A portrait of actor Jenny Schily

Jenny Schily is a vampire. And the director of a women’s prison. And a police inspector’s journalist girlfriend. And a queer actress. Or a schizophrenic man’s sister.

Just this selection of roles she has played over the last two years reveals the 57-year-old’s exceptional position in an industry where many actresses over 50 get very few offers. The range of projects is also significant. They include the German Disney+ series CITY OF BLOOD, the international hit series BABYLON BERLIN, the final season of which she will be shooting soon, the intense independent film IM HAUS MEINER ELTERN, and the relationship drama OF LIVING WITHOUT ILLUSION.

When asked why her career has proved so consistent, she hasn’t got a single answer: “It’s probably a bit of luck, perhaps also fate – and because I’m so good, of course” she says, laughing. But she sees her run of success in a relative way: “I have been rejected for being too old, as well, even when a role was written for my age group.” She doesn’t want to see herself as a victim of systematic discrimination, although she certainly knows it exists. “If I felt that way about myself, I might capitulate or change careers. But I don’t want to do that,” she adds with a smile. Her attitude is: “Then, I think this particular production company is looking for someone younger. And as with any rejection, you shouldn’t take it personally but just accept it and move on.” She also believes that in general, women’s visibility is increasing: “Things are getting better. There are many inspiring films featuring women who are no longer very young.” One indication here is the positive response she has had for her role in Cologne’s TATORT, playing the detective’s only slightly younger lover: “I was surprised by the audience and media reactions. It wasn’t so much about age, but about telling the story of an authentic, equal relationship.”

Since drama school, one of the driving forces behind her career has been a desire for the new and unfamiliar. She wants to be challenged and so keep discovering new sides to herself. “Living out something in a role that I perhaps didn’t know, or didn’t dare to live out before – I am happy to say that desire has stayed with me.” She tries to remain open to her characters’ complexity: “I find myself questioning the idea that ‘my character doesn’t do that” more and more often, since it might also make the character more interesting if they did something that seems untypical.

One of the key people to encourage her love of acting early on was director Volker Schlöndorff, with whom she shot the award-winning Berlinale film DIE STILLE NACH DEM SCHUSS (THE LEGEND OF RITA) in 2000: “Even the casting was nothing like a test, it was more like a work sample. He is a very intelligent, precise observer and has such a welcoming personality. That made me feel taken care of and noticed right from the start.”

Disillusioning experiences, inevitable in such a long career, have not changed her underlying motivation. “I am someone who is quick to doubt myself,” she admits, before adding: “But when I realise that I’m succeeding, or that success is being reflected back to me, it’s an incredibly good feeling, encouraging me to try and see if I can do it again next time.”

Despite her extensive repertoire, which she began building up as a stage actress – she made her debut in THE SEAGULL at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden in 1995 – she is not yet finished: “I feel as though there are so many things I haven’t played yet, I haven’t even got close to some subjects. I would love to do something comic, for example.” She accepts frustrations pragmatically: “One of the positive aspects of being freelance is that if you act in something that doesn’t make you particularly happy, the next project will come along and things will be different. You can always start again, I like that.”

One facet largely missing from her work has been roles in international productions. Perhaps she also needs an international agent. “Yes, I would like to shoot more abroad,” she admits. In conversation, she mentions her admiration for Justine Triet, Ruben Östlund and Yorgos Lanthimos: “I wouldn’t say no, there,” she says with a laugh.

Rüdiger Sturm