Twice invited to the illustrious circle of the Berliner Theatertreffen, five nominations from the magazine “Theater heute” for “Young Actress of the Year” and at the end of January the Ophüls Prize (“Best Young Actor”) for her role in the film “Para:dies” – if you are the If the actress Julia Windischbauer, who was born in Linz and grew up in Leonding, predicts a limitless career, one does not take any great risks. The 25-year-old, who was inspired by her grandfather in the Linz-Dornach theater group, is currently enjoying success at the Deutsches Theater Berlin.
It was Windischbauer’s biggest disappointment that turned into a great opportunity: In October 2019 she found out that the new director of the Munich Kammerspiele, Barbara Mundel, would not take the young actress into the 2020/21 ensemble. “Of course I know that something like this is part of my job, but it was a shame because being dismissed never feels great – and that was my first,” says Windischbauer in an interview with OÖN in a Berlin pizzeria.
First off
Her disappointment from back then still gets tone and color when Windischbauer describes how she said to her mother: “Mom, I’m not going to be an actress after all.” At that time she had already been awarded the O. E. Hasse Prize by the Berlin Academy of Arts for outstanding young actors. An honor that fueled careers like those of Christoph Waltz and Ulrich Tukur. After the dismissal, Windischbauer first had to leave. With her mother’s car, she went to England alone for two weeks.
Parallel to her expiring Kammerspiele contract, she still had a year to complete at the Otto Falckenberg Drama School in Munich. A quickly arranged audition brought her to Berlin, in the arms of the celebrated director Anne Lenk at the Deutsches Theater. It is the house that Max Reinhardt formed into the main stage from 1905 and in which capazunders such as Ulrich Matthes or Sophie Rois make the spectacle shine night after night – now Windischbauer too. She is currently on stage with Matthes in Heinrich von Kleist’s “The Broken Jug”. On March 11, she premieres in Thomas Bernhard’s “Extinction. A Decay”.
Her most naturally gendered words roll out of Windischbauer faster and faster when she talks about her first leading role in Berlin, Elisabeth in Friedrich Schiller’s “Maria Stuart” (director: Anne Lenk): “It was such a great challenge to take on this Role that many great actresses have already shown to be able to work through. They are great people, whose work and thoughts I get to understand here. What I gained in Berlin is self-confidence – and the courage to be allowed to be bad.”
“Don’t get it yet”
Anyone who has known the woman for a long time knows that she was not shy until then. “That’s true, but I no longer have the feeling that I have to stage myself in order to be asked about it afterwards in the canteen. That sounds stupid now, but I’m also a bit proud of it.” No, that doesn’t sound stupid at all.
Some days she does stand in front of the mirror again, “and I say: ‘Hey, I’m at the Deutsches Theater!’ Because I still don’t get it.”
Mother Susanne and father Thomas travel to virtually every premiere. “Isn’t that touching? And I can use my dad for all the crafts in my apartment.” Windischbauer’s sister (22) studies veterinary medicine, the brother (21) computer science, Julia has always been the “freak of the family”.
The stage should keep the important role in Windischbauer’s life. She is also working on her film career. The ARD fairy tale “Zitterinchen” with Windischbauer as the sluggish baroness’s daughter is finished (broadcast at the end of 2022). In March she shoots “My Lonely Days Are Gone”, Thomas Prenn (“Great Freedom”) plays the leading role alongside Windischbauer (director: Maximilian Conway). In April, the award-winning “Para:dies” can be seen in Linz. She also edited the film herself, which she learned during an internship. Windischbauer never talks around for long. She just does.
Source: Nachrichten
