{"id":45920,"date":"2017-02-15T14:38:14","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T13:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=45920"},"modified":"2017-02-15T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T13:38:14","slug":"european-shooting-stars-esben-smed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/european-shooting-stars-esben-smed\/","title":{"rendered":"European Shooting Stars: Esben Smed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European\u00a0Shooting Stars initiative,\u00a0organised by European Film Promotion, is one of the most exciting parts of the Berlin Film Festival presenting Europe\u2019s next big film stars. Previous winners have boasted alumni such as Daniel Br\u00fchl,\u00a0Carey Mulligan and\u00a0Alicia Vikander, who later went on to receive Hollywood recognition. Over the next couple of days, Sleek Magazine is teaming up with Audi<\/a> to put\u00a0a spotlight on five of this year\u2019s final winners. Next up: Esben Smed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Esben T-shirt by Drykorn, Trousers by Goetze<\/p>\n

A graduate from\u00a0The Danish National School of Performing Arts, Esben Smed is best known for his supporting role in TV series Follow the Money<\/em>, for which he won The Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Television Role. This is one of the highest domestic achievements from his native Denmark.
\nHis film credits include the football comedy\u00a0Summer Of ’92<\/em> and\u00a0Nils Malmros’ dramas Aching Hearts<\/em> und Sorrow and Joy.\u00a0<\/em>He will soon star in the lead role for Danish-German co-production Letters for Anima<\/em>.\u00a0His acting ability is characterised by his enthusiasm and boundless energy.
\nWe sat down with the actor to talk about what it means to be a recipient, what he enjoys about acting and who he’d like to work with next.<\/p>\n

Previous winners of the shooting stars award include Rachel Weisz, Daniel Bruhl and Carey Mulligan. What does it mean for you to be a recipient?
\n<\/b>It’s great company to be amongst. It’s an honour and a privilege. I walk around feeling honoured. When I have five minutes to myself, I stand there and think: \u201cThis is pretty awesome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You have had a film at Berlinale before. What do you think of the festival?
\n<\/b>I really really like Berlinale. I\u2019ve been to a lot of festivals because my girlfriend is a distributor. We have been to most of them. So I have been here a lot of times, and I really love it. Different festivals have different cool things about them. Gothenburg is cosy, and Cannes \u2014 the first three days are sexy and \u201cwow\u201d and then it becomes too much. But Berlinale is a place I really enjoy being all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Have you always wanted to be an actor?
\n<\/b>For most of my adult life, I think. I\u2019ve always been circling around it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Esben Esben Smed<\/p>\n

What is your favourite thing about being an actor and being on set?
\n<\/b>Actually my favourite thing is before being on set because it’s when the research happens. The best part is when I read a script and there\u2019s something I don\u2019t understand and you have to figure out how this character would do it. And when you\u2019re on set and it’s fun, and it’s good people, then it’s just amazing to be there.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve worked in both film and television. Do you think there\u2019s a different process?<\/b> \nYeah it is. It’s the same kind of thing but in television there is not as much time to create the good details as in a movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

You starred in a film about footballers. Did you prepare for the role by learning how to play football?
\n<\/b>I can\u2019t play football at all. I really suck at football. So I had to buy some football shoes and start practicing all summer to get it in the legs. And the character I was playing, he\u2019s right-footed and I\u2019m left-footed so I had to train my leg to be able to do these things. <\/span><\/p>\n

Did Niklas Bendtner watch the film?
\n<\/b>Actually I don\u2019t know if he watched it. But his girlfriend was in it and played my girlfriend so that was kind of funny. And she told me what professional footballers were like.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any dream director you\u2019d would like to work with?
\n<\/b>There are many directors I\u2019d really love to work with, both foreign and domestic I think. One of them is PTA, I would love to work\u00a0with that guy. Of course, Scorsese. I would love to work with Wes Anderson. Also, Michel Haneke, that would be great. And the greek guy, Yorgos Lanthimos \u2014 he\u2019s amazing. <\/span><\/p>\n