Volksschauspiele Telfs

Back to his roots for a short time

Harald Schrott (left) and Tobias Moretti in "Der zerbrochne Krug" at the Tiroler Volksschauspielen in Telfs.

(Bild: Marcella Ruiz Cruz)

Harald Schrott is one of the busiest film actors in Germany. With his role in "Der zerbrochne Krug" in Telfs, he returned to the stage and to his original home.

An essential part of actor Harald Schrott's life and the resulting connection to Tyrol has real parallels to his last feature film "Am Ende wird alles sichtbar". The plot of this film tells the story of someone who returns - and attracts a great deal of attention as a result. Contrary to the fictional plot of the film, however, the real attention that Harald Schrott has been attracting in Tyrol since the beginning of August is purely positive.

More than half of his life away from home
The actor, who was born in Innsbruck in 1967 and grew up in Mutters, played the role of "court clerk Licht" in Anna Bergmann's highly acclaimed production of "Der zerbrochne Krug" at the Tiroler Volksschauspielen Telfs. Here, Schrott stood side by side with other acting greats such as Tobias Moretti, Corinna Harfouch and Sibylle Canonica.

Actor Harald Schrott

(Bild: Joachim Gern)

One of the busiest actors
In 1988, shortly after completing his acting training, he moved to Germany and found his second home in Berlin. He has performed at the Staatstheater Mainz, the Theater Ulm, the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, among others. In the meantime, Schrott has become one of the busiest German-speaking film actors, appearing in countless television and cinema productions.

Back to his own roots
In the course of his career, he has filmed with Volker Schlöndorff and Bruno Ganz. The busy actor found time to talk to the "Krone" before the end of the season in Telfs. "My decision at a young age to leave my home country was definitely an important step in my development as a person and as an actor. From 2008 onwards, I kept coming back to Austria for film shoots. So my involvement with the Tiroler Volksschauspielen is also part of my return to my roots."

The Tiroler Volksschauspiele has been held in the tranquil Tyrolean community of Telfs every year since 1982.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The actor who almost became a doctor
Although Harald Schrott was surrounded by theater from an early age, as his father Albert ran the village theater in Mutters for several years, his uncle played there and his mother was a prompter, acting was not initially his declared career goal. "During my time at grammar school, I started attending a drama school at the same time. After my A-levels, I studied medicine for a year and a half and completed my acting training," he recalls. Although his father would certainly have preferred his son Harald to become a doctor, the call of the stage was stronger for the then almost 20-year-old and he gained a foothold for a short time at the Tiroler Landestheater and the Innsbruck Kellertheater before his final vocation took him to Germany, as mentioned at the beginning.

Filmed well over 100 films to date
"I was simply a passionate theater actor and did five to six plays a year. At the end of the nineties, I worked with actress Katharina Thalbach, who knew Volker Schlöndorff, who cast me in the film 'The Silence After the Shot'. So suddenly I was in front of the camera. Since then, I've shot well over 100 films, TV films and TV series."

"The silence after the shot": Harald Schrott and Jenny Schily

(Bild: zVg.)

The joy of playing in front of an audience
With the Tiroler Volksschauspielen, the parade mime, who is so versatile in his roles, seems to have rediscovered the atmosphere of a stage in front of a live audience. He has this to say: "After 20 years away from the stage, this production has rekindled my love of the theater, because it is simply a blessing to be able to perform live in front of an audience."