When I was a kid, we all knew who Niki Lauda was. He was a hero, a living legend in Germany. Everybody knows him. And he's still very present on TV because he's commenting for Formula One.

I started to do theater when I was a little boy at school, and then, I think because my father was a documentary filmmaker and worked for German television, I was of course fascinated by what he did. Then when I was around 15, I did my first movie.

If you play a real character who’s famous and still alive, it makes things easier if you have the luck to have a good relationship with them.

I would love to spend a year living in New York; I’ve wanted to do that since I was 18. I’ll be really disappointed if I’m 50 and haven’t done something like that.

I was lucky to start working when German cinema was having an interesting moment. Now the quality is going downhill again because they’re insisting on doing comedies. We should know by now that we make good cars but we’re not the funniest people.

I have one car that works; it’s fast and safe: an Audi 5. And I have two old cars that never work: an old Peugeot convertible, and an Alfa Romeo Giulia.

My parents always went to rallies and demonstrated against certain things; my generation, we often have a political conscience, but we’re not that involved.

I’m always nervous doing auditions – to be honest, I hate it. I always envy the actors who are so cool and cold-blooded when they go in for an audition, especially if it’s for a part that you would really love to play.

Happiness is the enemy. It weakens you, puts doubts in your mind. Suddenly, you have something to lose.

I started to do theater when I was a little boy at school, and then, I think because my father was a documentary filmmaker and worked for German television, I was of course fascinated by what he did.