People: Justus Johanssen on police film: Uniform does something to you

Actor Justus Johanssen immediately went to the gym after being accepted for the lead role in the police film “Alone Between the Fronts”. “When I found out that I had been cast, I went to the gym that same day and trained. I knew roughly what to expect,” said the 29-year-old from Hamburg in a ZDF interview.

In the film on November 18th (8:15 p.m.), Johanssen plays the platoon leader of an evidence preservation and arrest unit (BFE) that is involved in a death during a demonstration in Cologne. The production enabled the police officers’ actors to receive professional operational and stunt training before filming, said Johanssen. There we were specifically prepared for the shoot and our “unit” was formed.”

When the demonstration scenes were filmed, temperatures exceeded 30 degrees. “We sweated endlessly,” Johanssen recalled. “It was like being in a sauna.” Filming in full gear for a week in these temperatures was a challenge. “The equipment also weighs a few kilos and is very bulky. So yes, I reached my limits at times, but we had to go through it as a team and push each other. And scenes like this don’t happen half-way through. I could use these circumstances very well for my game.”

Did the film project change his view of the police and the officers deployed at demonstrations? “I think the police often don’t have it easy because they are confronted every day with situations that they did not initiate. The officers naturally become a projection surface.” He believes that this inevitably leads to a lot of frustration among the officials. “And then it rocks up.”

Outside of filming, he discussed the content of the film with his fellow actors. “It was important to us that nothing was glossed over or toned down. We also talked about topics such as ‘willingness to use violence within the police’. It was also a lot about who is behind the storm mask. First and foremost, they are people. That was also a topic the uniform, and what wearing it has done to us. The uniform creates cohesion, but it also sets us apart in a way.”