With “Marie Brand and the false truth” on April 8th at 8:15 p.m. on ZDF, the 33rd case of the popular Cologne crime series will be shown. The title character of the highly talented chief inspector Marie Brand is embodied by actress Mariele Millowitsch (67, “Klara Sonntag”). Hinnerk Schönemann (48, “Nord bei Nordwest”) plays her pragmatic colleague Jürgen Simmel. The first thriller “Marie Brand and the deadly greed” was broadcast in December 2008 and then an average of two episodes per year.
“Yes, I still enjoy it,” Millowitsch confirms her passion for the format. She also gives a specific reason: “Because I get along well with Hinnerk”. “We are friends,” she even says about the native of Rostock. But she always looks forward to seeing her other colleagues.
In this context, she has now developed something of a ritual before filming: “I read the scripts and when the cast comes, I look at the people who come and I’m curious what they’re doing. I’m always very curious on everything,” she says, adding an enthusiastic “the scripts are always really good.” So it’s not surprising that she could “in theory” imagine playing the role for another 15 years. “Let’s see if fate plays along. Of course,” said Millowitsch.
The actress, who became known in the 1990s with television series such as “Girl friends – Freundliche mit Herz” and “Nikola”, explains the great success of the series as follows: “I think it’s because of the cheerful undertone. We pull that “It’s not all so dark. Of course there are topics where you can’t make jokes. But as soon as there is a bit of room for a cheerful undertone, that’s used.”
And when asked how much Mariele Millowitsch actually put in Marie Brand, Millowitsch replies: “Of course, always quite a bit.” However, they differ significantly in two traits: “I speak with hands and feet. And I’m not as analytical as Ms. Brand. When I try to solve a problem and don’t get anywhere, I quickly lose patience and throw that stuff down and spit on it,” she admits. Ms. Brand doesn’t do that, she pulls it through to the end, even if she bites her teeth. “She didn’t get that from me,” laughs the scion of a Cologne family of artists.
After a wild night of partying for her 18th birthday, Isabell Lauterbach (Anna-Lena Schwing) finds her ex-boyfriend Ben Thiele (Max Kruk) dead. All memories of the night are erased. Did she kill him? In addition to cocaine, Rohypnol, the so-called rape drug, is also found in Isabell’s blood. Does the memory loss come from the knockout drops, or doesn’t she want to incriminate herself? Marie Brand (Millowitsch) and Jürgen Simmel (Schoenemann) interview the party guests, including the sprint relay in which both Isabell and Ben trained. The investigators focus on Isabell’s best friend Ella Wittmer (Charlotte Krause). Not only she withholds important information from the investigators in order to protect herself. Everyone involved seems to have a secret and a motive. Marie Brand and Jürgen Simmel try to reconstruct the crime night. When they get the crucial clue to the culprit, a race against time begins as the killer already has his next victim in his clutches…
“The case takes place among young people and it’s also about knockout drops and how you get at something like that. So it’s actually a relatively current topic. There’s always the danger that you’ll get something down the throat if you don’t watch your drink. That sounds stupid now, but that’s how it is,” concludes Mariele Millowitsch.
