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Warning: main(/usr/local/www/apache22/data/baf00/includes/top.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /homez.313/bananamo/www/www.goodbyebafana.com/interviews/diane_kruger.php on line 28 Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening '/usr/local/www/apache22/data/baf00/includes/top.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /homez.313/bananamo/www/www.goodbyebafana.com/interviews/diane_kruger.php on line 28 Can you tell us a little about playing the part of Gloria… When I first read, 'Goodbye Bafana' I immediately thought Gloria was a great female part. She seemed to be very violent in a number of different ways and I found some of the scenes extremely difficult to envisage. Telling my children that, ' It was God's way that whites and blacks should be separated' was something I found terrifying. The way in which she'd say such things in such a matter of fact way, was very challenging to me as an actress, but on the other hand I really wanted to try and understand the complexities of the times she had grown up in, and the changes that the people of South Africa had experienced. I thought it was a fantastic character arc to portray.   Having met the real Gloria, do you feel it has been an advantage or disadvantage? Meeting the real Gloria Gregory has been a real inspiration for me. When reading the script, I thought, 'How could I possibly portray this woman who starts out so racist?' To begin with, I found it difficult to make her sympathetic to an audience, but meeting her really helped. She turned out to be such a warm person, and extremely religious after having endured terrible hardship from the death of her two children. I was able to understand her more by asking questions regarding her true beliefs during the times of Apartheid. For example I asked her whether she really believed that Mandela was a terrorist? She replied, 'Yes absolutely'. She explained how they didn't have a television until 1976, and that women at the time didn't even know what Mandela looked like until the day he was freed. She'd never read the Freedom Charter, as the government had always portrayed it as some sort of Communist pamphlet. I think in a way she represents a lot of white people that lived in South Africa at the time, all the while completely terrified by the ANC movement, truly believing it to be a threat to their security. Seeing how much she cared for her family, and how she believed everything her husband said to her, (as the only link into that world) was very helpful when developing the character.   What do you think the story can tell us today? 'Goodbye Bafana' was a very important movie to make. To me as a German it has some sort of weird resonance, because I feel what's happened in the history of my country is actually very similar in terms of the everyday reality of regular people living in a country and being oblivious to what's happening right in front of their eyes. I think Gloria is the kind of person who accepted whatever climate she was living in, and believed everything she was being told without ever stepping outside the box. I think that's terrifying, but it can happen, and still does happen in many countries. Its vital to show that not all of these people were monsters or hateful, or racist because many weren't. They just grew up in a certain era, and believed what they were told. To me, the most terrifying thing is not teaching people to think outside the box. To be passive about what's going on in your life. Movies like this show that we grow up the same people, no matter what colour or religion. To me, 'Bafana' powerfully underlines this message. The story shows how one man, without violence, or hatred toward the whites, walked tall and demonstrated what we can do by believing in the good of people, and I think that's extremely important.   How much did you know about South Africa, South Africa's history, Mandela, and Apartheid? Before I got the script, I knew a little about South Africa, because my very first movie was shot in Cape Town. But, about Apartheid, Mandela, and what had happened, I really only knew what everybody else knew from the media. I began to read about the country's history, as I'd previously not read books like, 'A Long Walk to Freedom'. For further research, I spent quite a long time in South Africa before shooting, learning the accent, and visiting different parts of town that tourists may not get the opportunity to see. I felt that by the end, I was coming closer to understanding what life must have been like, 20, 30, 40 years ago. Today, its definitely going in the right direction, but there's still a long way to go. I hope my performance will do justice to what life must have been like here, thinking and feeling the struggle to accept the change that was coming along. I also hope to do justice to the black community, because this is a movie really seen from the white's point of view. Whilst this makes the movie interesting, I think it could also be potentially dangerous regarding their feelings about what really happened. It's a fine line, but I do feel Bille is very careful about showing that side as well. We have to show the grey area as well. It's not as simple as martyrs and bad people, its much more complex and layered.