Interview with actor Emilio Sakraya, Germany’s “European Shooting Star” at the Berlinale 2022.
Berlin – From the German karate master to the film and pop star: This is the headline for the career of Emilio Sakraya Moutaoukklil, who decided at the end of 2016 to no longer use his last name publicly and instead to use his middle name as a stage name.
Born in Berlin on June 29, 1996, the son of a Moroccan mother and a Serbian father has been in front of the camera since he was nine years old. He made his first appearance in 2005 in the commercial “Children Tell”. In those years, young Emilio discovered his passion for martial arts.
Berlinale 2022: Emilio Sakraya – the shooting star with the championship title in karate in an interview
In 2010 he won a German championship title in karate in the version of the World Karate and Kickboxing Association (WKA). At the age of eleven he taught himself to play the piano, guitar and drums. At 15 he was already writing his own songs. In 2010, the versatile sunny boy had his first cinema appearance in the Bushido film “Times are changing” produced by Bernd Eichinger.
Since 2014 he has appeared as Tarik Schmüll in three films in the “Bibi & Tina” cinema series. Ever since the transition to adulthood, things have happened one after another for Emilio Sakraya: He was the Indian Neke Bah in the RTL production “Winnetou – The Myth Lives” (2016), played alongside his buddy Frederick Lau in the TNT Series “4 Blocks” (2017), shot the horror film “Heilstetten” (2017), played the leading role in the feature film “Kalte Feet” (2018) and received the studio for the NDR crime scene “The Disappeared Child” (2018). Hamburg Young Talent Award.
Director Fatih Akin about Emilio Sakraya: “Emilio has come to retire Elyas M’Barek!”
At the end of 2020 his debut album “Roter Sand” was released, which was able to place in the charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The two Netflix series “Warrior Nun” (2020) and “Tribes of Europa” (2021) also attracted a great deal of attention, as did Til Schweiger’s tragic comedy “The Rescue of the World Known to Us” (2021), where he plays the bipolar, suicidal Paul die emotional rollercoaster ride from sky-high to deathly sad.
And with his recently finished film “Rheingold”, director Fatih Akin raved about him: “Emilio came to send Elyas M’Barek into retirement!” Our author Marc Hairapetian met Emilio Sakraya during the presentation of the “European Shooting Stars” of the Berlinale 2022 in the Berlin Meistersaal, the former Studio 2 of the legendary Hansa recording studios, where David Bowie and Depeche Mode once made their records.
Interview with Emilio Sakraya
Emilio, you were named one of the “European Shooting Stars” at this year’s Berlinale. What does that mean to you? And do you think that this will boost your career?
We’ll see. I think that you get a lot of attention that way, especially internationally. It is a great honor for me to be one of the “European Shooting Stars” as a representative of Germany. I know the last shooting stars and many of them are friends of mine – like the Portuguese Alba Baptista, with whom I stood in front of the camera for the Netflix series “Warrior Nun” in 2019 and who was named “European Shooting Star ” became. I would like to put myself on a pedestal.
You were born in Berlin with Moroccan and Serbian roots. Can you imagine shooting in your parents’ countries of origin?
My mother is Moroccan, my father is Serbian. These are my roots. I don’t limit myself. I’m open to everything. For me it’s mostly about the script, the character and the director. So I’m keeping it completely open. But I find it really interesting to look into other film cultures. To Morocco and Serbia, which has to do with me, but also to France or Portugal. There is generally a lot to explore there – and I think I can do that at some point.
There are many reasons why you want to be an actor in the first place. I asked Anthony Perkins, the legendary Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, many years ago and he told me quite honestly: “Playing is self-therapy for me.” Others want to be self-fulfilling or serve the arts. Why do you love this job?
That’s a good question. I think I knew what I wanted to do from a very young age – and for me that was being a part of this industry and fascinating people who are sitting in front of a screen or screen. And that’s why I just pursued this dream single-mindedly. If you follow something long enough, it usually works. With all the obstacles that are sometimes placed in your way, staying power pays off at some point.
Are you a cinematic person yourself who enjoys watching movies? Are you more of the Netflix generation or do you prefer the cinema?
Personally, I definitely prefer the cinema and am not a Netflix follower. I think that the younger generation is even more involved. I still come from the time when we liked to go to the cinema on weekends when we were young. That’s why for me, as an actor, cinema is the premier class in this whole film construct!
Time for a little brainstorming: Please tell me your three favorite films with a short explanation!
That’s really hard. There are so many films that I like. I’ll just take Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” with Leonardo DiCaprio. It was a film that surprised me a lot. I like it when there’s a reward for persevering at the end. I loved Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” simply because I’m a huge Astro fan. They portrayed the whole universe extremely well cinematically. Lastly, I’ll take – please don’t laugh now – the Harry Potter films. I have loved her since childhood. The fantasy theme has never been implemented as well as there. Of course it was also when I was a child and an adolescent and it stayed with me for a very long time.
You really can’t deny your versatility. You film, sing melancholic pop songs and in 2010 you won a German championship title in karate in the version of the World Karate and Kickboxing Association (WKA). Where does your interest in martial arts come from?
I also owe that to my love of film. People like Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme were big action stars when I was a teenager and they got me into martial arts.
Do you still train regularly or is that not compatible with the acting profession?
I’ve done this for a very long time, but I haven’t had any real martial arts training for five years. I only train for myself now, because being in a club means regularity and discipline for me. It’s difficult for me because as an actor and musician I’m on the road so much. That’s why I now prefer to work with myself or consult a personal trainer.
Which martial arts styles did you prefer?
I started with karate and kung fu. Then I was drawn more and more towards kickboxing. For me it was also a lot about acrobatics. What I really enjoyed the most was the whole kung fu Showtime theme, when you have to memorize certain forms and combine the combat elements with acrobatics. Even then I was quite the actor I am now. (laughs)
Soon you will be seen in cinemas as gangster rapper Xatar in Fatih Akin’s “Rheingold”. How did the collaboration with one of the best directors in this country come about?
I was just on vacation. Then my cell phone rang: “This is Fatih Akin!” He told me the story and said: “I’d be happy if you’d like it.” After my return from vacation I had to do the camera test. Then it became clear relatively quickly that we would do this together. Now we’re done and the first thing to do is cut, cut and then there’s the grading, i.e. the color correction. Let’s see what comes of it!
What was it like shooting with a very laid-back guy like Fatih, who also likes to chill and party?
Oh dear, cinematically it was just a huge gift for me! We’ve already worked hard on it, even if we didn’t miss out on having fun. For me, Fatih is an exceptional director. Any actor who shoots with him can only be grateful to him for that.
Laurence Olivier once said: As an actor, it’s all about creating illusions. Oskar Werner, who shot the utopian Vatican film “In the shoes of the fisherman” with him in 1968, contradicted this because he wanted to give the audience the dream. What do you think is right about it?
I think that with a film that’s done well, you follow the story and you never question anything because you’re just sucked in and then no more questions arise in your head. That’s probably more of an illusion statement, which I would agree with. Everyone has their own way of seeing, hearing and presenting things. That goes for the greatest filmmakers and also for the best actors. And that’s exactly what makes a good film so complex and special. (Marc Hairapetian)
