“If I slow down, you should be worried!”

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Stand: December 12, 2024, 7:08 a.m

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TV star Jutta Speidel spoke to us about her career, the proverbial climbing trees, divorce and her latest projects.

Munich – Last rescue: Grandma! In this case, it is Jutta Speidel (70), who suddenly and unexpectedly appears at her daughter’s door as a grandmother in “The Most Beautiful Gift” (Friday, December 13th, 8:15 p.m., ARD). Speidel has also just landed on the Christmas bestseller lists with her novel “Amaryllis”, and – as she has done for decades – she continues to fight for homeless children and women with her association “Horizont”.

Jutta Speidel about family and fragile children’s souls

Your film “The Most Beautiful Gift” is about a young family falling apart. You play the grandmother who interferes. Can you imagine it – you’re standing on the doorstep at Christmas without registering with your family?

Jutta Speidel: My children would be pissed if I surprised them like that. But there is a very special story in the film. The grandson is sad because everything turned out this way. His sister hardly talks to him anymore, his mother is with her boyfriend as often as possible, and his father wants to move out so that his boyfriend can move in with her. Of course the grandson doesn’t understand any of this. He seeks help from his grandmother because he can rely on her.

How would you react if you received a call from your granddaughter: “Please come and make our world whole again!”?

Then I would get into a conflict and not know what to do. Children are often the ones who really suffer when their parents separate. We hardly know how sensitive the child’s soul is.

You also separated from your husband at a young age, even though you were still young parents. If you think about it today – did you do well?

Jutta Speidel: I think we did relatively well. Our children were still small, so they didn’t really notice it for the first two years. We had a weekend marriage because my husband ran his business far from Munich. Nevertheless, even today you still get it on your plate from time to time.

Your first novel, “Amaryllis,” which you are currently on a reading tour with and which has become a real Christmas bestseller, is also very important to you these weeks. What is the book about?

Jutta Speidel: I describe the life of a woman named Valerie – from her birth to her 70th birthday. Valerie dreams of becoming a clown, goes to the famous Dimitri circus school and there meets Lorenzo, her future love. But while he makes the leap to the top, she remains in his shadow – until a metamorphosis occurs and she gets her big chance.

How did you come up with the topic?

Jutta Speidel: I had a great love for the circus as a little girl, and at some point I noticed that there were almost only male clowns. No matter how good women are – like my Valerie – they have no chance in the clown world of men. And when there was less and less filming during the Corona period, I started writing.

Why is the book called “Amaryllis”?

Jutta Speidel: The amaryllis is my favorite flower, my birth flower. When I was born there was one in full bloom on my mother’s bedside table. But an amaryllis is also the most beautiful example of a wonderful metamorphosis: an unsightly bulb lying somewhere in the cellar will one day become a flower with beautiful blossoms. Valerie’s life is very similar to the development of this flower.

Another central point in your life is your work for your aid organization “Horizont”, which helps homeless children and their mothers. You founded “Horizont” almost 30 years ago – do you have the impression that more has been done for the homeless since then?

Jutta Speidel: At that time I was particularly concerned about the children affected, who no one talked about at the time. Now you take a closer look, and I think that’s also happening because of my work. But that is still far too little. It’s bad that we can’t get this under control. On my reading trips through Germany I see a lot of landscape, but no infrastructure. There is nothing everywhere, there is no work. But if you don’t have a job, you don’t earn any money.

Jutta Speidel: “I get bored easily”

Very personally: You turned 70 this year. Has anything changed for you as you enter the new decade of your life?

Jutta Speidel: Zero. I was hardworking and worked even harder than before. But I never had the desire to slow down anyway. It was always like that for me. I was and is quickly bored. I’m very curious, I’m interested in everything, whether it’s a person, an animal, nature itself, a material, a film. When I deal with it, it enriches my life.

But at 70 you can take a little break…

Jutta Speidel: When I start putting my feet on the couch and doing crossword puzzles, people should be worried about me. I no longer have to climb trees and do a backflip down. Now I still like climbing trees, but I leave out the somersault.

You are often a guest on TV talk shows and people like to show reviews of your life and your films. How is that for you?

Jutta Speidel: Then I think it’s crazy what a lump I gave birth to. And I’m happy when I see things again that I had already forgotten.

What was the defining film for your life?

Jutta Speidel: I can’t say that. I’ve had a lot of lasting successes – just the series like “All My Daughters”, “Rivals of the Racetrack” or “Three Are One Too Many”, which are still bought on DVD. I have just been asked again about “Three are one too many”: “I was so in love with little Karl. And now I’m finally getting to know her!” You have to imagine that – that was 50 years ago!

Which film are you particularly proud of?

Jutta Speidel: One of them was just shown on TV again: “We Are Sisters” based on the novel by Anne Gesthuysen, in which I played an 89-year-old. It’s just a shame that it didn’t cause as much of a stir as we all initially thought.

When you look back at what you have experienced and seen over the past 70 years: Are you afraid of the future for our earth?

Jutta Speidel: I live in the here and now and always try to make the best of it. I don’t have a crystal ball to ask about what will happen in the future. But I really hope that we are not approaching another world war. If it blows me away from one day to the next – then so be it. Then I can look back on a great life. But my three-year-old granddaughter can’t do it yet. She should still have her life!

Jutta Speidel: recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit

Jutta Speidel (born March 26, 1954 in Munich) was seen in the third episode “The Louts from the First Bank” in 1969 (first as an extra, then in the regular cast). 1974: Breakthrough with “The Last Holidays”. 1979: International success with “Fleisch”. Then in 1977 the TV series “Three are one too many”. 1989: “Rivals of the Racetrack”. 1989 to 1995: TV series “Forsthaus Falkenau”. 1994 to 1999: “All My Daughters”. 2002 to 2006 “For Heaven’s Sake”.

From 1977 to 1982 she had a relationship with actor Herbert Herrmann (83). From 1984 to 1991 she was married to wood merchant Stefan Feuerstein, and her younger daughter Antonia (38, actress and opera singer) comes from this marriage. She never mentioned the name of the father of her older daughter Franziska. From 2003 to 2013 she had a liaison with the Italian actor Bruno Maccallini (64, books and films together). In 1997 she founded her association “Horizont”. She has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit and is an honorary citizen of Munich. (by Horst Stellmacher)