03/01/2008

Stine Fischer Christensen had her first role in the short film Poesi Album directed by her elder sister Pernille Fischer Christensen (A Soap [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Bredo Rahbek
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile]). Her breakthrough came in 2006 with Susanne Bier’s acclaimed After the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sisse Graum Jørgensen
interview: Susanne Bier
film profile] for which she won a Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actress from the Danish Film Critics Association. She then worked on Anders Morgenthaler’s Princess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] which opened the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2006, and on his latest feature film Echo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Although the priority for the young actress is to finish her studies at the Danish National School of Theatre, she has already another feature film lined-up for 2009: Adam Hashemi’s directorial debut Mr. Odermatt, a co-production between Czech Republic, France and Denmark.

Cineuropa: What does it mean for you to be selected as a Shooting Star?
Stine Fischer Christensen: It’s a great honour for me. If I look at the previous Shooting Stars, especially Danish Shooting Stars whose careers I’ve followed more intensely, I can say that these are actors and actresses that I admire.

Was your new career as an actress a deliberate choice or something you just fell into because of your sister’s involvement in film?
I started acting when I was a child, in the films that my sister directed. After that experience I was certain I wasn’t going to be an actress! I did want to work I film but just didn’t want to be in front of the camera. But then as a young teenager I started working in a theatre as an usherette and then developed a strong desire to work on stage. So I waited for my 18th birthday –the age to apply for the Danish National School of Theatre. I then started getting parts in films. Rumle Hammerich’s Young Andersen (2005) was my first feature film, then I got a major role in Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding.

You’ve already made two feature films with Anders Morgenthaler. You obviously enjoyed working with him…
When you work with Anders, it feels like you have an elder brother who cares for you but also tells you straight to your face when he’s not satisfied and vice-versa. He’s very humble but also a very passionate story-teller with lots of energy. His films are much more personal than one might think. Yes I really enjoyed working with him.

You’re currently working on the stage adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg’s ‘The Celebration’ in Copenhagen. How was that experience?
It was my first big play. On stage you have to repeat yourself night after night. You might think it is boring, but it’s not as long as you keep adjusting, and trying to improve and understand your role night after night. I also have to think about the guy sitting 20 metres away and looking at me. He has to understand what I’m saying. I have to speak out loud without yelling. I have to use my technical skills on my voice, expressions and body language to make myself understood.

How do you share your time between your studies and your professional life?
I did Morgenthaler’s film Echo during my summer break. That’s the only film I’ve done since I started the Theatre School. I pretty much just concentrate on my studies because that’s important to me. In 2008, I will perform in the play ‘Tis Pity She is a Whore’ by John Ford. Then in 2009, I have the project of a feature film to be directed by Adam Hashemi.

Would you like to work again with your sister Pernille?
We’re always talking about doing something together again. I’m sure we’ll do that when she finds the right script and we both find the time.

Can you cite one of your favourite films from 2007?
The Danish film The Art of Crying [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Peter Schønau Fog. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this film -his first feature film- for the last six years because he was in the same class as my sister in the Danish Film School. He is a brilliant filmmaker.