"I can't keep my mouth shut with the AfD"

Once a big YouTube star, Nilam Farooq has also established herself in cinema since her role in "Contra". Now "791 km", a new film starring the 34-year-old, is being released. She talks to ntv.de about working with legends like Iris Berben, inherited self-confidence and concerns about the AfD.

Once a well-known Youtuber and actress in various TV series, Nilam Farooq has also arrived in the cinema since her Bavarian Film Award-winning performance in Sönke Wortmann's "Contra". Further roles followed, including in Wortmann's "Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft" and Til Schweiger's "Manta, Manta - Zwoter Teil". A Marvel podcast was also recently released, for which Farooq was in the recording studio with Maren Kroymann.

Now the German with Polish-Pakistani roots is starring alongside Iris Berben and Joachim Król in the comedy "791 km". She spoke to ntv.de about what it's like to work with strong women like Anke Engelke, Berben and Kroymann, where she gets her belief in herself and what she is currently very worried about socially and politically.

ntv.de: Nilam, in "791 km" you play a career woman who is as annoyed as she is annoying. What was it that appealed to you?

Nilam Farooq: There's a funny anecdote about that. I was standing on set in the middle of filming at some point and thought that I didn't know why I hadn't read the script properly beforehand. Well, of course I had read it, but it was only then that I realized that Tiana was annoyed all the time. Things often feel different when you're playing than when you're reading. At some point, even I was annoyed by her. (laughs) There are people who think you always have to tell stories about likeable characters, but I'm not one of them. It's okay to be a little less likeable sometimes. With Tiana, I was always comforted by the fact that she had a reason for it, that there was a story behind it that made life difficult for her. So the feeling dissipated a little. But I really didn't realize how it would come across in the end at the beginning.

So far, your characters have been much more likeable - whether in "Contra", "Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft" or "Manta, Manta - Zwoter Teil". However, you are mostly seen in comedies. Is there so little else being filmed or are you just particularly funny?

No, I don't think I have any particular comedic talent. I'd like to take a course with Anke Engelke or Maren Kroymann where you actually do comedy.

You've already worked with both of them, so you have that contact. Incidentally, both are also very feminist women, like Iris Berben, with whom you filmed "791 km". Are you happy with how things are going for women in the film business right now?

I at least have a lot of hope, because I can see that a lot is happening or at least a lot is being stimulated. But I don't always believe that it will really turn into something concrete. We live in a time when it feels like everything fizzles out. Sometimes after two weeks, sometimes only after two months, but it somehow fizzles out.

That's probably why there are still quotas for women, especially in the various trades in film productions.

I was brought up to believe that I can't do anything worse than a man. But of course I also see how little has happened in the last 100 years and that my conviction often doesn't match the reality of professional life. That's why the women's quota will probably take a while to put things right. If I was told that I was being hired somewhere because I'm a woman, my ego would be hurt.

So your parents have always supported you in everything you've done?

My dad always said to me: "Become a chancellor or a doctor", because I don't come from an artistic family. It was only later that I realized how natural it was at home that I could do anything I wanted. Even a trade, like carpentry or something. That's my upbringing and it's great, because in the early years it lays the foundation for what someone will become later. I was given that as a gift, I didn't have much to do with it myself.

But then you have to make something of it yourself. At least with Engelke, Kroymann and Berben you have women at your side who have set a good example. Does it motivate you when you can work with them, or does it intimidate you?

I have a different kind of respect when I meet colleagues like them who have had a career for a long time. I take a more cautious approach, which is due to my upbringing. I wouldn't just go up and say "Hey Iris!". When she offered us the first name, it took me two weeks to get it over my lips. But you can learn a lot from her or Anke. The stories they have to tell between takes or in the morning during make-up are great. But of course I'm not going to blurt them out. I keep them all to myself. (laughs)

You joined "Soko Leipzig" at the same time as your YouTube career and had a permanent job there for five years. Something that others in the industry can only dream of. Nevertheless, you decided to leave the cast in 2019. Weren't you worried that things wouldn't work out as you'd hoped and that you wouldn't get any engagements?

Yes, I actually know that feeling too. Whenever I only had a few days of filming on "Kommissar Stolberg", "Bella Block" or something like that, I would sit at home afterwards and think that I would never film again. That that was my last day on a set forever and I don't know if I'll ever be allowed to do this job again. I never went to a traditional acting school, and "Soko Leipzig" naturally gave me a sense of security that I didn't have before. It was like my acting school. You learn so much because they shoot quickly and you meet lots of colleagues and directors. They always say you shouldn't do something like that for too long because otherwise you're too set in your ways, but after five years some people still hadn't realized that I was even there. (laughs) But in the end, the reason for leaving was that a kind of rut had crept in. That's probably really good when you have a family and children. But when you're in your mid-20s, it gets a bit boring.

Were there any offers at the time that made it easy for you to quit?

No. I don't know what possessed me, but I always thought that if it was meant to be, it would be. That's my basic attitude. There just had to be that one project where I could show a bit more of what I could do, then the audience would decide. And that was the case with "Contra" about a year later.

Today you can afford to say no sometimes. What is it that makes you accept an offer?

The circumstances. Who is directing, who is acting, what is my general feeling about the project? Do I think someone will be interested? If I'm not interested, it's difficult for me to say yes. But then it could still be that the role is exciting and I do it anyway.

There are two horror films starring you, "Heilstätten" and "Home Sweet Home" - which is coming to cinemas in January. What attracted you to them? This genre tends to go under the radar in Germany.

It always remains niche, that's true. But it just happened that way. The first project was exciting precisely because it was horror. And the second because it's a one-taker. That was the big attraction. My desire to run across fields screaming is otherwise limited, to say the least. (laughs)

But that can also be quite liberating ... I once heard.

I'm sure it is. But even then, at some point you're exhausted by yourself. Then you think: "Wow, I can't hear myself breathe anymore." But a project like this is not a deliberate balance to the other things, because I have no problem with the mainstream. I do the job because I want people to see the movie, that's what the word mainstream implies. But I'm also there when an arthouse film comes along that's shown at festivals.

An arthouse film would probably only deal with one of the themes that "791 km" touches on superficially. There are quite a few, in my opinion. And none of them are explored in depth.

I totally understand your criticism. I also thought about it a lot after reading the script and then thought, that's actually very true to reality. Five people together in one room. Like at the upcoming Christmas parties. While one uncle is talking about refugee policy, the other is already talking about climate change. That's how it is in the movie, and I liked the fact that it dares to do that instead of discussing every topic to the end. Everyone has the opportunity to more or less keep their point of view.

You grew up with social media and are now primarily active on Instagram. Has your approach to it changed over the years?

Yes, just through age alone, I would say. And of course I've also learned a lot. I know what happens when you reveal this and that about yourself. What consequences does that have, what do people take the liberty of judging you because they think they know you? Nevertheless, I think it's great that I can help steer my career. For example, when it comes to the press. I always have the opportunity to make things clear. For example, when you write that I didn't read the script for "791 km". (laughs)

Do you also use the channels to comment on social or political grievances? Is that important to you as a person with a certain reach - after all, you have 422,000 followers on Instagram?

There are always topics where you have to be even louder. I'm not a fan of supporting every movement out loud, a lot of things only happen in your heart. If I jump on a different bandwagon every week and take a stand, it's no good. And it's not my job either, I often don't have the knowledge. And that's completely independent of what I carry in my heart. But where I have realized that I can no longer be quiet is the AfD. I can't keep my mouth shut on this topic. The party is getting bigger and bigger. At the beginning, people were surprised about five percent, but now they're over twenty in the polls. The current assumption is that Alice Weidel will be the candidate for chancellor. How absurd is this idea, what kind of development has this been over the last five or six years? That's totally dangerous ... and a shame. At that point, I said I couldn't do it. I won't keep my mouth shut in the future either.

Nicole Ankelmann spoke to Nilam Farooq

"791 km" is now showing in German cinemas.