Kristina Klebe chats to us about her latest movie 'Brooklyn 45'  which has already got great views from Collide, Empire and LA Times.

Klebe chats to us about getting the role, what we can expect from the hair gripping movie, and funny moments on set.

Hi Kristina, was acting something you always wanted to pursue when you were growing up? 

Acting was literally the only thing I knew I wanted to do since I was about 5 - the only other thing I could have imagined doing was working with animals - as a vet or otherwise.They say you should do in life what you felt love for as a young child - that's why as a parent it's important to foster what you see your child loving at a young age - whatever that may be. 

Doyou remember your first role and what was it? 

It was one of the three kings in our Xmas pageant at Convent of the Sacred Heart in NYC  - I Remember so clearly wanting to play one of the lead roles ha 

Youare starring in ‘Brooklyn45’ as Hildy, whatmade you want to audition for the role, and how did you prepare for the audition?

I read the script about 3 years before I auditioned for it and I told the director, Ted Geoghegan, that he must have written this role for me, whether he knew it or not. When the money finally came through, I think Ted knew he wanted me to play Hildy but he had to convince the producers - and so he asked me to audition, which I never have a problem doing. I think auditioning proves to everyone that you are invested in the role and as a writer/director myself I want to know that I'm casting the absolute perfect person in the role.  I prepared for the audition by getting a photo of an American WW2 officer and putting his face up on my ipad to "act" with - the audition was one of the monologues so it really helped me get into it.

Can you give us a sneak peek of what people can expect from your character? 

I think my character is meant to be a surprise - but since the cat is mostly out of the bag (which I do believe is a term that originated in the UK), what you can expect from Hildy, my character, is for her to instigate much discussion among the group - and for her to incite some major conflict. 

You have a personal connection to your character ‘Hildy’, due to your parent's German background, when you first got the role, how did your parents react?

This is such a great question. I remember when I did the audition for this I was living at home during the pandemic and I actually showed my parents the audition which is quite rare ... and my father, who is normally extremely critical,  commented on how perfect I would be for this role! My mother always reads my scripts and she loved the role for me immediately. They were both super supportive and excited for me to play something so close to my heritage (ps. not the Nazi part - I AM an American and none of my family were Nazis! Sadly that's the part that I connected with so much - people judging me and calling me Nazi my whole life just because I was German- for so many years and even still today, I fight with the shame that comes with that and yet the upset with being associated with something that had nothing to do with me personally - because guilt is ultimately personal, even though I also believe it becomes collective in some ways) 

How is Ted, as a director, and what made you want to collaborate with him?

Ted is amazing. In all transparency, he's a great friend and I've known him for over a decade - but we had never worked together. So when he first let me read Brooklyn 45, as I mentioned, I told him how much I would love to play this part... I love Ted and I want to work with him many more times.

What was it like filming ‘Brooklyn 45’, and are there any funny moments on set you can tell us about?

We filmed in Chicago right before Xmas '21 - so we were unfortunately still in the middle of all the covid protocols - which I totally stood behind - so our normal set behaviour was a bit dampened by that - however, Ron Rains, brought us all to tears with his jokes which always lightened the mood.

What is next for you?

I just finished shooting a supporting role in Barron's Cove with Garrett Hedlund - I'm so honoured to have worked on that film and with the whole team, including the writer/director Evan Kelman, who has quite a vision.

Follow Kristina!

Brooklyn 45 is now streaming!