Interview with Thomas Mraz: “Family comedy without a raised index finger”

The film “Actually should we” by director Harald Sicherheit (66) deal with topics such as consumer criticism and environmental awareness in a humorous way. In an interview with the news agency Spot on News, the main actor and co-screenwriter Thomas Mraz (49) explains the history of the film project, which deals with current social issues.

In “Actually we should”, Thomas Mraz embodies the passionate family man and photographer Stefan Steindl. Together with his wife Marion (Marleen Lohse, 41), an independent graphic artist, he masters everyday family life with three children in the big city – with a lot of love, lots of stress and a lot of garbage.

When Stefan gets to know a group of committed citizens who meet in a repair café and fight against plastic and garbage, he joins the underground rebels. The group provides toys of a well -known manufacturer with consumer -critical messages, but will soon be classified by the police as a “terrorist cell”.

The situation is complicated when Stefan’s Ms. Marion, of all things, moves the order for a new campaign of the same toy company ashore and unsuspectingly gets Stefan as a photographer. Forced to double life, family life gets out of joint.

“The original idea comes from Klaus Eckel,” Mraz explains about his co-scratcher, a well-known Austrian cabaret artist. “We wanted to make a family comedy in the best sense, but without a raised index finger without being moralizing.” It was important to the makers to present everyday contradictions: “Toys are something cute and positive, but has many problematic aspects – from manufacturing to the quantity that accumulates in households.”

When writing the script, the two authors also discussed a lot about the “incredible complexity of the sustainability issue”. “We have always stumbled across our thoughts that we now live in a society where you can no longer do everything right – you can no longer please everyone. Even if you try to live properly.

When asked about political activism, which plays a major role in the film, Mraz is differentiated: “It certainly takes the protest to initiate and accelerate political changes, but he should not overshoot the goal,” says Mraz and adds: “Personally, I find every form of extremism contra -productive because he continues to charge the mood of society and accelerates its division.”

Mraz plays a family man in the film who is torn between his former environmental policy ideals and everyday family life. Something that Thomas Mraz can understand well: “I can well remember what I used to buy. But this thought, ‘I have to buy that and I would like to have that’, has developed relatively much for me.” The Viennese acting star now consciously consumes: “I now only buy my smartphones refur bed or preloved products, as they say,” he explains in relation to used mobile phones. “I also started to repair my cell phones. If the battery no longer works or the display is broken, you can buy it and exchange it yourself.”

In a scene in the film, Mraz says figure in view of the shopping behavior of his children: “We raise three anti -social little narcissists here.” For the actor there is a spark of truth in it: “For example, I had an experience with a first communion where I listened to two boys. They listed what they received – seven Lego packs, a jersey from Bayern Munich and 400 euros in cash. I thought: That’s crazy.” After his own first communion, the Fiaker drove to the Vienna Prater and had fun with the family on the rides. That’s it.

Mraz sees a social challenge in the changed consumer behavior of the children: “Everything is always available, hardly anything is something special. In the past there was a birthday present, a Christmas present and in between no more.”

The Austrian artist came to his profession. “I come from a workers’ district in Vienna, with little artistic roots in the family,” he says. At the age of 23, Mraz worked for the Vienna Stocking in Marketing: “At some point I thought: If I behave well, I will retire – the thought was calming and terrifying at the same time.” Then he applied to acting schools and began his training at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna.

Today, in his filmography there are rows of successes such as “Vorstadtweiber”, “Der Pass”, “Kaiserschmarrndrama”, “Beckenrand Sheriff” or “School of Champions”.

Thomas Mraz celebrates his 50th birthday in autumn. “Actually, I decided to bring out a solo cabaret on my birthday,” he says. The time is now too scarce for the much employed actor, which is why the premiere will not take place until January 2026.

“Actually we should” run on March 26th at 8:15 p.m. in the first and is then available in the ARD media library until April 16, 2025.