Art
Verena Altenberger: the woman we've been waiting for
Everyone at the Salzburg Festival is in love with Verena Altenberger. But what we admire most about the 33-year-old is her attitude to life. She swears by empathy and openness.
It can be difficult to know where to start when talking about Verena Altenberger. How do you begin the story? Does it start with Altenberger playing the paramour in Everyman at the Salzburg Festival and saying that performing the role is “totally a childhood dream come true”? Of course, being chosen to play the most prestigious supporting role in Austrian theatre — and in your home state to boot (Altenberger was born in the Pongau region within the state of Salzburg) — is a pretty big deal. That’s definitely worth mentioning. But then that would perhaps be focusing disproportionately on the 33-year-old’s stage career, without touching on why she is more widely known as one of the most versatile character actresses in the German-speaking countries, even though it is only six years since she graduated from drama school.
So would it be better to start with her appearances on screen? Maybe we could lead with her role in the 2017 drama Die beste aller Welten(“The Best of all Worlds”), in which Altenberger so authentically plays a drug-abusing single mother that it almost tears your heart out. Or her role in German TV channel RTL’s comedy Magda macht das schon(“Magda Does That”). Or what about prime-time crime drama Polizeiruf 110 (“Police Call 110”)? The upcoming mountain epic Märzengrund? Crime thriller series Wild Republic?
The curious gaze
Or maybe we shouldn’t merely focus on the filmography and performance CV of the 1.7m-tall daughter of a banker and a school headmistress who grew up in the Salzburg municipalities of Dorfgastein, Hallein and Oberalm. Let’s just start with one thing that you really should know about Verena Altenberger. Namely, she is one of those people who loves people and loves life. It is the first thing that you sense when you come face to face with the actress. You can see it in her open yet curious gaze that seems to be saying, “I know who you are.” You can see it in the way that she interacts with others. You can read it in the comments she leaves on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. To explain it all away with a terse, “That’s just the way she is,” would be too simplistic. Because her generosity is born of a very deliberate approach to life.
You can feel Verena Altenberger’s presence as soon as she walks into a room
© Lottermann & Fuentes
But let’s take it one step at a time. Verena Altenberger’s acting agency lists so many skills in her casting file that you’d be forgiven for thinking you are dealing with Wonder Woman. The artiste speaks seven languages: German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Yiddish and Turkish. On top of that there is the figure skating, horse riding, aikido, dancing, fencing, golf and artistic gymnastics. But if you ask Altenberger herself what she sees as her greatest gift, she will say something that you won’t find on any list. “I think my greatest talent is my openness because it means that I can approach new situations and people. It all has to do with a certain lack of fear too.” But as she explains, the openness doesn’t just apply to the world at large. It’s about being open with yourself too.
Altenberger can speak 7 languages, including Italian, Turkish and Yiddish
© Lottermann & Fuentes
Nothing to fear
“For a long time I tried to hide my fears,” says Altenberger. “I was very unsure of myself as an adolescent. I still struggle with that today sometimes. But at some point a switch f licked in my head and I understood that this supposed self-defence mechanism of hiding your inner self doesn’t work. It’s a pretty stressful state to be in and you make yourself vulnerable because you’re always afraid of getting busted. As long as I say, ‘Hey, this is how it is,’ I become almost invulnerable because I’ve already put the worst of it out there. I bank on openness in the hope that I’ll be met with maximum openness in return.” Then, laughing, she adds, “It usually works.”
The empathy thing
While we’re on the subject of attributes, Altenberger wants to add to the mix a good dollop of empathy to go with that openness too. This also helps to form the basis of her work, of course, so that she can get into the spirit of a character and plumb the full range of being: the light, the profound, the bright, the dark. “For me, acting really is a calling, not a job,” she says. “I get to learn new things with every piece of work; new skills, mindsets and interests. But as much as I need empathy for my work, I also see it as a foundation for my life. Having empathy automatically makes you anti-racist, anti-sexist and a humanist because you don’t want bad things to happen to other people, plain and simple.”
For Verena Altenberger, acting is a calling and not a profession
© Lottermann & Fuentes
Feminism. Refugees welcome. A level playing field. These issues are important to her, although using her fame to spotlight them has been a learning process. Altenberger’s nerves did waver when she made her first sociopolitical social-media post, wondering: “Am I strong and steady enough to deal with the blowback?” She knows the answer to that question now. It’s both no and yes. No, it didn’t do her any harm as an artist. If anything, it helped her to become a personality who’s taken seriously. It meant that Altenberger wouldn’t be stuck in the “beautiful, sexy, guileless” box. The parts she plays are too wide-ranging for that anyway, as are her interests. But better still, Altenberger has found a way to mitigate the social-media hate and insults that she is on the receiving end of. This is where her magic weapon, her openness, comes into play again. Altenberger writes directly to the internet trolls and online madmen and asks, “Why do you say that, Mr or Ms XY? Yours sincerely, Verena.”
"The first step for me is to counter the anonymity somewhat,” she says. “A lot of people would never say to my face what they say to me online. When I react, they normally reply in surprise, ‘Oh, I never would have thought you’d actually read this.’ And sometimes they even write back in an almost friendly manner.” Occasionally she will even get into brief discussions. “In many cases you can get people to see that they’re talking bullshit if you ask firm questions. And even if you don’t get anywhere with that particular person, a discussion gives other people reading it an opportunity to stop and think.” Altenberger is convinced that conversing and offering counter-arguments — as well as being positive — can be powerful too, just as much as hate. “That’s why I do it. And I see that it has an effect. If it didn’t, I probably would have stopped a long ago. I mean, I don’t want to waste my energy.”
Altenberger’s philosophy in life: “Positivity can be powerful too"
© Lottermann & Fuentes
In people we trust
This still leaves the question of what Altenberger would change if she was running the world. The actress grins. “Women in power,” she says and proceeds to explain why. “Men and the patriarchy have proved in the past couple of thousand years that they’re not up to it. We’re not currently living in the best possible world and it really is high time that we tried something else.” As she says that last sentence there is a real glint in her eye that makes you think she must have formulated some concrete plans on the subject. “I’m not one of those people who says, ‘It’ll all be fine as long as we think positively enough.’ But I do have a sort of basic trust and belief that we are able to make things good. Those are different things. We can make things good if we choose good.”
The 2021 Salzburg Festival runs from July 17 to August 31. For more information, visit: salzburgerfestspiele.at