Companion interview in K Composite No. 9, pages 216-217

Born 01 November 1977 in Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
1.74 m. 61 kg, brown-green eyes
Favorite Atari game: "None. I have never played one."

Cornelia Dörr was born on the first of November 1977 in Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. She is currently living in Bochum, a city located a few hours north of Mainz. There, she is in the middle of a four-year program studying the art of acting at an exclusive drama school. Although she has never played Atari, she has experienced other - perhaps equally exciting - adventures, having traveled around Europe, South America, and across the United States. She is simultaneously entertained by the world around us, and entertaining to the people in it. Cornelia was interviewed in Louisville, in 2000, partially in English and partially in German.

WHAT IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING YOU'VE EVER STOLEN?

Those stickers you put on the wall and then you put a curtain on it. Very strong stickers. But I thought... I mean, it was like six Marks - three dollars - but I thought they were too expensive to pay for. [laughs]

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO FALL ASLEEP?

A second.

A SECOND?

Yeah.

ONE SECOND? AS SOON AS YOU LAY DOWN?

Yeah. In my daily life, yeah. Maybe here on holidays not always, because I sleep so much.

HAVE YOU EVER MET ANY FAMOUS PEOPLE?

I met Nicholas Cage some days ago. [laughter] But he didn't see me. Mmm. No, not really anybody famous.

DO YOU THINK IT'S COOL THAT YOUR NAME HAS AN UMLAUT IN IT?

Yeah. It's different. Here. In Germany it's not so special.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO EAT?

[3 seconds] Hot food. [laughter] A lot. There’s a lot. The food I cook myself, maybe, and pasta with pesto, homemade by my mom. And sometimes carrots, but it only happens sometimes and I have to eat a lot of carrots.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU GOT YOUR HAIR CUT?

Last summer in France. My friend did it.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE.

It’s crazy. No, it’s not really crazy. It’s as I have wanted to have it. I grew up in Mainz in a nice house, in Mainz-Gonsenheim, together with my sister. We had a lot of fun. And I went to elementary school for four years. I went to Gymnasium Mainz-Gonsenheim, called “the GyGo,” for nine years. I graduated. I went to study for half a year in Hildesheim, which is a nice, little town in the north of Germany. But then I took the entrance tests for the drama schools, and with a lot of luck I got into one. And before I started, I went for three months to South America to travel. And one and a half years ago, I started drama school, which I like a lot. That’s my life until now. [laughs]

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

An actress. [laughs as if it’s a stupid question because the interviewer knows this]

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

Mmm. Maybe “Night on Earth.” I like a lot of them from Jim Jarmusch.

WHEN ARE YOU MOVING HERE?

I don’t know. [laughter]

IS THERE ANY QUESTION FROM OLD K COMPOSITE MAGAZINES THAT YOU HOPED I WOULD NOT ASK YOU?

[laughter] Yeah, the Atari games, but it wasn’t too bad. And... oh yeah, I hoped you wouldn’t ask me questions about people I don’t know. Evel Kneivel or somebody like that. [laughter] Or probably now, sure, the range of smartness from 1 to 10.

I SEE.

MAGST DU AMERIKA ODER DEUTSCHLAND BESSER?

Deutschland. [lachen] Aber ich kenne es auch viel besser. Deutschland.

HAST DU MEHR HOSEN ODER KLEIDER?

Hosen.

BIST DU SCHÖN?

Mmm hmm. Ja. [lacht]

WIE VIELE MENSCHEN HAST DU GEKÜßT?

[lacht] Ah, stimmt. Die kommt an... Ich weiß es nicht. Ich schätze... zehn.

WARUM WILLST DU EINE SCHAUSPIELERIN WERDEN?

Weil ich glaube, daß das die art von Kunst ist, mit der ich irgendwas ausdrücken kann. Ich will irgendjemandem irgendetwas überliefern, aber ich weiß nicht genau was. Und weil es Spaß macht.

WIE INTELLIGENT BIST DU, VON EINS BIS ZEHN?

[lacht] Neun. [lacht]

MMM. WARUM DENNKST DU DAS?

Ich denke das immer, wenn ich dumme Leute sehe. Dann denke ich Mmm. »Ah, Ich bin... intelligent.« Und weil ich vieles hinbekomme, was ich will. Ich komme sehr selten an einen Punkt, wo ich nicht mehr weiter komm.

WIE OFT GEHST DU NEUE KLEIDER EINKAUFEN?

Ein mal im Monat. Oder weniger.

MAGST DU DIE SCHULE ODER »TRINKEN NACHT« BESSER?

Beides. Zusammen. [lacht]

DEINE GESCHICHTE IN NUR DREI WORTEN.

Mein Leben?

MMM HMM.

Umm. [lacht, dann 13 Sekunden Pause] Normal. [5 Sekunden] Spannend. [7 Sekunden] Oder »Gerade« ist besser... Gerade. Spannend. Und noch-nicht-so-lang. [lacht]

WARUM LIEBEN ALLE MEINE DEUTSCHEN FREUNDE TACO BELL?

[lacht] Weil es kein einzigen Mexikanischen Fastfood in Deutschland gibt. Wir brauchen das. Ich glaube aber er kommt irgenwann nach Deutschland.

SAG MIR ALLES WAS DU ÜBER Evel Kneivel WEIßT.

[lacht] Nichts!! Doch, ich weiß was. Doch, natürlich, ich habe vorher Julie gefragt. Daß er ein Motorrad fährt, und daß alle jungen Amerikaner früher als sie klein waren, ihn im Fernsehen gesehen haben, und er ewig der kleine Held für sie war. Ja.

UND? UND?

Was und?

DAS IST ALLES?

Ja, das ist alles aber... der Name ist lustig. [lacht]