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The Embargo Issue

Detlev Lives!

Thirty years ago, Thomas Haustein starred in one film. Then he never appeared on-screen again.

Thomas Haustein, now…

Christiane F.

Christiane F

Vice: Let’s start in 1981. How did you get the part of Detlev in Christiane F.?

Thomas Haustein:

Natja Brunckhorst was chosen out of 2,000 girls in Germany to play Christiane. Was it similar for you?

How old were you?

The film was based on Christiane Felscherinow’s autobiography, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo [We Children From Zoo Station]. Had you read the book before you auditioned?

ΔΙΑΦΗΜΙΣΗ

Did you have experiences with heroin at the time?

Did you hang out with junkies as research?

I love your expression when you walk out of the Sound bathroom and bump into Christiane like a zombie. You imitate a junkie well.

Did you meet the real Christiane F.?

Did you meet the real Detlev R.?

Wow. You dated the real Stella?

Did you hang out with David Bowie?

When you were filming in the Bahnhof Zoo were there still teenage junkies and prostitutes everywhere?

You mentioned that you hung out at the Sound before the film happened. It’s interesting how true to location Christiane F. is. The Gropiusstadt housing project, the Sound, the Bahnhof Zoo, the public toilets on Bülow Strasse, these were all the exact locations.

What is the Bahnhof Zoo like today?

…and then.

I love your clothes in the film. I’m amazed how much they made you look like the real Detlev R., based on the pictures from the book: your skinny jeans and heeled boots, all that denim, the tiger t-shirt that says “Wild Thing,” and that filthy black scarf.

Was the “California Gold” jacket yours?

laughs

Did the needle scenes depict real injections?

What about the withdrawal scene in your flat, with the endless vomiting? I love that scene.

Your last scene in the film, when you’re having sex with your male client, is pretty graphic for a 14-year-old in 1981. Were you nervous?

laughs

That’s hot. Do you remember any scenes that were shot that didn’t end up in the final film?

ΔΙΑΦΗΜΙΣΗ

Did you ever see Natja Brunckhorst after the film?

The film has such a following. The cast should have a reunion.

Are you surprised that the film is still so popular after 30 years?

Requiem for a Dream

Would you ever act again? Are you happy Christiane F. was the only film you were ever in?

Christiane F.

What do you do now?

Wow. Do you ever tell them you were Detlev in Christiane F.?

Have you shown your son the film?

The many moods of Detlev.