I'm interviewed w/ Diane Kruger about The Bridge on FX

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alex
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15 Jun 2013, 3:29 pm

Here's a german article about my work on the new FX tv show The Bridge where Diane Kruger's character has asperger's.

Quote:
On the set of "The Bridge" with Diane Kruger.

Will the Dead please control their breath!

It's a rare thing for US-American television to copy Europeans. The crime show "The Bridge" is an exception. On set, Actress Diane Kruger tells us why.

By Nina Rehfeld

"Please don't write that people here thinks all Germans have autism," Diane Kruger says with a laugh -- and plays her part of an autistic woman in "The Bridge".

"I'm sweating," an extra with a prosthetic head wound complains in the L.A. county mortuary. The make-up artist dries his forehead, then the head of photography cautions "Okay guys, will the Dead please control their breathing, we're ready to shoot!" Here, in the place where Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston's remains were examined, a scene for the American remake of the Danish-Swedish coproduction "Broen/Bron" is being filmed. And when Matthew Lillard, who plays an unlikeable journalist, breathes through his shirt held to his nose with an expression of disgust, it's only partially an act. It really does smell strange. The cold storage room next door holds close to two hundred real corpses.

"Broen/Broen" [German title: Die Brücke] aired in Germany in 2012 on ZDF, a channel that had also been involved with the production. The series tells the story of a Swedish policewoman with Asperger syndrome and a Danish colleague of hers who are investigating a homicide ([SPOILER]or rather, as it turns out, two [/SPOILER]) -- the murderer deposited the victim right on the Danish-Swedish border on the Öresund bridge.

Cable channel FX's adaption moves the setting to the Mexican-American border. Diane Kruger plays the female lead of investigator Sonya Cross in El Paso, Demian Bichir that of her mexican colleague Marco Ruiz. Diane Kruger was born in Algermissen in Lower Saxony, Germany, and started her career as a fashion model in France before moving to the USA to work on major motion pictures such as Troy, National Treasure, or Inglorious Basterds. This is her first time filming a TV show, and she is surprised at "just how much this is an author-run medium. When filming motion pictures, the director is God; here the directors change weekly, and the authors have total authority."

Brilliant investigative skills

Writer and author Elwood Reid (Hawaii Five-O) and his colleague Meredith Stiehm (Cold Case, Homeland) had originally planned to set the series on the US-Canadian border in order to replicate the dark coolness of the original. "But FX didn't even want to listen to that suggestion", according to Meredith Stiehm. Another one of her current projects is the motion picture Cocaine Cowboys where she works with Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. "Quite honestly, I'd probably have run out of plot points by the third episode," Reid comments. They moved the setting of the drama series to the Mexican border instead, and FX had wanted to make a series set here for a long time. The many social problems and injustices that the original killer wants to decry have been changed to the violent conflicts at the US-Mexican border.

Quote:
Diane Kruger says she never really wanted to play a police officer. "It's really not my thing, weapons and all that. But I thought the character was very interesting. I like her a lot, I can identify with her social inadequacies, with her feeling of not fitting in." Kruger plays a woman with Asperger syndrome who has brilliant investigative skills and leaves everyone else in her job in the metaphorical dust. However, she almost completely lacks social intuition. "It's a little sad," Kruger says, "but it's kind of cool, too, to be able to just do away with the niceties everyone expects of you." Sonya Cross is almost an egghead, she's so caught up in regulatory mechanisms, and she usually speaks her mind too bluntly. The tradeoff is her incredibly sharp mind.

Not on the list
In cinema, according to Kruger, a woman like that would cut a comical figure. "But here I have a chance to develop the character and to show which problems she has with the negative side of her giftedness." In the pilot she interviews the husband of the victim and realises with silent
horror that her extreme straightforwardness is completely overwhelming to the mourner. "Would you like a glass of water?" she asks helplessly, twice.

Alex Plank, author of website wrongplanet.net and autism adviser on set, explains that Asperger Syndrome is a wide, nonlinear spectrum. "It's not that people with Asperger's don't have empathy. It's just difficult to show it." Plank himself has a diagnosis of Asperger's, but he has learned to maintain eye contact and to hide many of his 'eccentricities'. Diane Kruger tells me how she invited him to a tableread (reading the script out loud with the actors). "I was quite concerned when he didn't show up, because Alex always keeps his appointments." It turned out that he didn't come because his name wasn't on the participant list - many people with AS tend to take things too literally.

German bluntness and Mexican Murders

Plank recounts how he described a few typical behavioural aspie traits to Kruger. "I told her: I've noticed you do some of that, too. And she said: yes, well, I am German." Elwood Reid also comments that Kruger's German bluntness is perfect for a character who has trouble with smooth social interaction.

"Please don't write that people here think all Germans have autism," Diane Kruger says with a laugh. We're sat unter an awning in front of a red brick wall with a few barred windows in a neighbourhood in eastern LA that will represent the Mexican border city of Juárez. The real Juárez is too dangerous for filming; Reid says the insurance company vetoed it. 3000 homicides were reported there last year; a series of murders of women with 250 victims shocked the city.

Kruger still wanted to see the original set, so Reid, a man of 6 ft 8 in with a decisive demeanour, went on a secret day trip with her, unbenownst to the producing company. "It was bright day," is Diane Kruger's succinct comment. "I know, everyone says: don't go to Juárez, it's way too dangerous! and I'm sure they're right under some circumstances. But I really wanted to get an idea of what the city is like."
On the American side of the border, El Paso is an idyll. No more than five homicides were reported here last year, and this strange border dynamic offers much to write about, Stiehm and Reid say.

The seed of a great crime story

The pilot contains entire scenes that have been exactly replicated from the original series. "We didn't want to fix what didn't need fixing. But in places that wouldn't work that way we changed things around," Mereddith Stiehm says. For one, she didn't like the original female lead, played by Sofia Helin. "She seemed rigid, aloof, kind of unlikeable to me. At first I thought: ah, the tough female investigator, well, I've seen that a huundred times." It took her a while to understand the differences, very subtle in the original series, which is why they added additional expositional dialogue in the remake to explain the character of Sonya Cross -- such as letting her tell the victim's husband "I'm sorry I didn't display more empathy there."

Meanwhile, Diane Kruger is battling the technical side of the job. She lifts her arms and shows me the bruises on the inside of her upper arms. "My holster hit me there this morning when I had to sprint." She grins. "I told you, I'm no good with weapons. The boys on set think it's a great laugh because I keep dropping guns or the holster." Fortunately, she says, Sonya isn't really that much of a gun-toting cop.

Elwood Reid hopes to achieve something similar with this series as Howard Gordon did with Homeland -- a remake with his own signature. "I'd like to plant the seed of a great crime story," he says, "and from the second season on, we'll be free to run wild."



Some issues with translation. . .

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... 16894.html

Quote:
Diane Kruger says she's never been keen to play a cop. "Is not my thing at all, weapons and such things. But I was interested in this figure. I like them very much, I can identify with their social inadequacy, this feeling of not match. "Kruger plays a woman with Asperger's syndrome who has a brilliant combination of power and at her job all in the shade. But it lacks almost entirely on social fine motor skills. "It's a bit sad," said Diane Kruger, "but also cool if you can omit the niceties that are expected of one." Sonya Cross is sometimes almost a nerd, so she is arrested regulatory mechanisms, and she says usually too directly what she thinks. For this it has an incomparably sharp mind.

Not on the list
In cinema, Kruger says, would such a woman a comic figure. "But here I can develop and demonstrate how she struggles with the dark side of her talent." In the first episode they interviewed the husband of the victim, and with silent horror, she realizes that their crass directness completely overwhelmed the mourners. "Would you like a glass of water?" She asks helplessly, twice.

Asperger's Syndrome Explained, Alex Plank, author of the website wrongplanet.net and autism consultant on the set, is a broad, non-linear spectrum. "It is not that people with Asperger's have no empathy. They find it difficult to express them. "Plank was even diagnosed with Asperger's, but has learned to maintain eye contact and many of his" to conceal oddities ". But Diane Kruger reported as a "Table Read", the oral reading of the script with the actors, who invited him. "I was very worried when he did not show," she says. "Because Alex is one of the appointments strictly comply" As it turned out, he did not because his name is not explicitly on the list of participants - many people with Asperger take things too literally.

German bluntness and Mexican murders
Plank in turn tells how he some behavioral characteristics of Asperger's people portrayed in a meeting with Kruger. "I said to her, some of it you do sometimes. And she said, Yes, I'm just German "Even Elwood Reid says Kruger German bluntness is perfect for a character who has difficulty with social suppleness..

"Now you do not just write that one here all Germans for autistic holds," says Diane Kruger and laughs. We sit under an awning in front of a brick wall with rotgetünchten a few barred windows in a neighborhood in the east of Los Angeles, which stands for the Mexican border city of Juarez. The real Juarez is too dangerous for turning, insurance, Reid says, may have blocked. 3000 murders were counted there last year, a woman murder series with 250 victims shocked the city.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XYhZQR4XME[/youtube]


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Last edited by alex on 14 Nov 2013, 6:22 am, edited 3 times in total.

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15 Jun 2013, 7:36 pm

Some translation issues indeed.

It's good to see that the media is paying attention to your work on this show, and your other projects.


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16 Jun 2013, 8:38 am

This article is "kind of a big deal" in that FAZ is one of the most important German newspapers (some would say the most important) ... not particularly informative or well written, but hey, it's something, and it's great to see Alex's work recognised. :)

If I have any mental capacities left, I might attempt a translation later tonight.



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16 Jun 2013, 2:49 pm

This show is amazing! The original Danish/Swedish version (Broen/Bron) aired 1½ years ago and they just finished filming the second season. It's really incredible and Sofia Helin (the original aspie) is incredible. I was an extra on the second season and I had written, when I applied, that I had AS, and she came up and talked to me in a break. It was so awesome and I think I taught her a thing or two..

But this looks really good too and if you can't wait, you should REALLY check out the original! You can watch it with subtitles and it's really worth it-



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16 Jun 2013, 4:21 pm

alwaystomorrow wrote:
This article is "kind of a big deal" in that FAZ is one of the most important German newspapers (some would say the most important) ... not particularly informative or well written, but hey, it's something, and it's great to see Alex's work recognised. :)

If I have any mental capacities left, I might attempt a translation later tonight.


Thanks! A translation would be awesome!


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17 Jun 2013, 4:19 am

A bit later than I said, but here's the translation. I tried to smooth it out as much as possible, but the original German doesn't flow particularly well, and the translation is even more choppy. :?

Hope it helps anyway! I re-quoted the part that Alex posted above for faster skimming; if anyone finds any issues with the translation, please let me know.

Quote:
On the set of "The Bridge" with Diane Kruger.

Will the Dead please control their breath!

It's a rare thing for US-American television to copy Europeans. The crime show "The Bridge" is an exception. On set, Actress Diane Kruger tells us why.

By Nina Rehfeld

"Please don't write that people here thinks all Germans have autism," Diane Kruger says with a laugh -- and plays her part of an autistic woman in "The Bridge".

"I'm sweating," an extra with a prosthetic head wound complains in the L.A. county mortuary. The make-up artist dries his forehead, then the head of photography cautions "Okay guys, will the Dead please control their breathing, we're ready to shoot!" Here, in the place where Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston's remains were examined, a scene for the American remake of the Danish-Swedish coproduction "Broen/Bron" is being filmed. And when Matthew Lillard, who plays an unlikeable journalist, breathes through his shirt held to his nose with an expression of disgust, it's only partially an act. It really does smell strange. The cold storage room next door holds close to two hundred real corpses.

"Broen/Broen" [German title: Die Brücke] aired in Germany in 2012 on ZDF, a channel that had also been involved with the production. The series tells the story of a Swedish policewoman with Asperger syndrome and a Danish colleague of hers who are investigating a homicide ([SPOILER]or rather, as it turns out, two [/SPOILER]) -- the murderer deposited the victim right on the Danish-Swedish border on the Öresund bridge.

Cable channel FX's adaption moves the setting to the Mexican-American border. Diane Kruger plays the female lead of investigator Sonya Cross in El Paso, Demian Bichir that of her mexican colleague Marco Ruiz. Diane Kruger was born in Algermissen in Lower Saxony, Germany, and started her career as a fashion model in France before moving to the USA to work on major motion pictures such as Troy, National Treasure, or Inglorious Basterds. This is her first time filming a TV show, and she is surprised at "just how much this is an author-run medium. When filming motion pictures, the director is God; here the directors change weekly, and the authors have total authority."

Brilliant investigative skills

Writer and author Elwood Reid (Hawaii Five-O) and his colleague Meredith Stiehm (Cold Case, Homeland) had originally planned to set the series on the US-Canadian border in order to replicate the dark coolness of the original. "But FX didn't even want to listen to that suggestion", according to Meredith Stiehm. Another one of her current projects is the motion picture Cocaine Cowboys where she works with Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. "Quite honestly, I'd probably have run out of plot points by the third episode," Reid comments. They moved the setting of the drama series to the Mexican border instead, and FX had wanted to make a series set here for a long time. The many social problems and injustices that the original killer wants to decry have been changed to the violent conflicts at the US-Mexican border.

Quote:
Diane Kruger says she never really wanted to play a police officer. "It's really not my thing, weapons and all that. But I thought the character was very interesting. I like her a lot, I can identify with her social inadequacies, with her feeling of not fitting in." Kruger plays a woman with Asperger syndrome who has brilliant investigative skills and leaves everyone else in her job in the metaphorical dust. However, she almost completely lacks social intuition. "It's a little sad," Kruger says, "but it's kind of cool, too, to be able to just do away with the niceties everyone expects of you." Sonya Cross is almost an egghead, she's so caught up in regulatory mechanisms, and she usually speaks her mind too bluntly. The tradeoff is her incredibly sharp mind.

Not on the list
In cinema, according to Kruger, a woman like that would cut a comical figure. "But here I have a chance to develop the character and to show which problems she has with the negative side of her giftedness." In the pilot she interviews the husband of the victim and realises with silent
horror that her extreme straightforwardness is completely overwhelming to the mourner. "Would you like a glass of water?" she asks helplessly, twice.

Alex Plank, author of website wrongplanet.net and autism adviser on set, explains that Asperger Syndrome is a wide, nonlinear spectrum. "It's not that people with Asperger's don't have empathy. It's just difficult to show it." Plank himself has a diagnosis of Asperger's, but he has learned to maintain eye contact and to hide many of his 'eccentricities'. Diane Kruger tells me how she invited him to a tableread (reading the script out loud with the actors). "I was quite concerned when he didn't show up, because Alex always keeps his appointments." It turned out that he didn't come because his name wasn't on the participant list - many people with AS tend to take things too literally.

German bluntness and Mexican Murders

Plank recounts how he described a few typical behavioural aspie traits to Kruger. "I told her: I've noticed you do some of that, too. And she said: yes, well, I am German." Elwood Reid also comments that Kruger's German bluntness is perfect for a character who has trouble with smooth social interaction.

"Please don't write that people here think all Germans have autism," Diane Kruger says with a laugh. We're sat unter an awning in front of a red brick wall with a few barred windows in a neighbourhood in eastern LA that will represent the Mexican border city of Juárez. The real Juárez is too dangerous for filming; Reid says the insurance company vetoed it. 3000 homicides were reported there last year; a series of murders of women with 250 victims shocked the city.

Kruger still wanted to see the original set, so Reid, a man of 6 ft 8 in with a decisive demeanour, went on a secret day trip with her, unbenownst to the producing company. "It was bright day," is Diane Kruger's succinct comment. "I know, everyone says: don't go to Juárez, it's way too dangerous! and I'm sure they're right under some circumstances. But I really wanted to get an idea of what the city is like."
On the American side of the border, El Paso is an idyll. No more than five homicides were reported here last year, and this strange border dynamic offers much to write about, Stiehm and Reid say.

The seed of a great crime story

The pilot contains entire scenes that have been exactly replicated from the original series. "We didn't want to fix what didn't need fixing. But in places that wouldn't work that way we changed things around," Mereddith Stiehm says. For one, she didn't like the original female lead, played by Sofia Helin. "She seemed rigid, aloof, kind of unlikeable to me. At first I thought: ah, the tough female investigator, well, I've seen that a huundred times." It took her a while to understand the differences, very subtle in the original series, which is why they added additional expositional dialogue in the remake to explain the character of Sonya Cross -- such as letting her tell the victim's husband "I'm sorry I didn't display more empathy there."

Meanwhile, Diane Kruger is battling the technical side of the job. She lifts her arms and shows me the bruises on the inside of her upper arms. "My holster hit me there this morning when I had to sprint." She grins. "I told you, I'm no good with weapons. The boys on set think it's a great laugh because I keep dropping guns or the holster." Fortunately, she says, Sonya isn't really that much of a gun-toting cop.

Elwood Reid hopes to achieve something similar with this series as Howard Gordon did with Homeland -- a remake with his own signature. "I'd like to plant the seed of a great crime story," he says, "and from the second season on, we'll be free to run wild."



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27 Jun 2013, 6:53 am

Thanks for sharing this inspiring story, Alex!

It's very cool that they are working so closely with you to get it right. The whole idea is very interesting and I am looking forward to seeing the show.

I thought it was very interesting to hear about the way certain German cultural attributes seem closer to autistic. My impression is that there are many such cultural variations around the world--Japanese and Koreans seem far more aloof than Vietnamese, from my anglo-american perspective. But aspects of English culture seem closer to autistic patterns compared with Italian or Brazilian patterns... I don't think this leads to any deep conclusions, but it's interesting.

I look forward to hearing more about the show and your role in helping the actors and all the other creatives who work on it.



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03 Jul 2013, 7:42 pm

This is great! Thanks for sharing.



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03 Jul 2013, 9:01 pm

I lived and studied abroad in Germany. This may explain why I felt so at-home when I was there.



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10 Jul 2013, 7:11 pm

I really enjoyed the first season of the Danish TV show (with English subtitles). I hope the US version of the show is equally as good.


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10 Jul 2013, 8:22 pm

I can't wait to see it ! !

8)



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11 Jul 2013, 12:04 pm

I have seen the show. I am unique position where I live in this city and I have Asperger's. The city shots were a 100% accurate and so the Aspergers. The subject matter and most of the missing girls been accurate as well there are 290 missing women in Juarez. There is a lot of material going on not just murder girls and serial killers. I mean currently the drug cartel war will be added as well. Although I regret the tolerance level for Asperger's is far higher in the show and than it is in real life for El Paso. It is still just as hard for person to get a job without going into Sylvia Cross's background. I wish there is highlight some the hardships people with Asperger's in El Paso because it may come across but not as accepting as the show portrays in the Bridge.



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13 Jul 2013, 11:40 am

alex wrote:
Meanwhile, Diane Kruger is battling the technical side of the job. She lifts her arms and shows me the bruises on the inside of her upper arms. "My holster hit me there this morning when I had to sprint." She grins. "I told you, I'm no good with weapons. The boys on set think it's a great laugh because I keep dropping guns or the holster." Fortunately, she says, Sonya isn't really that much of a gun-toting cop.


They should write her clumsiness into the show. It's a common Aspie trait, isn't it? ;)



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13 Jul 2013, 6:51 pm

I'm excited by the prospect of such a positive portrayal of Asperger's on mainstream TV. Diane Kruger's portrayal of a female Aspie looks to be very accurate. She reminds me of an old friend who's diagnosed with AS. :)

From what I've seen so far, this show looks very interesting. Is it being aired on any free view channels in the UK?



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16 Jul 2013, 1:42 am

So, is this show a direct replica episode for episode of the Swedish version? It's curious that they would do that.


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16 Jul 2013, 4:31 am

StarTrekker wrote:
So, is this show a direct replica episode for episode of the Swedish version? It's curious that they would do that.
I don't think it is or will be -- have you seen the Danish-Swedish original?
The first two episodes alone contain about fifteen to twenty minutes of material that just wouldn't be aired on mainstream US-American tv channels.

Apart from that -- I think it would probably be a great idea for the general US public to be exposed to more foreign media (if people all over the world manage to put up with subtitles or bad dubs of third-rate action blockbusters made in Hollywood, then I don't see why Amurricans can't). I also understand that they'd probably find it 'obscure' and 'hard to understand' because of a number of cultural differences, and the more complex a show, the more difficult it gets -- Broen/Bron is fairly complex.

Obscurity and less accessibility is a problem for the channels that want to air the show for revenue.

I might watch the US remake eventually, but for now, I'm looking forward to the second series of the original. :)