FROM THE NEWS ARCHIVES OF CINEMA CONFIDENTIAL
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jessica Boehrs of "Euro Trip"
POSTED
ON
02/16/04 AT 12:00 A.M.
BY ETHAN AAMES
Exclusive Interview by Thomas Chau. (Some of the images below are taken from
Jessica-Boehrs.com) Anybody who has visited this site for
years know that we love talking with up and coming actresses.
Some of the most popular interviews on Cinema Confidential
were ones we did before anyone knew their name, including
Anna Faris ("Scary Movie"), Agnes Bruckner
("Murder by Numbers"), and Scarlett Johansson
("The Man Who Wasn't There"). This week, we're
pleased to introduce to you Americans, Jessica Boehrs
(or Jessica Böhrs), who will be making her American
debut starring in "Euro Trip" opening this
Friday. Of course, I used the word "Americans"
because Jessica is already recognized in Germany. An
actress since she was 13, Jessica is best known for
her TV work on the German soap opera, "Marienhof."
But what is perhaps her bigger claim to fame is being
the lead singer of Novaspace, where she has sung numerous
top 10 hits in Germany. Many of her hit song titles
are covers of 1980s songs in the United States, including
remakes of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time,"
Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning," and Bryan
Adams' "Run to You." You can click on any
of the albums below to watch the music video for these
songs. JESSICA BOEHRS' MUSIC VIDEOS In "Euro Trip," Jessica plays
Mieche, a German internet pen pal who helps Scotty (Scott
Mechlowicz) with his German in high school. Scotty,
who thinks Mieche is pronounced "Mike," doesn't
realize his Internet friend is actually a beautiful
blonde girl. When Scotty e-mails Miche to tell her he
no longer wishes to speak to her, he realizes he has
made the mistake of a lifetime. Desperate and lonely
after a breakup from his girlfriend (Kristin Kreuk),
Scotty and his best friend Cooper (Jacob Pitts) embark
on a trip to Germany with two other friends (Travis
Wester and Michelle Trachtenberg) that will lead them
through a series of hijinx and mishaps in the strange
land that is called Europe. JB: Pretty good. I just have to get back into this
English talking because it’s pretty difficult
(giggles). TOM: So is it true Germans love David Hasselhoff? JB: Oh my God! (Laughs) How come everyone’s asking
me that? TOM: It’s an old Saturday Night Live joke... JB: That’s so weird. Everyone on the set asked
me, (in a low voice) “Is it true you Germans love
David Hasselhoff?” That is so weird!You know what?
Just last Wednesday, I was sitting next to him on a
German show. It’s the MacDonald’s chart
show. He is starting a comeback and he’s starting
in Germany and we haven’t heard of him in the
last ten years! Except for the Baywatch thing but he’s
back with a new single called “California Girls”
or something. This is just fun though. I always have to think about
this question. JB: I started with acting professionally when I was
13. It was my first job. When I was 16, I had my first
record deal. TOM: You’ve been involved with show business
for a long time now. Was it ever tough for you as a
child? JB: I would say no because I always loved to entertain
people. My parents told me that whenever we had guests
at home, I would just stand there, in the middle of
the house, and tell a story or something. But I think
I’ve just always enjoyed entertaining people.
This is what I’ve wanted to do! It’s not
really that tough or hard. TOM: Which do you prefer more? Do you consider yourself
more of an actor or singer? JB: I think people always ask me that and if I had
to choose, I think I would definitely choose both because
there is a connection between these two things, but
still, it’s two different techniques. As a singer,
I love standing on stage and entertaining people because
you get their response immediately. As an actor, you
can try to make different versions of one scene and
you talk to the director, and you choose the best of
them. But I think these two things are connected. JB: There are so many of them. I don’t really
have an idol or something but there are so many people
that I love for what they’re doing. I love the
music of Erykah Badu and Robbie Williams. I love him
when he does live concerts. I like old stuff, like Aretha
Franklin and Al Green. I like anything. I was into Limp
Bizkit once in my car. I also like the new Alicia Keyes
album. TOM: What about some of the blonde pop singers in
America like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera?
What do you think about them? JB: Well Christina changed her hair color, right? (Laughs)
I just think they are doing a perfect job. If you see
them on stage, it’s just perfect from beginning
to end. I know that there’s a lot of work behind
that and people on stage should get more involved with
the audience, like talk to them and keep them into it.
That’s just the perfect show. I admire them because
they treat their audience as if they were talking to
them. TOM: What’s your favorite part about performing? JB: I would definitely say just making people happy.
Whenever I see people in the audience just grinning
or laughing because they are enjoying themselves, then
it is the best thing that can happen. Or when people
come up to me in the streets and they ask for an autograph
and they say, “I like your work,” this is
great. TOM: Do a lot of people recognize you when you’re
walking down the street? JB: Sometimes. Sometimes I just wear a baseball cap
or something and people don’t really recognize
me because in all my videos, I have a special kind of
style that I normally don’t have when I’m
walking down the streets or going to the supermarket.
JB: Sometimes there are people who are just crazy.
I always try to calm them down or just talk to them
and tell them I’m a normal person and that there’s
no reason to freak out. I have this one special fan and he’s almost at
like, every concert. He’s always finding out where
my hotel is and he follows me. The last time I saw him
was two or three weeks ago and I was just stepping into
an elevator, and he asked me if he could come in. I
said, “No, of course not.” He kept on trying
and asking me again and again and I said, “No,
can you please respect me?” And then he let go. TOM: You know, in America, we have laws against
that… JB: Well, I’m never alone when I’m doing
shows so I always have somebody to keep an eye out for
me. But you know, for my job, I always have to be friendly
and sometimes, they just step over the border. I just
don’t understand. JB: I was born in 1980 and I’ve always listened
to all these old songs because my dad used to be in
a band since he was a student. He always played me these
old songs from The Pretenders, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac,
and Eric Clapton. I just wanted to show people the decade
I was brought up in. I think it’s time now to
bring this music [out again]. The greatest songs were
written in the 70s and 80s. Teenagers, who are like
12-13 years old, don’t even know these songs.
I thought it would be good to bring them back but in
a new style. It’s better to sing these songs to
these people in a new style in a 2003 style. JB: I think teenagers, when they listen to these songs,
sometimes think that they’re brand new and then
they find out that they’re 20-30-40 years old,
and this is amazing I think. I think this is one of
the advantages in covering songs, in that you can make
really young people buy these old records again. I think
that’s a good thing. TOM: I really like your cover of Cyndi Lauper’s
“Time after Time,” because when I hear it,
I picture myself in a nightclub dancing, you know? The
lyrics to the original song are so great but then you
put them to a music beat and it works out well… JB: This is what I want to reach, you know? This is
my goal: for people to dance and enjoy themselves. TOM: Almost all of your songs are about love. What’s
love to you? JB: What’s love? Love is a big word. Love is
I think being able to have the confidence to trust somebody.
Whenever this happens, this is love. JB: I think it’s not necessary to just wear underwear
to be sexy. I think sexiness comes from the innerself.
But it’s no need to wear less, you know, when
you can just show it. TOM: You show a lot of skin in “Euro Trip.”
Are you ever uncomfortable with nudity? JB: No, not really. I knew it was part of the character.
I liked the thought about these dream sequences. The
part I get topless is a dream that Scotty has on the
way to finding me. It’s just a dream. It wasn’t
real. (Laughs) TOM: Do you think Americans make a big deal out
of nudity? Like over here, people still talk about Janet
Jackson and the Superbowl… JB: Oh God, yeah. I became really, really close friends
with one of the girls in the movie, who’s also
topless, Molly Schade. And she told me that Americans
make a really big deal about it. Germans would look
at it and say “Nice boobs” or something
and that’s it. But they wouldn’t even think
about it like “Oh my God, what did this girl do?
Is she out of her mind?” (Laughs) I think it’s
an American thing. I have no problem with it. TOM: How was it working on an American project like
“Euro Trip”? Do you want to do more American
projects? JB: Yeah, hopefully. It’s a different kind of
working to be honest. I once did a short movie in New
York with Herbie Hancock in 1996 and even then, it was
so different and so interesting. JB: Small things. At noon, whatever you do, it’s
lunch. Whatever it is, even if you’re in the middle
of a scene. Everyone just stops and goes to have lunch.
They’re more into details than the Germans are.
And they treat you well! I tell you, when I came back
to a German production, I was like, “Whoa, what
the hell is going on here?” They don’t even
have proper catering sometimes! On the “Euro Trip”
set, they had these huge trailers so we could just sit
and wait. But when you come on a German production,
maybe if it’s bad weather, they’ll have
a tent where it’s overcrowded (Laughs) TOM: Are there any actors here in America you want
to work with? JB: I’ve always liked Al Pacino’s work
but I’m sure I could never play his daughter because
we just don’t look alike. JB: Of course! It’s so different. What I love
about America is that grocery stores are open 24 hours.
(Laughs) And you find anything! It’s so huge!
Everything’s so huge! I like the mentality, especially
on the West Coast. It’s understandable because
the sun is shining all year too. People are so much
happier. It’s easier to talk to people because
they are more open, even if it’s something superficial,
like if they just want to exchange business cards or
something. Even if you go into a club, it’s so
easy to talk to people. You can go up to stars and celebrities
and just talk to them. Here in Germany, everyone’s
so scared about people, especially when you’re
a celebrity. TOM: Was working on “Euro Trip” a fun
atmosphere? JB: Definitely. They were all so nice and they made
it so easy to make the actors work. I got along so well
with the actors. Sometimes we would go to a club when
we had some leisure time the next day. It was a lot
of fun. TOM: Did you make fun of anybody in German so that
they wouldn’t hear you? JB: No, but Molly Schade, the girl I mentioned before…she
used to have four years of German in her high school
and so she knows bits and pieces of German. So we’d
sometimes walk up to the other actors and pretend we
could talk German to one another, which was pretty funny,
but actually there was no sense in it. TOM: Your character is the main character’s
Internet pen pal. Do you spend any time on the Internet
on your own homepage? JB: I don’t really like chatrooms because it’s
a lot of stress. You can never decide to read or to
write! Sometimes, I have chats with my fans which is
once every two or three months. But I keep writing a
diary on the homepage so my fans know where I am, what
I do right now, and maybe have new tour dates. TOM: Also in the movie, we have this guy that’s
looking to travel from America to Germany just to ask
you out. What would be the perfect date for you? JB: I think I’m very romantic so I like the usual
things. Dinner, movies, a long walk on the beach maybe,
counting the stars. (Laughs) Something romantic. TOM: Do you have plans for Valentine’s Day
this weekend? JB: See, I’m going to have a show that night.
It’s Saturday night, right? I’m going to
be in the middle of Germany, having a show, and I’m
going to have LOTS of valentines. (Laughs) TOM: Are you coming over to America for the premiere? JB: In three days, I’m going to Los Angeles for
the premiere and I’m so excited! JB: Yes, it is. TOM: Have you picked out what you’re going
to wear? JB: I have no idea! I just hope I will find something
over there. I’m going to take a red dress with
me which I really like. Maybe I’ll find something
better when I’m over there. I’m going to
have two more days of shopping. TOM: What else do you plan on doing in Los Angeles? JB: I want to see my friends first of all! I can’t
wait to see the sun again. In Germany, it’s really
cold and it’s snowing everyday… TOM: Yeah, same here in New York City… JB: Is it? Ugh. I really don’t like it. I like
the beach and the sun. I’m going to go shopping
a lot and maybe go to the movies to see all the new
movies, because in Germany, you always have to wait
three or four months. TOM: Finally, if you could have one superhero power,
what would you choose and why? JB: Wow, that’s a tough question. You know what?
I would like to sometimes read somebody’s mind.
That’s a good thing I guess. "Euro Trip" opens in theaters February
20.
TOM:
Hey, how’s it going?
TOM:
Did you start out acting or singing?
TOM:
Who are some of your favorite American music artists?
TOM:
Do you have any strange or weird fan experiences?
TOM:
A lot of your songs are 80s covers. Why did you choose
to sing them?
TOM:
Right. I think it’s interesting you mention that
because that's the trend over here now. If you were
to turn on the radio right now, you’d hear that
No Doubt has their cover of “It’s My Life,”
The Ataris redid Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer,”
and 311 just came out with a cover of The Cure’s
“Love Song” for Adam Sandler’s new
movie…
TOM:
Likewise, your videos are pretty sexy and you dress
sexy in “Euro Trip.” How do you define sexy?
TOM:
How is it different?
TOM:
“Euro Trip” shows some things Americans
find weird or funny about Europe. Do you find anything
weird about America when you come over here to visit?
TOM:
Is this your first American premiere?
