How a Heavy Backpack Helped Christian Friedel Portray Human Evil in ‘The Zone of Interest’

Before filming began on “The Zone of Interest,” filmmaker Jonathan Glazer offered a precise piece of direction to his lead actor Christian Friedel. It was an uncanny clue into his character – Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss, the so-called king of Auschwitz – that would guide Friedel’s performance during the entire shoot. 

“As you’re playing this role,” he said Glazer told him, “when you speak the truth with your mouth, lie with your eyes. And when you convey the truth with your eyes, lie with your mouth.” 

Friedel held onto that advice tenaciously. “That was my challenge,” he said. “So I played Höss very inwardly.