What inspired you to become an actress?
I think it’s important to briefly mention that I was born and raised in post-war West Berlin as a child of young flamboyant artists, because that shaped my questions about life and how people treat each other and later my decision to pursue acting.
We were surrounded by the Berlin wall, that marked the border with the “death strip” behind it, with victim-activated anti-personnel mines and watchtowers from which Germans who tried to escape from East Germany were gunned down by their own countrymen. Although being an iconic center of the cold war, West Berlin was the freest city in the world, We even painted the Wall surrounding us with colorful Graffiti and making it part of our expression and daily life.
The thriving artistic scene attracted a lot of people who pursued alternative lifestyles, and artists like my parents, who were also active in the ’68 student movement. They were war children and revolted against everything they believed their parents represented, they rejected traditionalism and German political authority which included many former Nazi officials. They lived in open relationships and their parenting was “anti-authoritarian”. Like Jackson Pollock, they threw paint on canvases as an abstract expression of the silent cries of their inner children’s souls, as a protest against degenerate art (“Entartete Kunst” a derogatory term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany), as an expression of a new area in which love, peace and mind-expanding drugs were salvation.
When I was 12 years old, I saw the first films of concentration camps and tried to understand why people commit those atrocities and how it could have happened. I wanted to understand the human condition and the nature of life and had questions like: Where do we come from, why are we here and where do we go?
Shortly after I learned that the word theatre comes from the Greek theatron and means “Seeing the place we live in“ or “The Seeing Place”. People go to this place to see the truth about life, social and political situations.
With my questions about Germany’s past and witnessing the student protests against the Vietnam war, the women liberation and flower power movement from a teenagers point of view, I thought it was the most important and most needed place for society.
And theaters played a vital part in my unique upbringing, especially the Schaubühne, where they played experimental pieces, and new approaches to stage performances and the Grips-Theatre, a well-known streetwise and well-respected emancipatory children’s and youth theatre, where everyday problems and children rights are still skillfully explored on stage.
I knew I was an artist like my parents, but expressing myself on canvas wasn’t completely fulfilling for me. I wanted to understand people and embody them, and was already exploring different physical expressions practicing martial arts, then Butoh dance, and later Korean theater.
When I was 15 years old I met Samuel Beckett, who directed “Waiting for Godot” at the Schiller Theater and and ex con and former San Quentin inmate actor/director Rick Cluchey, who brought his plays “The Cage” and “The Wall is Mama” to the Schaubühne in Berlin.
It seemed to me like Beckett had captured these questions I had and threw them back at me – like a mirror – reflecting the bleak and hopeless and its absurdity, that my parents, the children of the war, were trying to overcome – by magnifying them in the “Seeing Place” and by doing so, he was deeply reaching my soul.
Rick Cluchey, who was serving a life sentence in San Quentin for armed robbery and kidnapping discovered the work of Samuel Beckett, after the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop staged a production of “Waiting for Godot” for the inmates. He had became an actor, writer and director in prison and was redeemed through theatre. (Nick Nolte played him later in “Weeds”, a movie inspired by his real-life story.) Although deeply impressed by his personal transformation, I felt a bit intimidated by him at first, but curious about his play that he had invited me to.
Watching “The Wall is Mama”, that plays in Mother’s Bar in NYC’s lower Eastside in 1978 was an unbelievable experience. It was such a precise milieu study created from Rick’s intimate knowledge of the language and psychology of America’s ghettos and prisons that it felt absolutely real. I went into a theater in Berlin and entered the lower Eastside in NYC. He made us, the audience, part of the performance by making us bystanders- in this bar where a violent conflict breaks out between a drug dealer, a transvestite, a black crippled preacher, a mafiosi from uptown Manhatten and a racist Vietnam sergeant, who feels above them – the acting was so real… I had never seen anything like that… it was raw, true and authentic and had a profound effect on the audience.
I experienced that acting and theater had the power to transform your life and the life of the audience. I later learned that film will do that too. I went home and told my parents, that this is what I was going to do.- And I did.
Who are your acting inspirations?
Children, animals, people from other cultures and heroines: Remarkable complex mature women, who push their limits and overcome the challenges of life and society, women who make an emotional, psychological and social impact and/or expand consciousness.
I’m tired of the underrepresentation of mature women on screen. And when cast, only to see them in stereotypes who are ambitious, bitchy, bitter single business women and witches, or with storylines that revolve mostly around maternal or matriarchal themes.
I’ll be 60 next year and I’ve made it my mission to portray the beauty, intelligence, humor and wisdom of mature women – no more clichés, but cosmopolitan, complex, women who know, who they are and what they want – who have a high level of intelligence and strength that makes them appreciated and attractive.
And if I don’t find those roles, as a protagonist in a great movie script and/or limited streaming / TV series, I’ll write them myself.
What is your favorite thing about acting?
Acting allows me to embody many lifetimes in one lifetime, express the best and worst of human nature without bearing the consequences, and in doing so to understand humanity and myself more deeply.
I love to tune my “actors instrument” exercising my imagination, working on my emotional “library”, my sensory expression, empathy, voice and intelligence, and constantly learning new skills from martial arts, to dance and instruments, to side sattle riding and motion capture performance, working in different cultures and languages.
I’m a lifelong learner, I explore and contemplate life, studying literature, film, theater dance, art, psychology, ethnology, shamanism and other sources of inspiration to transform myself and the audience.
What was your first acting job?
I was 18 years old applying at national conservatories of dramatic arts, when I was cast in three films at once: a TV movie and 2 feature films.
I played a motorcycle girl who ambushes and seduces the lead, played by Heinz Hoenig in the feature film “Be Gentle Penguin” by Peter Hajek.
In the feature film “Domino” by Thomas Brasch, whom I admired deeply since I had read his book “The Sons Die Before The Fathers”, I was allowed to play Katharina Thalbach’s dresser in a theater scene. I was so impressed by both of them and their work I didn’t want to leave the set.
In the TV movie “Repetition”, I played the female lead based on a script by Detlef Michel and directed by Host Schwab. The barkeeper Conny not only turns her customers’ heads but uses their lottery money for her own purposes until a rude awakening occurs.
What made that TV movie so special was that we were trained in “method acting” which was at that time not yet really known in Germany, except for a small group of actors that Lee Strasberg had taught for two weeks at the theater in Bochum in 1978.
We were trained for over a month in his technique, a self-exploring emotional journey and developed our characters and on camera acting by living our characters throughout. It was, so to speak, the first German “Method Acting” film, followed by a talk show discussion on television, which discussed the extent to which my realistic way of acting differed from German film acting.
What is your favorite project you have ever done?
I can’t decide between those:
Buster Bedroom – Rebecca Horn’s motion-picture homage to Buster Keaton. It was my first role in english as a tap dancing nurse, working with such an amazing cast & team I’ve learned so much from: Sven Niqvist behind the camera and co-starring with actors like Geraldine Chaplin, Donald Sutherland, Taylor Meat, Martin Wittke, Amanda Ooms, and Valentina Cortese meant the world to me.
Mad Man – being part of this magnetic, cinematic, Emmy Award winning 1960s period drama was just a bliss. Matthew Weiner’s exceptional writing, precision and attention to detail, Jon Hamm’s humor, professionalism and being a Mensch and all of that in Frank Sinatras house. The JET SET episode was described as “intriguing” a Fantasy a la David Lynch with a Fellini-esque touches – I couldn’t have ask for more…
Martha – a modern Mrs. Robinson story with an interesting twist, based on a real woman, by the award-winning director and screenwriter Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt. Mara’s vision of the film and how she made us explore these two characters was such a deep and interesting experience. I yearn for more leading roles and collaborations like that.
What are some qualities you look for in a project?
When I’m acting I look for compelling leading roles that have an arc, depths, complexity, and truly resonate with an audience; vital, strong, outspoken characters that let me show their growth/ change with my emotional range.
As a director I look for character driven stories with strong writing, original ideas and a Unique Point of View that have the capacity to transform others, may speak to their souls or raise important thought provoking questions that inspire viewers to reflect on the subject of the story.
Which character that you have played so far has been the most similar to you
None – I put my whole heart, mind, and soul in everything that I do and that will serve the character, but …I guess I’m currently waiting for my Christoph Waltz moment- a role where I can bring my complexity and whole skill set to.
I am known for portraying strong female characters, complex women – sensual and sophisticated, forthcoming mothers, assertive teachers and outgoing socialites, if needed in different European languages.
The roles are nurtured by me and my experiences, but I’m always at the service of the author, the director’s vision, that doesn’t mean I don’t get fully immersed, but I make myself an instrument, let “IT” play and therefore make often deep new experiences about people and the reasons behind their decisions – acting makes me more emphatic and at the same time teaches me how I want to be and how not, because I could make it tangible.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Determined Inspirational Sage – a true artist embracing humanity
What are your social media handles?
@ninafranoszek @thehollywoodconnectress
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
acting, directing , teaching , enjoying my life with family, friends and inspirational projects, a huge garden, dancing at the beach and a lot of fun and pleasure – its exactly what I’m doing right now.
What are three qualities every actor should have?
Curiosity, courage and to be absolutely truthful
Do you have any advice for an aspiring actor?
Be so good they can’t ignore you – Steve Martin
“Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses — especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” —Leonardo Da Vinci
Learn from the best, from working actors, film professionals, who are really playing in the “arena.” and have successful careers.
Listen!
Get to know, love and embrace yourself.
Don’t do it for fame or money, but negotiate well.
Find your tribe.
What’s next for you?
Playing a part in a show that I can’t disclose yet.
Writing the strong female characters I talked about. I’ve already have two historical projects and write about my life in West Berlin.
I aspire to direct again and currently put my directing reel together.
I also develop a VR Experience / Game that interacts with reality. It evokes awareness, communication, action and change.
And I’m coaching and consulting actors and film professionals who want to work in Hollywood.
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Who is a director you would love to work with?
A director, who
- has a strong vision, but is open to better ideas that come along
- knows how to get what he /she wants with what he/she has
- understands real human behavior
- allows the actors to explore their instincts, knows where they need to be emotionally and in the story, can communicate the needs of the scene and lead to strong performances
- leaves a mark on their films that are unique and unmistakable
- has a good team of people who work well together
- has an audience.
- don’t need to raise their voice – when he/she speaks everybody listens
What is something you can’t live without?
Love, inspiration, nature, the ocean, my family and friends
What is your biggest pet peeve?
IGNORANCE – people who disrespect other beings and the environment and when conscious people become radical
Do you have any hidden talents?
good teacher
Do you play any instruments?
jaw harp
What is your favorite pastime?
paddle boarding, horseback riding, dancing at the beach and doing nothing
Do you have any pets?
Yes, a cat named Bowie, as she has a green and a blue eye.
What is your biggest fear?
to not trust or follow my intuition
What is your favorite film genre?
Dark Comedies – and movies/ series that will feed your heart, mind, and soul.