Nadja Uhl on male power: She experienced delicate moments in her career

Nadja Uhl (52) is one of the most famous German actresses and can currently be seen in the cinema alongside Jan Josef Liefers (60) in the film “Old White Man”. She could possibly have had an international career. But now she revealed why she consciously chose not to do so and what disappointing experiences she had with powerful men – and women – in the film industry.

The mother of two reports that she has met some “idiots” during her professional life. “I have experienced male dominance based on power and money, including in America. I know that this combination allows for a lot of influence.” She had to decide “whether I wanted to be part of the game or instead tell these gentlemen that I didn’t want to be part of their projects.” Those were “delicate and dangerous moments” that cost her a lot of energy, “especially when it came to Hollywood.”

But as a woman she has set her limits. “Physical limits, ideological limits and therefore also limits for my career.” So she decided on a different path – and with it a big Hollywood career. “But that was the only way I could go home in peace and have children.”

She and her manager Kay Bockhold have two daughters, who are now 15 and 18 years old. Uhl attributes the fact that she was able to express her own opinion so consciously back then to the fact that she was “always autonomous enough.” She always created a plan B. Maybe that’s because of how the actress was raised. Her family relied on “the greatest possible freedom and the greatest possible love”.

To this day, the 52-year-old is amazed that the powerful men respected her no “in a strange way.” “I think that came from a strength that I developed through saying no. Being able to say no protected me.” But during her career she experienced “many disappointing moments” not only with men, but also with powerful women. “I told these women how disappointed I am that they don’t stand up more for us women. Why they don’t ensure better working conditions and so on.” Uhl thinks: “In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it’s men who behave wrongly or women. It’s always a question of character.”

Uhl was born in Stralsund and, after graduating from high school, completed her acting training at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig from 1990 to 1994. After a few appearances in plays, she focused on film and television productions. In 2000 she was nominated for the New Faces Award as Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in the same year with the film “The Silence After the Shot”. Uhl is known for her versatility: In addition to comedies such as “Men’s Hearts”, she also masters character roles – for example as terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt in “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (2008).