Karoline Eichhorn (57) thinks it’s great “when you’re surprised on TV. That hardly ever happens. Everything is always very predictable and foreseeable what happens next,” explains the actress in an interview with spot on news. She can now be seen in “Yesterday we were still children” – a seven-part mini-series that ZDF will broadcast on January 9, 10 and 11, 2023, starting at 8:15 p.m. (already from December 30th with all episodes in the ZDFmediathek ), indicates. This story is “incredibly well told. The plot jumps back and forth between past and present. There are always surprising moments and twists”.
In “Yesterday we were still children” “the characters are also very nicely drawn, which is particularly important for an actor,” says the 57-year-old. “I had the space to create the character. Although my role is very small, I found it very touching and compelling. I like playing lost people.”
In addition to Karoline Eichhorn, Julia Beautx (23), Torben Liebrecht (45), Maria Simon (46), Julius Nitschkoff (27), Damian Hardung (24), Ulrich Tukur (65) and Milena Tscharntke also play in the genre mix of family series and thriller (26) with.
“Yesterday we were still children” revolves around drastic experiences and family secrets that lead to an emotional catastrophe in the present. The series is told through flashbacks into the lives of the characters involved.
The focus of the story is the Klettmann family, who live in a chic suburb of Munich and have no financial problems. Peter Klettmann is a successful lawyer, his wife Anna takes care of their children Vivi, Daniel and Emmi. Life seems perfect, but on Anna’s 44th birthday, a world collapses for the family: in a fit of anger, Peter kills his wife and is taken into custody.
While his motif is a mystery and only takes shape when he immerses himself in his past, the children’s carefree lives are over from one day to the next. 18-year-old Vivi begins fighting for custody of her siblings. She is supported by police officer Tim, who was the first to arrive at the crime scene. He seems to feel responsible for the children and manages to gain Vivi’s trust. However, the young woman does not know that Tim already knew her mother Anna before the murder.
“It’s a family story spanning three generations that is very exciting and well told,” explains Karoline Eichhorn. “Things are buried in the past of every generation that have a massive impact on the life of the family. I play the mother or grandmother among the many really well drawn characters. It’s a small but nice role that touched me while reading.”
Karoline Eichhorn recently celebrated great success with “Dark”. The Netflix series has been hailed internationally for its complexity. Can “Dark” be a role model for the German TV industry? “That would be desirable,” says Eichhorn. “We all know that a lot of people are almost exclusively on the streaming platforms. Linear television is practically shelved for the younger generation. That’s something for older people. The new formats of the streaming services are being discussed and not those current ZDF series. The audience would be there, only the nice offers are missing.”
The streaming providers have also changed a few things for actors and actresses: “They bring many more opportunities to tell stories in a wide variety of ways. The crowd is getting bigger, more is being shot.”
A highlight in linear German television for many viewers is still the “crime scene”. Eichhorn himself has also often appeared in the crime series. How has the “crime scene” managed to lure millions of people in front of the screens every week for decades? “I guess it’s a tradition for a lot of people to watch ‘Tatort’ on Sunday,” says the 57-year-old. “Sometimes people meet to watch together in the pub. In this day and age, where everything changes in a matter of seconds, that’s an anchor. A lot of people are certainly good to have this anchor. And the viewers have it got to know each other very well over the years from various ‘Tatort’ teams. This recognition is important.”
