heyYou could meet Valks in person at a Berlin hotel this June afternoon to talk to him about his new film, “Catwezel.” In it, for a change, Otto plays not Otto, but the medieval magician Catwezel, who is transported to the present; The model is based on a British series we ran on television in the early 1970s. The notoriously hyperactive Valks interviews, on the other hand, are as short as they are appreciated, and for a half-hour conversation we easily saved the eight-hour journey time from Frankfurt to Berlin and back. So now we experience Valks as we have known him since childhood: on the screen. And because the comedian sometimes rejects dialogue from old numbers or starts a song, the interview also turns into a short Otto show.
Good afternoon, Mr. Valks. . .
Tell me Otto!
Good afternoon, Otto. what’s going on?
At the moment we are doing a little promotion for the opening of the big theaters on July 1. My movie “Catweasel” should be shown there! This makes me proud. I don’t even know how I get respect: there’s James Bond, the Avengers, Tom Cruise – but no, they want to see Otto.
“Nothing works,” says the magician Catweasel, whom you play, whenever one of his moves fails.
“Catweasel” wasn’t that familiar to me. I watched the series in the 1970s, but never thought about being able to go, or allow, or slip into that role. We were far apart for age. But now it is working. I feel this role, which has to be taken seriously, is being bought from me.
Catweazle Looks like your Robin Hood hasn’t found a way out of Sherwood Forest for forty years. Did you feel comfortable in the dress?
I have, especially because of the massive amount of hair. A few years ago, director Sven Unterwald came to me and showed me a picture of Catwezel in the bathtub: it was surprisingly similar!
You also had a bath after taking a bath, but for you there was only cold water. Marlon Brando would not have accepted it.
Well, it wasn’t even a “rebellion on the bounty”. If the film is successful, I will be given only hot water. We shot it in February, it was freezing cold. And for fear of imitating criminals a scene was cut: I try to heat the bath water with a hairdryer, my hair stands on end – and I enjoy it: up and down, up and down. . .
Your shoes, which looked to be from the Middle Ages but were apparently real hi-tech, were apparently particularly elaborate.
We shot outside in the woods in March, for eight or nine hours without stopping, I could hardly make it through without warm shoes. Meanwhile, I have also entered the era of wellness. (calls in a hidden voice) Keep Otto nice and warm! – Yes, that’s fine.
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