Germany’s rising talent Lisa Vicari on Netflix’s ‘Dark’ and her upcoming role in ‘Django’
The actor Lisa Vicari is back in Berlin after a whirlwind trip to London. Just yesterday she was at HUNGER HQ, shooting her Louis Vuitton cover story with Rankin. “I had so much fun. It was my first time working with him, but I have been admiring his work for a long time, so I was very excited to be invited for this shoot,” she says over Zoom, the sun setting over Berlin through the window behind her. “It was a really great, creative day. He really knows what he wants and he is very specific about it and I think that helps in making some really creative work.”
The 26-year-old grew up in Munich, in the south of Germany. An expressive child, she developed a love of acting after she completed a dramatic improvisation course as a young girl, but admits that her parents had no idea how to help her break into the industry. “When I was 11, I heard from a friend of my mom that he was going to apply to film school in Munich,” she says. “I wrote him a letter and I said he was my only hope and asked how I could get into the film industry. Luckily he was looking for a girl for his short film and I did an audition and got the part!” The ball started rolling from that point and there followed a string of credits in films including the post-apocalyptic drama Hell (2011), and 2017’s action thriller Luna, which earned her a nomination for the Young German Cinema award at the Munich Film Festival.
Her real breakthrough moment came when the first series of the sci-fi thriller Dark started airing on Netflix in 2017. An instant hit with fans, the show follows a group of characters living in a fictional German town who are in search of the truth following the disappearance of a child. Fans and critics alike praised the series for its frequent twists and atmospheric mystery, as well as the stellar performances from the core cast.
“The biggest turning point was the third season. It was released during the pandemic and I could just see my [Instagram] following going up from 200,000 to over a million,” she says. “When we were outside, we were wearing masks and so it didn’t feel real. Now that the masks are lifted, people are like, ‘Ahhh!’ [when they see me]. It’s so belated, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all. I’ve only had really nice meetings with people and [it’s usually] them sharing their love for the show.”
Despite it being early on in her career, Vicari has already explored many genres, including romance, comedy, crime and mystery. The diverse roles she’s chosen help to showcase her impressive range, but she does admit to being more drawn to dramatic roles. “It is fun to play around and jump in and out of different genres and it is very challenging. I’ve been more on the dramatic side and darker materials. It’s not like I’m trying to create a list of different genres in my résumé, it’s almost a coincidence that it’s mixed.”
As with many actors who have an affinity with more challenging, darker roles, the impact of constructing such emotional and raw performances on a daily basis can take its toll. Many professionals will adopt coping mechanisms and particular rituals to help them to detach from their characters at the end of a long day. Vicari has her own practices, which include changing her appearance to ensure it’s a departure from her characters, whether that means cutting her hair or simply painting her nails.
“I think for me it is almost like a second skin that comes off after a while. I shed the skin naturally after a couple of weeks,” she says. “If I’ve had a very rough or intense day on set, I have to watch some trashy TV in the evening, just to think about something completely different. It is a massage for the brain. I am a big fan of Love Is Blind. Also I discovered something new called Jury Duty. It’s not really trash, it’s a comedy in the style of The Office, and it’s on Amazon Prime. I love the concept!”
Her next role is in Django (Canal+ and Sky Atlantic), which takes her to the Wild West. The series follows the title character, a gunslinger who is on a long search for his daughter, who he believes survived the slaughter of his family eight years prior. Also starring Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts and Nicholas Pinnock, the show is another big feat for Vicari as it’s her first English-speaking role. “I found [Django] really interesting. We take the genre of the western, which is something that everyone knows and is very classical and also has some rules to it, and make it modern and put it into a context that is unusual – with a diverse cast, strong female characters, dramatic storylines, complex relationships,” she says of what drew her to the part. “There have been a few people who have reinvented the western genre before, but I’ve never really seen it like this in a series. I was just really drawn to [my character] Sarah from the first moment I read the script and read her voice, and the way she fights for her town and her beliefs. I thought it was very inspiring and it’s something I’ve never done before.”
While Vicari’s acting career looks promising – she has two secret projects already planned for this year – her end goal isn’t shrouded in work-related success. Instead she has other ideas about what will bring her happiness in life. “I want to be content in my work life, but I think what really brings joy in the end is the personal relationships that you have with people. You have to have good people around you that you can trust and love, and I think that is what I aspire for the most. Work, fame and success – they come and go, but you really need to have a good environment. Good, fine people around you. I think that is the ultimate bliss you can have in life.”
