Becoming Karl Lagerfeld star had to block out "opinions" on fashion icon
"I needed to lower the volume in my head."
Daniel Brühl is no stranger to challenging roles, but playing fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, best known as the creative director of Chanel, is arguably one of his most daring career moves to date.
"The voices in my head were very loud at the beginning, and all the way through, actually, until now, the release, because so many people have opinions about him," he said of starring in Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, which is available to stream now on Disney Plus.
"So, I needed to lower the volume in my head and forget about all that."
He went on to discuss the importance of not delivering a "caricature or a mere copy, but to create a character, an individual and personal character yourself".
"And, of course, the tricky bits were also the unknown, all the delicate and intimate fields that we were touching in this story that you have to fill with your own decisions and then defend them," he added.
"And all the way through I did this with a huge amount of empathy, respect, admiration and responsibility for that character. It's been a long process, but it's wonderful to have this jigsaw puzzle in front of you with 10,000 pieces."
When the drama opens, 38-year-old Lagerfeld is a ready-to-wear designer who is not yet known to the public – and, crucially, without his "iconic hairstyle".
But as the series progresses, we witness "the formidable blossoming of this complex and iconic personality of Parisian couture, already driven by the ambition to become the Emperor of fashion".
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"And I just finished maybe one corner," said Brühl of where we find Lagerfeld at the end of the series. "There's still 7,000 pieces lying around there. And if the journey should continue - which we don't know, and I don't know - I will continue putting it together.
"He's such a fascinating man. Karl Lagerfeld was so many things at a time, so being offered to play one of the most relevant and mysterious and fascinating figures in our recent history was a gift."
All 6 episodes of Becoming Karl Lagerfeld are available to stream now on Disney Plus.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
