Götz Otto (Actor)

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2014-01-06

Stamper in TOMORROW NEVER DIES 1997

Our good friend, FSWL contributor and ace German photographer Sascha Braun, met up with Götz Otto ("Stamper" in Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997) in January 2013 after seeing Otto in the role of "Kempf" in the theatre production of "The King's Speech" in Limburg, Germany.

Otto said after the show that he had to hire a speech coach for his role as the king. "I had to learn the stutter and to get rid of it afterwards. Nothing is worse for an actor than to get rid of a stutter after months on the theatre stage.“

Sascha later got a chance to interview Mr. Otto over phone and then asked him some questions about his work on the Bond film:

The audience knows you as a German bad guy in Tomorrow Never Dies. There is a rumour that in the audition you presented yourself to the producers in just 20 seconds with the following words: "I am big, I am bad, I am bold, and I am German. Five seconds, keep the rest.“ Is this true?
"Actually, yes [laughing]. I met the director Roger Spottiswoode. At this point in my career I had worked only on the theatre stage even though I had a small part in Schindler's List. Nothing to impress a director from Hollywood. Barbara Broccoli gave me 20 seconds to introduce myself. I thought, what should I tell her? Then I came up with this. She smiled at me, I smiled back. It was my very first casting. But after that one many more followed."

How was it to work with Pierce Brosnan?
"I liked him back in 1997 and I still like him. Not only as Bond and an actor but also as a human being. We still have contact from time to time. I actually saw him last year in Mallorca when he was filming [A Long Way Down] down there and I was visiting a friend."

Did it help to be a Bond villain in getting better offers as an actor or did you have trouble afterwards to get good parts?
"Since then I have worked much more internationally. But topping Bond is difficult and most of my international productions is never released in Germany."

Which Bond film do you like the most and what do you think about Daniel Craig as 007?
"Craig is great. I watched Skyfall (2012) and liked it very much. In my opinion, it is very difficult to compare Bond films because everyone stands for a special period of time. Many Bonds from the 1980s and 1990s look out of place today; some of the stuff that was used in the films as innovations is looking odd today. Look at Tomorrow Never Dies: GPS, a special thing? Every car has it today. On the other side, that is exactly the reason why Bond films are so good during the times when they are made."

Editor's note:
For more interviews featured on From Sweden with Love, click here.

About Götz Otto:
Born in Offenbach am Main in 1967. He trained as an actor from 1987 to 1993 at the University Berlin, the University for Dramatic Arts in Graz and with Otto Falckenberg in Munich. Otto speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and German.

For more information about Götz Otto, visit his official website.

Other people we have met who worked on Tomorrow Never Dies:
>Al Matthews
>Anthony Waye (line producer)
>Barbara Broccoli (producer)
>Chris Corbould (special effects supervisor)
>Colin Salmon
>David Arnold (film soundtrack composer)
>Desmond Llewelyn
>Don Black (lyricist of "Surrender")
>Jim Dowdall (stunt)
>Judi Dench
>Keith Hamshere (still photographer)
>Lindy Hemming (costume designer)
>Liza Ross
>Michael G. Wilson (producer)
>Michelle Yeoh
>Monty Norman (composer of the "James Bond theme")
>Nick Gillard (stunt)
>Pierce Brosnan
>Rocky Taylor (stunt)
>Samantha Bond
>Teri Hatcher
>Terry Bamber (location production manager)
>Terry Richards (stunt)
>Trevor Steedman (stunt)
>Vic Armstrong (2nd Unit director)
>Wendy Leech (stunt)

Photos below:
Götz Otto as "Kempf" in the theatre play "The Speech of the King". © 2013 Sascha Braun. All rights reserved.

Text written and published by Anders Frejdh in January 2014

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