Exclusive interview with actor Andreas Wisniewski

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2012-08-15

For the 50th anniversary of James Bond on the big screen, From Sweden with Love (Anders Frejdh) caught up with Andreas Wisniewski, the German actor who worked on The Living Daylights (1987) and several other major blockbusters.

>READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANDREAS WISNIEWSKI HERE

About Andreas Wisniewski: (Official biography)
Born and raised in Berlin, Andreas Wisniewski (Vish-ny-evski) made his first acquaintance with the stage at the tender age of eight. After graduating from school it took him five years of working as a ballet dancer to decide that acting was his calling. Having the opportunity to perform in Total-Theatre productions with the renowned choreographer/director Johann Kresnik he felt liberated from the stylized expressions of classical dance. Studying acting in Munich and later in London he was given his first opportunity as a thesp by playing the lead in the low-budget film "Outputs". Film was the medium he started to feel most at home in.

Soon Andreas realised that the film industry in Germany was limited due to language barriers. So he set out to America, New York at first. Plagued by money problems and the lack of proper working papers he had to give up and decided to return to London. And luckily so. Ken Russell noticed him, and after a few music videos offered him a part in his feature Gothic (1986). The part was small to start with and shrank further in the final cut. Nonetheless it led to other things, namely the part of the killing henchman "Necros" in 007 - The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton's first James Bond movie. This being his first big budget film, Andreas appreciated the luxury of working without severe time and budgetary constraints.

When the film opened in the United States, Andreas went with it to Los Angeles, the center of the biz. He liked LA instantly, its laid back way of life, its eclecticism. And LA seemed to like Andreas. Die Hard (1988) happened along which became one of the year's blockbusters, and Andreas clinched the part of a terrorist. Before the start of principal photography Andreas had to return to London to work with Ken Russell again on his segment of Aria (1987). Due to a glitch in the visa process, he almost couldn't return to America on time. When the immigration papers finally arrived in London, Andreas had to go straight to the airport, be picked up at the other end, and taken to the set immediately.

In the subsequent years Andreas spent a great deal of time in Los Angeles. He has appeared on various TV shows such as Northern Exposure (1992) and Mann and Machine (1992) as guest star, and was cast in series regular parts of several TV pilots. Although none of these were picked up, he has no regrets about it.

In the following years resident in London but a regular visitor to LA he enjoyed the best of both worlds working wherever the job took him. Seen in Stephen Norrington’s Death Machine (1994), Brian de Palma’s Mission Impossible (1996), Linda LaPlante’s Supply and Demand (1997), Stephen Poliakoff’s The Tribe (1998) and Genevieve Joliffe’s Urban Ghost Story (1998) Andreas turned his attention to other aspects of the business as well.

Alone, and with a partner he has written screenplays and directed and produced several short films. He perceives this as an expansion of his interest in showbiz and a natural progression of his work.

More recently Andreas has spent a lot of time raising his three sons In Berlin. He has been seen as a guest on numerous German TV shows, as well as the feature “Heroes and Other Cowards”.

Apart from family and showbiz he has spent a large amount of time practicing yoga and meditation, something he discovered in California and brought back to Europe. A mystic at heart Andreas has been ordained in the tradition of Zen and is intent on getting the most out of every moment in life.

His current project - joining the two main aspects of his life, showbiz and spirituality - is a screenplay and subsequently a film about meditation.

Photo above:
A personal portrait of actor Andreas Wisniewski. © 2012 Declan Browne. All rights reserved.

For a full listing of Andreas Wisniewski's career in films, check out his profile on IMDB:

www.imdb.com/name/nm0936591/

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