Helena Zengel talks about meeting the woman she plays in ‘West End Girl’

A young woman looks to the horizon as the sun sets over the Bay of Cassis, a charming seaside resort near Marseille.

This is the final episode of the German series and thriller film West End Girl starring rising international star Helena Zengel. The show, distributed worldwide by Beta Film, will premiere today at the TV Series Festival Seriencamp in Cologne.

Ronya, played by Zengel, grew up in a wealthy neighborhood and plans to attend medical school. But the day after her 18th birthday party, everything changes. Picture-perfect parents are arrested and charged with running the largest cocaine ring in the area. This series is based on a true story.

This is Zengel’s first German work in many years. She has been in high demand since her breakout role at the age of 11 in the Berlinale competition film System Crasher, for which she won the German Film Award and was nominated for the European Film Award. She co-starred with Tom Hanks in “News of the World,” for which she was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Golden Globe, and co-starred with Willem Dafoe in “The Legend of Ochi.”

After filming “West End Girl” wrapped in blackcurrant, Zengel spoke to Variety about the show.

Do you think Ronya is a bit naive at the beginning of the series?

Yeah, completely. She wants to believe in her parents, she wants to keep a safe family, a beautiful and loving home. She wants to keep it alive. Somehow I think she knows something is wrong but doesn’t want to see it. She creates her own sense of reality and always tries to believe in her beloved parents.

Are her relationships with her mother and father very different in terms of how she views them?

I think so. Her father is that strong man who brought home the money and bought the house, and is a leader. And her mother, who is very soft-spoken and calm, is trying to break out of that, but it’s not working. Ronya feels it. She realizes that her father is controlling her mother, and that’s probably what really bothers her. Ronya knows they love each other and wants them to be together.

Will what she discovers after her arrest cause her to begin to look back and reevaluate the events of her childhood? Is it a crisis in terms of determining what is true and what is not?

Yeah, completely. There are all these flashbacks where we see young Ronya and the story is told. She looks back on her childhood and viewers look back with her. And then she realizes how things really were and what her parents told her.

Can you describe your character’s journey from beginning to end? Is her perceptual development gradual, or are there moments of revelation where she suddenly sees things clearly?

Yes, she is definitely going on a big journey. She starts out growing up in a very loving home with parents who love each other and everything seems perfect. They are very wealthy and live in a very wealthy area of ​​Düsseldorf, where the story takes place. And suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a crazy story about her parents and family. And for her, it feels like an identity crisis: “Who am I?” and “Who are they?” and “What is my life?” and “What was true and what was not true?”

And I feel like there’s a point where she’s starting to realize something is wrong but doesn’t want to believe it. Throughout the series and her journey, she slowly begins to understand what is true and what is not. And you travel with her. It begins in childhood. You can tell by the colors she wears, the makeup she applies, and the people she surrounds herself with. She starts off as a very child-like teenager, but then grows up quickly and suddenly becomes an adult. She takes care of things. I think in the end you are a parent. Yes, there is a big journey.

What was it like meeting the woman who is the inspiration for your character?

It was my first time doing something like this (meeting the person I will be playing). It was incredible. I have to say, what I really love about life growing up is building bonds in the film industry, meeting people, understanding people, meeting souls. And when you start modeling yourself on someone or playing a role that’s inspired by someone, and you meet that person, it’s like something magical happens. Because all of a sudden I’m playing you and I want to know what you want to see and I want to show you what I can make out of it. And she was with us many times during filming. It was so intense, sensitive and beautiful. I mean, we’re friends now, and I really, really like her and we had a really good time. The first time she saw some clips, she cried. For me it was a gift. Because it’s very emotional for someone to see you acting out your life. It was wonderful.

Has she ever told her story in a book?

No, she told her story to writers and they adapted it. There are a lot of things that didn’t happen in real life that were inspired by her and her story. It’s just an amazing story.

Why did you choose this TV series to appear in compared to other parts you were offered in the past? What attracted you?

Well, first of all, I wanted to do something German again. It’s been a long time since I last shot in Germany. Many years have passed. And filming in my native language made me really want to do it again. Also, I love stories that are based on real stories and real people. I was sure that I would meet these people, who are the basis of the stories in this series. Although this story has a lot of fiction added to it, it is inspired by real people. Another reason is that I love coming-of-age stories. Even though she started young like me, she really grew with the viewers throughout the series. Going to clubs, drugs, alcohol, having your first boyfriend, romance, sex, love, and everything else. This was a great experience for me too. I feel like this is the first project where people can see that I’ve become a young person. I will no longer be seen as a child, but as a young adult.

Did you deliberately choose an English project after the success of “System Crasher”?

Well, I’ve had a lot of requests, but I love traveling. I love growing up in different countries. I love different cultures and I love speaking English. So, after a certain point, it became like my second native language. So everyone started asking me to do international projects. I’ve been loving traveling and trying new things outside of the German industry for a while now. And I think it’s always going to go back and forth. I don’t think I’ll ever do only international projects and then only German projects. I think it’s always both.

“West End Girl” credits

Westend Girl was co-produced by Richard Kropf (Cleo, 4 Blocks) and Paula Beck (Breaking Horizons, Drugs). Klopf also serves as head writer, with Luisa Hardenberg (Push), Katharina Brauer (Para Vir Sind King), Alexander Lind (A Better Place), and Julian Gaup-Meyer (How to Sell Drugs Online Fast) rounding out the writers’ room. Beck also directed the series alongside Stephen Schaller (Five Years). The cinematographer is Yossi Heimrath (“Berlin Alexanderplatz”, “How to Sell Drugs Online Fast”).

In addition to Zengel, the cast also includes Frédéric Baronnier (Maxton Hall), Lukas Gregorowitz (Call My Agent Berlin, Pagan Peak), and Luise Heyer (The Sound of Fame). The cast includes Alexander Scheer (From Hilde with Love, The Promised House), Samira Breuer (Shadow Leaks), and Hannah Hecht (The Sound of Fall).

Martin Heisler of Flare Film (“Forget Me Not,” “Funeral for a Dog”) will produce the show. Maxim Juretzka (“Funeral for a Dog”) of Flare Film and Jan Wünschmann (“The Swarm”) of Beta Film will serve as executive producers. The commissioning editors are Frank Tönsmann from WDR and Uta Cappel from ARTE.

Westend Girl is produced by Flare Films in association with WDR/ARTE and in association with Beta Films. The series is funded by NRW Film und Medienstiftung, Medienbode Berlin Brandenburg and the German Film Fund.