Does the name Til Schweiger mean anything to you? I didn't think so. Would you be surprised to learn that he is the only real "star" of the German cinema in recent years? Or he was, I should say, because Schweiger decided a while ago that it was time to move on and move west in pursuit of that elusive-yet-irresistible thing you can find nowhere in the world but in Hollywood. Superstardom.
In the good old U.S. of A superstars are just another facet of daily life. No place else is there such a supply of, and demand for, the stars and information about them. And nowhere else is this demand being catered to the way it is in America. You know these people by their first name and you recognize their faces, as much from their body of work as from the pages of countless entertainment magazines.
When it comes to America's superstars, nothing is too menial to be duly noted in the press: Movies in the making, brushes with the law, changes of haircolor, tipping habits, trips to the supermarket sans make-up, ego trips, and news of dating, marrying and divorcing. America loves and worships its stars, their influence by now stretching well beyond the realm of entertainment and affecting peoples' lives in matters of what clothes to wear and whom to vote for.
And while these celebrities occasionally claim to have to pay the price for their public yet privileged lives, by and large it seems fair to say that it pays to be at the top. Superstar salaries have reached staggering, eight-digit heights, and while it takes some work and an impressive entourage to live up to the public's expectations on a daily basis, as depicted recently in the entertaining and insightful "America's Sweethearts," there are also many perks that come with the territory.
The question is: Why is superstardom practiced so exclusively in America?
It's really not a great mystery. What makes someone a superstar? First and foremost, the ability to bring in top dollars at the box office. For that you need a blockbuster with a multi-million dollar budget and...wait a minute, that's exactly where the problem lies. America is the only country in the world that produces movies on such a scale, and it is not by coincidence that it also dominates the world movie market, often by quality, but most definitely by quantity.
Think about it for a minute. Here are this week's listings for Cinedom, the biggest movie theater in Cologne, Germany: "Dr. Dolittle 2," "The Score," "Jurassic Park 3," "Sweet November," "Blow," "Down To Earth," "Someone Like You," "Cats and Dogs," "Evolution," "Along Came A Spider," "Original Sin," "Shrek," "Tomb Raider," "Pokemon 3," and "Pearl Harbor," all dubbed in German. And then there's a German production called "The Shoe of Manitu," a mediocre comedy akin to the "Police Academy" series.
Much as the European market is flooded with American movies, there is a notable lack of foreign productions in U.S. theaters, with only a handful of foreign-produced, widely-released pictures in the recent past even coming to mind: "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," "Life is Beautiful," "Billy Elliot," "Run Lola Run," and "Snatch." And part of this lack of box office appeal in foreign productions is certainly that Americans don't know who the heck these people are and what kind of movie-making resume they have.
Therefore, any European actor who wants to make it really big will have to do so in America, in a multi-million dollar production, and many of them try, but only few succeed.
As for Schweiger, I think he just may have what it takes. He has proven in Germany (where he's hailed as the European Brad Pitt) that he can really act, and talent does go a long way. For Schweiger it's more a matter of keeping at it and making smart choices.
Schweiger got his first taste of American movie-making in 1998, when he had a bit part in "The Replacement Killers," and he had a small role in this year's Stallone comeback-attempt "Driven." Now he is following up with a co-starring role, alongside new talent and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum Leonard Roberts, in a TV movie about the lives and friendship of boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. It's a German co-production and a role that just may prove to be Schweiger's foot-in-the-door of Hollywood's dream factory.
So keep an eye out for his name to appear on the big screen, and when someone asks you who the heck Til Schweiger is, tell them they are looking at a potential German superstar.
Eva Weber is the founding member (and only member) of the Mansfield, MA chapter of the Til Schweiger fan club.
