Eric Stehfest is 25 years old, comes from Dresden, studied acting in Leipzig, worked in the theater in Berlin, has his own small production company and has been playing the role of DJ and heartthrob Chris Lehmann in the soap “Good times, bad ones” since December Times”. One rainy afternoon, over a hot lemon, he spoke honestly with us about love.
What is more important to you: career or love?
My first great love is my career. A little bit has changed for me. Back when I started studying, I wanted to go to Hollywood. But then there was a point in my development and maybe that was the point at which I realized, maybe now I'm growing up. In any case, I stopped just thinking about myself and started noticing my surroundings. Nowadays it's more like what I do, not just for myself, but primarily to share certain things, to engage in a mutual exchange. With a smile, with love. That's why the two words career and love somehow belong together for me.
What is love for you?
For me, love is a task that you have to be up to. Back then, I fell in love terribly quickly, over and over again, and then at some point I felt that certain patterns had recurred from partner to partner. I always asked myself why the same problem was happening again. Until at some point I thought, OK Eric, just concentrate on yourself first. First, start liking yourself and getting along with yourself. That's why, for me, love is primarily an inner peace with yourself, a warmth towards yourself. I think I can then share everything that I process inside of myself. For me, a truly healthy love is when both people meet on the same level.
Is sex part of love for you?
I'm going to get a little embarrassed... well, that's a thing. There is one front that says monogamy and stuff like that is all complete nonsense. The physical can be separated from the spiritual. And then there are the others who say, when that happens, I'll be there and then I just want to be there. For me it's like this tomorrow and then like that again. I can't really say that exactly. Love and sex somehow belong together, but then there is also the purely physical aspect that has to be tried out at some point. But actually I think that they belong together.
Do you believe in true love?
Well, at this point in time, today and here, I have to say that I believe in eternal self-love. This means that if I work on myself and invest strength, I am always ready to meet someone with love. Eternal love should actually be expressed as eternal love for a person and that always depends on how you develop. Something can always happen that shatters your spirit and you have to find yourself again. I think it's like a wave pool: if you meet someone, you can try to swim with that person. Sometimes you are on different waves and then you find yourself again. In the meantime, you shouldn't treat each other with hatred or anger, but should give each other space and wait and see what comes and when you'll be on the same wave again. In whatever relationship.
Are you more of a heartbreaker or a broken heart?
Well, I think, like everyone else, I'm both. I also have to admit that before I had no idea at all about any great people who did anything great. At some point I also started reading Brecht; he always found his inspiration in the phases in which he separated from someone or fell in love. I believe that when you have the desire to express yourself artistically in some form, these are moments in which you feel extremely and use your mind extremely. That's why I like to be both.
How do you generally deal with heartbreak?
This all evolved, of course. I used to scream and become such a King Kong and think I was dying and life wouldn't go on. I had to show the world how terrible I was feeling right now. In the meantime, my room, where I'm alone, is enough for me. What I have learned is to tolerate negative feelings. It's possible for me to let this phase of mourning last as long as it lasts and that has something healing about it.
Why are you single?
Because I'm currently married to my project (laughs) and I'm enjoying the time for myself. And because I'm currently entering into a lot of relationships that may not be sexual in nature. I build relationships with people and I'm a little afraid of it too. It often happens that when you enter into a relationship you slip into old behavior patterns. I don't want that right now. I just want the way I deal with myself and other people to become more stable, so that I feel safe and then I can meet someone again.
Have you ever tried online dating?
No, I haven't yet. But I have friends who told me about Tinder. And that is of course a powerful achievement: 200 people in 60 seconds. That's pretty intense. For me, as a person who has no problem speaking to someone on the street, it's not really an option. But it is a chance to make contact at all. I just find the framework strange, you have to wait until one fits the other and I don't really understand what kind of standards it is based on. In my opinion, the world definitely doesn't need Tinder.
What do you hope for the future?
Love, of course (laughs). For the future, I hope that more people meet each other without fear and with a smile. I feel like we live in a society that is characterized by fear and I just wish there was a little less fear. Many people are simply too caught up in their own thoughts, don't listen to others and are completely closed in their heads. And if everyone would just open their minds to new and unknown things, that would be good. At the same time, I hope that with my somewhat special way of making films, I can perhaps be an outlet for one or the other. My work is not about being for or against something, but about drawing attention.
You founded the production company Station B 3.1 with a friend, why?
I wanted to be an actor from the age of six. But I have now realized that I would like to do something that goes beyond that. That's why I founded station B3.1 with a friend about three years ago. For us, this is a meeting point where people meet with their biographies that need to be told. We have something very special planned for the next two years; we want to produce a short film every two months in which we define a term in psychology through the linguistic and visual levels. In the end there should be between ten to twelve films. When viewed in the correct order, they should show the path into dependence and back out into independence. The whole thing should then end in an installation. We want to rent an empty building and offer it to cities. The building is intended to be a kind of clinic where you can go and visually immerse yourself in addiction by walking through the different rooms. The rooms will be laid out like the films, there will be different smells, temperatures and atmospheres. So you can walk through the rooms into dependence until you eventually end up in independence again.
If you wanted to find out more about station B3.1, then watch the video:
cc Photo: Eric Stehfest
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Eric Stehfest is 25 years old, comes from Dresden, studied acting in Leipzig, worked in the theater in Berlin, has his own small production company and has been in the role of DJ and heartthrob Chris Lehmann in the soap “Good times, bad ones” since December Times”. One rainy afternoon he was with us,
