Victoria Mayer has long appreciated the lively atmosphere and hustle and bustle of the Diessen pottery market. The well-known actress was all the more pleased about the request from the town hall: Would she like to take on the patronage of the 22nd edition of the international ceramics festival? Traditionally, this event begins on Ascension Day and lasts four days. Mayer wanted to, and that’s why she’s giving the opening speech this year. A role that State Parliament President Ilse Aigner (CSU) took on last year. “I’m looking forward to accompanying the opening day,” says Mayer. She has lived in the town with her family for 14 years and knows the importance of this major event for Dießen. But she also enjoys the colorful togetherness on this long weekend. “Then Dießen is particularly shimmering,” she says.
It was a coincidence that the family ended up in Diessen. “We liked it straight away,” says the actress, who is married to actor Jan Messutat. The artists’ location on Lake Ammer attracted the couple, who wanted to move from Munich to the countryside. “The introduction of a friend opened up the possibility,” reports Mayer, who had previously lived in Munich for 14 years. The couple now lives in Diessen with their two children. Mayer doesn’t make much of a fuss about herself; she also appears completely natural at the interview. Occasionally she is spoken to in town, for example when the sought-after actress appears in a cinema or television film such as a Tatort episode or a comedy such as “Hello, mother-in-law!” was to be seen.
But “I live here very calmly,” she says. Mayer, born in 1976, has been busy as an actress for many years. In 2020 she was awarded “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” by the German Academy of Television for her role in “Days of the Last Snow”. In 2021 she received the Oscar Student Academy Award in Silver for “Adisa”, in which Mayer played the leading role in the medium-length student short film.
Victoria Mayer has been visiting the pottery market for years, always admiring the variety of goods on display and also buying one or two pieces. She hasn’t made any pottery herself yet. Nevertheless, she has a connection to crafts through her parents’ house: her mother, a tailor, made pottery. Mayer was born in Münster and grew up near Bremen and Marburg. At the age of twenty she moved to Munich, where she studied acting at the Bavarian Theater Academy. It was only last fall that the actress took part in a theater production again after a 15-year break.
“It’s a great adventure to be on stage again,” reports Mayer. She took on three very different roles in the stage version by Jochen Schölch at the Metropol Theater in Munich in “The Eighth Life (For Brilka)” based on a novel by Nino Haratischwili. “The connection has existed for a long time,” says Mayer, who worked at Metropol in 2002 after drama school. The play will be resumed from October and Mayer is looking forward to playing the three roles of Daria, Alla and Ida again. “The great thing about theater is that we can act up and down the age. It’s a lot of fun,” she says. When it comes to aging, the actress, who is also a member of “Pro Quote Film” – a non-profit organization that works to increase the proportion of women in all areas of film production – is cautiously optimistic about the film industry: “That’s changing. ” So far, with every decade that actresses get older, fewer and fewer roles are offered.
In the summer, Mayer will be in front of the camera again, filming in one of these still secret productions in Munich and Berlin. However, it is rare that she can commute from Dießen to the film sets every day, even though she usually travels frequently. Mayer also works as a speaker and makes radio plays. However, there hasn’t been an offer to produce an audio book yet – that would also appeal to her, because Mayer has a wide range of interests. She currently has a script project in the works with five women involved. She particularly appreciates the creative aspect because she has “a lot of knowledge about character development and dynamics.” However, the project is not yet a top priority. She also takes part in local cultural initiatives such as a literary competition for women, and she also helped out at the CoLibri bookstore in Diessen for a year and a half. “During that time, I read even more than usual so that I could make book recommendations,” she says. She recently worked as a co-director on a school project and raves about the students’ personal developments while playing theater.
She makes it clear that her professional focus remains on film and television. So far, she has always been lucky that either her husband or she was able to be there for the family during work-related absences. Freelancing also means that the phases in which she has a lot to do alternate with the phases in which there is nothing for a long time. “Making this change work well is a challenge,” she says. It’s great to have this quality of life here in the artists’ town on Lake Ammersee. She finds it very valuable to exchange ideas and notes that “many colleagues also live in the area”. Opening the pottery market in Diessen is a special honor for her.
The 22nd Dießen Pottery Market will take place from May 9th to 12th (daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) in the Seeanlagen. More than 160 ceramic workshops from 14 countries present their wares in the lakeside facilities; entry is free.