Vanessa McMahon

The Deflowering of Eva Van End by Dutch filmmaker Michiel ten Horn is a quirky comedy reminiscent of the American hit Little Miss Sunshine (2006). The Deflowering of Eva Van End is a smart comedy about an eccentric dysfunctional Dutch family that hosts a well-traveled German exchange student who uses his weird and worldly ways to open the minds of his hosts.

The film recently screened at the 2013 Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). I interviewed actor Tomer Pawlicki in his native Amsterdam a few weeks after TIFF. Here is what he had to say:

ME: Your film is a funny movie about a German foreigner coming to stay with a Dutch family and totally transforming them. Are Germans that different than the Dutch?

TOMER: I don't know really how much we differ from the Germans. I know that the Germans have a better cuisine than the Dutch and that they've won the World Cup more times than we did. But honestly, and I don’t think a lot of Dutch-ies will agree, but they're quite similar; the languages really resemble for instance. Maybe the best way to describe the Dutch is to call them Light Germans, like diet coke.

ME: You play Eva's brother covered in pimples. Was this a big departure for your true identity? How hard was this to play?

TOMER: Playing Erwin was a real challenge, especially because he's the most eccentric character in the movie. It was tough keeping him in balance but simultaneously a lot of fun. The character doesn't resemble me at all, but his features/trademarks are very appealing for an actor, which made the work a lot of fun and inspiring.

ME: How did you find out about the film? Did the director come to you or was it a tough audition process?

TOMER: I heard about the film through a casting agency. I auditioned 3 or 4 times in a period of 5 months, needless to say it was nerve-racking, but I went through the roof when I heard I landed the part.

ME: Would you say this is a typical Dutch film or a departure and more like Hollywood style comedy?

TOMER: People in Holland really find this movie ‘un-Dutch’, which it is. It has been compared to Little Miss Sunshine a lot, and I can see why, but that doesn’t necessarily make it Hollywood right? Let's just say it has an international charm.

ME: Is there a deeper subtext message in the film behind the satire and comedy?

TOMER: A deeper meaning? I guess, but that is something everybody experiences quite differently. If you look at Eva and the whole family there is something dysfunctional about them, but that's not the message. People start to dysfunction when they're trying to be something they're not. So maybe that's the message? What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot more to this movie than just satire. Comedy is just a way to express it with a smile.

ME: Do you have any anecdotes of the experience while shooting the film?

TOMER: I was referred to as "The Firm Guy" during the whole shooting period because of that line. Even the director started to direct me by saying: “Just, just, just be the FIRM GUY”.

ME: Can you tell us how hard it is to be an actor in Holland to become more international? Do you intend to act in films abroad?

TOMER: Dutch actors have a hard time getting work internationally. At least that's the stigma. A lot of the Dutch have horrible accents, which doesn't help. I myself am training my English Accent and luckily I speak several languages, which makes me very aware of accents. Going abroad? I dream of going abroad, working internationally in the US or England. My real dream is to play in an HBO series with a substantial lead where my character can develop over the seasons...So just fingers crossed you know...

ME: Your film recently screened in Cluj at the Transylvania Film Festival. How was it to be there and how did audiences react to the film?

TOMER: Cluj was amazing! I loved the festival and people loved the movie, which is always fantastic. I did notice some tensions though in some scenes. One of my scenes, which has a certain 'gay' fragrance, wasn't really popular over there while everywhere else I've been with the movie, people laughed their asses off. But I guess that's still a delicate issue over there.

ME: What are your acting and film/theater plans for this coming year?

TOMER: I'm rehearsing for this theatre festival in Holland, which is also a lot of fun. I got a lot of exciting projects this coming year. Most of them are theatre based, like what I'm working on now. But I'll be rehearsing a play soon of a book adaptation of Stefan Zweig and I'll be writing and playing my own play this coming spring about third generation Jews and Germans, which I’m both really looking forward to!

Interview by Vanessa McMahon

Trailer

Actor Tomer Pawlicki