Actor Hardy Kruger Jr. describes in “turning points” how he learned about the “Forsthaus Falkenau” -aus – and the dramatic effects.
In his newly published, autobiographical book “Turning Points – How I drew strength from change” (Gräfe and Unzer), actor Hardy Krüger jr. (53) of “significant episodes” in his life. The 19 chapters are named after cities around the world in which significant turning points have occurred.
According to his biography, it starts in his birthplace Lugano in Switzerland and ends in Hamburg, where he was on stage in 2014/2015 with the play “Pretty Best Friends”.
And what is perhaps even more important, where the great love story with his current and third wife (since 2018) Alice (44) began with a short chat message. “Hi Hardy! Will you be back in Berlin soon? We should definitely continue our exciting conversation. Alice”, wrote the PR agent at the time – just at the moment when he was thinking about what to write to the unforgettable woman he ” three years “previously at the” Hotel de Rome “in Berlin …
“Please don’t tell anyone from the crew yet”
The previous chapter is titled Linz, Austria, and in it Hardy Krüger Jr. tells the story. Among other things about the dramatic moment – and the huge consequences – when he found out about his TV series “Forsthaus Falkenau” (ZDF), in which he could be seen from 2006 to 2012 as the forester Stefan Leitner.
The scene he describes begins on a morning in October in his mobile home on the series set. “The location was on a lake in southern Bavaria, my camper was right on the shore. I could hear the rustling of the reeds in the wind, and there was still some fog over the water. Nothing indicated a day that would change everything,” writes Krüger jr.
Then there was a knock on the door and the embarrassed-looking head of production, Hans, who had also become a friend over the years, entered. He handed the actor a letter from ZDF that had been lying on his desk that morning. “That can’t be true. A restructuring of the program? What is that supposed to be?” Asked Hardy Krüger Jr. incredulous. At that time, he had already planned to get out of the series, but not so quickly. “Over the years I had really come to love Stefan Leitner and the forester’s house. I wanted to say goodbye, but differently,” he remembers in his book.
“I have a favor to ask of you, Hardy. Please don’t tell anyone from the crew yet. The editor will tell you about it tonight. I’m really sorry,” he said, leaving the star of the series in the trailer. “How am I supposed to survive the day of shooting knowing that my team would soon be without a job? That was my crew, my family. Every day we were on the set together and did our best,” he asked himself at the moment. When he “stumbled to the set on shaky legs”, lighting technician Peter moved him to tears with his joking words – “Man, Hardy! You look like it will all be over tomorrow”.
During a break in filming, the “boss from ZDF” called and explained Hardy Krüger Jr. the thing with the restructuring again personally. The “Forsthaus Falkenau” was not the only format that fell victim to this.
The end of the series is problematic in terms of content and finances – and a stigma
For the actor and family man, the sudden end of the series was problematic in terms of content and finances. In terms of content because: “I had ideas how the story of Stefan Leitner would be told to the end so that you could get back on track at any time.” Financially, it didn’t come in handy either. “We were just building a house in Upper Austria. It was important to me that Katrin, Vinas and Layla were covered and that they didn’t feel alone even when I wasn’t there,” he writes about his second wife (2008-2015), a Austrian artist and their children.
When the “Toni Costa” thrillers (2011, Das Erste) with Hardy Krüger jr. in the title role were “deleted without replacement”, “the professional situation continued to worsen”. At that time there were no more inquiries, cooperation partners had let the contracts expire, friendships had broken.
“Obviously, people were reluctant to occupy me because they feared my psychological instability,” believes Krüger Jr. today. “The press reported extensively on my son’s death. I was branded, stigmatized, and punished twice if you wanted to,” he writes. “Not only had I learned the worst that could happen to a parent – now the drama was affecting my career too.”
Little Paul-Luca died of sudden infant death syndrome in July 2011 at the age of only eight months. Hardy Krüger jr. the book, in which he lets himself look deep into his soul: “For my children Leon Daniel, Noah Ben, Vinas Zoe, Layla Katharina, Paul-Luca and Antonia”, he writes and adds: “Thank you, Alice, for yours Patience. LU “.
The lucky coincidence shortly before the catastrophe
“In my life there have been many turning points in which things happened just before the catastrophe,” is how he sums up his very personal “turning point” mechanism. “The Linz chapter did not end in disaster either. Because the Kammerspiele Hamburg hired me for a season” …