Pierre Kiwitt: The embodiment of an international actor

He has starred in Brazil’s largest telenovela, has been prenominated for the Spanish cinema award ‘Goya’ for his role in Lobos Sucios, filmed Un profil pour deux alongside Pierre Richard in Brussels, landed a role in the Spanish success series El Ministerio del Tiempo and, of course, can also be seen in big, German TV and cinema productions. Pierre Kiwitt is the embodiment of an international actor with bi-national French-German roots.

You were born in Germany, have French roots and worked in France, Spain and Brazil amongst other countries. What does ‘home’ mean for you?

P. Kiwitt: Home is still Germany because I live there most of the time. But France is as much my home as Germany because I have a lot of family there. I always get confused where I like to be most. Let’s say it like this: home is where family and friends are. Then that’s the place where I also like to be… and sometimes this is Spain or Brazil. All in all, you could say that I’m 70 per cent French and 70 per cent German. Some Brazilians also say that I’m 30 per cent Brazilian… so this adds up to 170 per cent!

Back in the day, an agent discovered you while working in a bank. Why did you decide to become an actor in the end?

P. Kiwitt: My first ever role was the Pierrot in a pantomime play in my French school and it was a great experience for me. From this point on, I wanted to become an actor. Later, I took on several, smaller jobs to make some money. Then, I went down the wrong path and became a banker. [laughs]. It was fun for a while but, in the end, it just wasn’t for me and I decided that it would be a great side job to finance my acting training.

You have been in a Brazilian telenovela, were seen in Lobos Sucios, Homeland and Un profil pour deux and are also part of many German productions. Is there a role or a country that has especially stuck with you?

P. Kiwitt: Actually, exactly the projects that you just named stuck with me. There are different reasons why a project might do that. For example, I didn’t have a lead role in Un profil pour deux, but spending a few days with Pierre Richard was a childhood dream. Being the antagonist in Lobos Sucios was a great gift, to work with such amazing talents as Marian Álvarez, and it was a wonderful compelling story. The Brazilian telenovela was my first, big role – in a completely foreign country and in a foreign language. Of course, I also love shooting in Germany but France simply has the better buffets [laughs].

You became a big star in Brazil through the telenovela Eterna Magia. How was it for you when you came back to Germany after the whole hype?

P. Kiwitt: I really became famous from one day to the next in Brazil. That was as fun as it was bizarre, but I knew from the very start that it wouldn’t be as crazy back in Germany. That’s why it was quite easy. People simply don’t know that many Brazilian stars in Germany.

What can we expect from you in 2017?

P. Kiwitt: I want to fulfil all my childhood dreams – just like I did it with acting. And I can say that many new projects will also come out.

Do you have an absolute dream role that you would like to play at some point?

P. Kiwitt: The super and antihero who is nice but also bad. One who falls in love, cries and laughs, one who makes mistakes and also gets betrayed. One who then fights back, loses and then wins it all back again. One who makes people laugh and makes them cry, one who makes them think and reflect. And all of this should play on a pirate ship or in a submarine. Or in a space shuttle… something like this [laughs].

TEXT: NANE STEINHOFF | PHOTOS: ROBERT RECKER