“I also find it easier to express longing or sadness freely in acting than in real life.”
- Bra:
- LION BUSCH
- Skirt:
- LAURA GERTE
Actress Tijan Marei reinvents herself with every role. Her films range from modern fairy tales to international productions. Whether playing a vulnerable teenager or a strong protagonist, Tijan captivates with empathetic depth and a distinctive presence, drawing viewers directly into her world.
Read the full editorial now in German for vakuum print Issue 4 “Chaos/Ordnung.”
Do you follow your heart or your head when making decisions?
I follow my gut feeling, or my heart – everything else doesn’t really work for me in the long run.
What helps you, both privately and professionally, to bring clarity into chaos?
Yoga and breathwork help me enormously – I also teach these practices. They make me feel much more present and allow me to process my emotions far better.
Did your yoga training help you handle emotional chaos, or did it give you new access to your emotions?
Yes, very much. I completed my yoga training in India when I was 19. For a month, I devoted myself daily, morning to evening, entirely to yoga. During that time, I experienced for the first time what it truly means to live in the moment – for example, simply eating without my thoughts being somewhere else.
Is it easy for you to shed your layers and show people your inner self?
Definitely in acting. In real life, I like to take my time.
“Speaking to strangers was difficult – I would always blush.”
You started acting at a very young age. Was it also emotional chaos to experience childhood, growing up, and an acting career at the same time?
Personally, the castings helped me a lot. I was always very nervous at first, but I left them feeling really happy. I was rather shy as a child. Speaking to strangers was difficult – I would always blush. Castings changed that. Acting helped me understand that I’m an equal part of a project, not just the child learning from others. This gave me more self-confidence and helped me see myself differently – not only in front of the camera but also in real life.
In Ellas Baby, you play a teenager thrown into an emotional flood by an unplanned pregnancy. How did you manage to embody fear, responsibility, and uncertainty all at once?
I don’t think I consciously processed it at the moment, just like Ella doesn’t. She’s so overwhelmed that she doesn’t fully understand what’s happening. She just tries to follow her heart and gut each day and do her best.
Have some roles helped you better understand your own emotional chaos?
In my last role in Fall For Me, which is currently on Netflix, I realized it’s hard for me to tap into truly destructive anger. At first, I had a block. But through the role, I was able to free myself and realized it’s okay to be angry sometimes – without it having serious consequences. Over the past months, I’ve allowed myself to feel this more.
Is there an emotion that comes easily in acting but is harder to express in real life?
Yes, anger. I also find it easier to express longing or sadness freely in acting than in real life.
“Through every role, I get to know myself more.”
Looking back at your roles, is there a character in which you most strongly found yourself, layer by layer?
That’s hard to say because every role reveals a new part of me or enlarges a small part inside me. Through every role, I get to know myself more. There isn’t one role where I found myself the most. Every role begins a new journey, as if embarking on a trip to another country.
- Bra:
- LION BUSCH
- Skirt:
- LAURA GERTE
Was there a moment in your life where you grew as an actor or as a person?
In the film Fall For Me, I learned a lot about myself. There were several obstacles I had to overcome, and I questioned myself as an actor again. I grew beyond myself. I’m very glad that the arc of my character works so well: she starts blind with love, then her own feelings grow stronger – her inner voice grows louder – until she finally listens to her gut. She liberates herself, goes into rage mode, and takes back her power.