauf has been around for much longer: from 1992 to 1994 you were part of the Düsseldorf “Tatort” team in this role. Don’t you get bored after all these years?
On the contrary, I personally find that the role is becoming increasingly appealing. Ballauf was only an assistant in Düsseldorf, and I only did that for two years. But we’ve been doing the Cologne “crime scene” for 25 years, and there are always new challenges. Every time you shoot a completely new book, you often have new directors, new cameramen, new colleagues.
Did you have any influence on who your colleague in Cologne would be at the time?
Yes, back then it was even my condition that I choose my partner – and that there are two figures on an equal footing, between whom there is a healthy pro and con, i.e. no master-servant relationship.
And why did you choose Dietmar Bär?
Firstly, because his type is completely different from mine. Second because he’s a friend, I’ve written to him before because the chemistry is there. You can only do something like this with a colleague who you get along with, otherwise it won’t work – at least not over such a long period of time. And we are still a good team privately.
On the occasion of the anniversary, did you ever talk about how much longer you want to do the job?
I can’t give you an answer to the question of when this will end – but like everything in life, this thing is finite. We just signed a new contract.
How important are ratings to you?
I am not at all indifferent to the numbers. We at “Tatort” are storytellers, and we all want these stories to be watched. That’s quite clear. It’s also a bit like the “crime scene” in Germany is like a small Bundesliga, only we don’t have 18 clubs, but about 20 teams – and of course at the end of the year the ruler is put under it: Who has achieved which quota, who where does it stand in the popularity chart? And nobody would like to have the red lantern there.
At the “Tatort” in Cologne, the number of viewers speaks for itself, millions of fans tune in regularly…
I can tell you exactly who was annoyed about our last case: Olaf Scholz, Annalena Baerbock and Armin Laschet. Last time we ran at the same time as the third trill before the federal election and took away a few viewers – but they probably stole a few from us in return.
Do you get wistful when you watch older episodes?
wistful? No. It’s like a living photo album, it’s also very nice to look at. I don’t watch the old episodes specifically, I don’t sit in front of the TV in the evening and assess myself, but sometimes I get stuck with a repeat. And then of course I see: the character has matured, Max Ballauf is no longer the jumping field, the warhorse. It would also be sad if he had stopped in one place. And of course you get older, just like the character you play.
Do you actually have to make concessions to getting older, such as doing fewer stunts yourself?
On the subject of stunts, I have to tell you: when colleagues claim that they do everything themselves, I can’t quite believe it. Besides, no producer can want that. You mustn’t forget that there are 60, 70 people on the set, these are all jobs – and nobody wants the main actor to hurt himself on a stunt shoot just because he wants to prove himself and jumps through a pane of glass, and then the work still standing. It’s better to leave it to the professionals who can do it.
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An important element in the Cologne crime scene are the great cars, which was your favorite model?
Oh, that’s difficult. The many vintage cars are always driven by Freddy Schenk – and of all the cars, I liked the old Mercedes best, a chic roadster. But Max Ballauf always drives a completely neutral VW Passat, so unfortunately I never have anything fantastic under my butt.
Do you actually miss the Wurstbraterei, the snack bar with a view of the cathedral where Ballauf and Schenk used to end up at the end of most “Tatort” episodes?
This booth was a small stylistic device, I actually thought it was quite nice. You could tell it a little differently each time, there were also episodes where the inspectors came and the roller grille was down because the booth was closed. Now she’s gone, she’s in the museum. But we can replace that with other stylistic devices in terms of narrative.
Did the role rub off on you? Would you be a good investigator?
Of course you deal with a character like that. I think being a detective is a very interesting job. Putting myself in other people’s shoes and asking: why did someone do what, that arouses my interest. But I draw a line – what we do is fiction and the reality is totally different. And by the way, I don’t understand many citizens who attack police officers, attack emergency doctors, ambulance drivers, my brain really fails.
How important is it to you that politically relevant material is dealt with in the “crime scene” in Cologne?
Very! We have almost 90 minutes – if we can tell stories in this search that have social relevance, coupled with a crime thriller, we’d love to.