Jan Josef Liefers is against putting the label “old white man” on Thomas Gottschalk. That doesn’t do him justice.
Jan Josef Liefers (60) plays the title role in the comedy film “Old White Man” by director Simon Verhoeven (52). In the pair’s double interview with “Bild am Sonntag”, the Münster “Tatort” star answers, among other things, the question of whether Thomas Gottschalk (74), “who is omnipresent right now through his book ‘Unfiltered’,” is “the prototype of the old one “white man”.
Jan Josef Liefers: Young people can also be “old and white” in their thinking
The situation is more complex than it is often portrayed, says Liefers, adding: “We are currently seeing that there are also young people who are ‘old and white’ in their thinking and older people who are young and open.” Regarding the legendary “Wetten, dass…?” presenter, he says specifically: “And we won’t be doing Thomas Gottschalk full justice if we give him this stamp.” He further explains: “Thomas was Germany’s number one favorite, that wasn’t that long ago.” And it is “simply difficult to evaluate your actions from the day before yesterday using today’s criteria.”
In general, the film star, who was born in Dresden during the GDR era, demands: “We need more tolerance for each other. And that always applies to one and the other.” And there’s something else that’s important to him: “Above all, we need more humor. Also to laugh at ourselves […] Laughter relaxes.”
Thomas Gottschalk criticizes the way people treat each other differently
In his third book, Thomas Gottschalk wrote a lot of frustration from his soul, about dealing with him, dealing with each other, social development in general, Gen Z and the like.
Most recently, his touching of female guests on his long-running Saturday evening show was discussed again. In the podcast “Die Supernasen” with his companion Mike Krüger (72), Gottschalk said: “I can’t remember ever harassing women on my show.”
The comedy “Old White Man” opens in cinemas on October 30th.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
