Hah! Are our AI hosts gender biased? Malte tells Alex and Isabel about listener feedback to episode 1. What will our lovely pieces of code make of this criticism? This week's topic is John Malkovich, who opened up to Malte about his contrarian perspectives on fame, power, and what truly matters in life while reflecting on his experiences from childhood trauma to financial ruin. Alex and Isabel share highlights from this interview:
• "Good people never strive for power, never" – Malkovich's uncompromising view on ambition and leadership
• Growing up as a "demonic child" in a Midwest coal mining town with four siblings
• Philosophical acceptance after losing his entire life savings to Bernie Madoff
• Finding it wasteful to spend time writing negative comments online
• Considering his greatest honor to be designing a fabric for Liberty department store
• Reflecting on mortality and the unpredictable nature of life
• Preferring detachment from political discourse and selective consumption of information
• Valuing creative fulfillment over traditional measures of success
Join us next Friday for a conversation with "The Woman Who Says No" - the only woman who survived Picasso, offering insights into the creative process from a remarkable painter.
Original Interview:
https://www.stern.de/kultur/film/john-malkovich-im-interview-ueber-alter--tod-und-hass-auf-promis-7350180.html
The demonic child
John Malkovich appears as a dictator at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany. A conversation about power, beatings—and the deadly German city of Recklinghausen
Interview: Malte Herwig
Q: Mr. Malkovich, next week you will celebrate your world premiere as a megalomaniacal dictator in the play “Just Call Me God.” You have also designed a new fashion collection and named a jacket after the African despot Mobutu. Are you on a power trip at the moment?
Malkovich: The inspiration for the jacket came from a book called “Dictator Style.” It contained a photo of Mobutu in a funny outfit with an ocelot hat, which was both quirky and elegant at the same time. Some of these people have always been daring when it comes to fashion.
Q: Is there a specific role model for your role as a dictator?
Malkovich: Of course, there are references to the fall of Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, so relatively recent events. But above all, I want to use the character of the dictator to say something about power and the nature of power.
Q: Namely?
Malkovich: That good people never strive for power, never. Period. People will tell you otherwise, but I don't believe them.
Q: The script by author Michael Sturminger also mentions names like Trump, Putin, and Sarkozy and mocks them as “ridiculous pseudo-machos.”
Malkovich: The play is still in flux, and I think we'll take names like Trump, Putin, and Sarkozy out again.
Q: Why?
Malkovich: Because I don't understand how the passage in which these names appear contributes to the understanding of the main character.
Q: Are you concerned about Donald Trump?
Malkovich: Not particularly. It's pointless. So many people lecture about it, I can't contribute anything at all. I don't read newspapers and I hardly watch television. As Paul Simon said, “A man hears what he wants to hear and ignores the rest.”
Q: Your ex-wife said about you: “If he hadn't gone into theater, he could have been a great army leader.”
Malkovich: She said that? I've never been in the army, so I never had the opportunity to try it out.
Q: What would have become of you if you hadn't found your way into theater?
Malkovich: I think about that a lot as I get older. Maybe a teacher? What would have happened if I hadn't happened to meet a couple of young guys in college who had the crazy idea of starting a t
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