German newspaper: Ludger Pistor in 'Casino Royale'
Ludger Pistor
German local paper “Westfälische Rundschau” reports that popular German TV actor Ludger Pistor has been cast in the role of a Swiss banker in Casino Royale. As no further information is currently available, here’s a translation of the original story:
He’s currently playing the sidekick in “Balko” (a German cop series in which he plays the role of Hauptkomissar Krapp, ed.), but he’ll soon have a partner of a different caliber: James Bond. The Berlin actor confirmed this on request of the Westfälische Rundschau (Saturday edition).
The news came while the actor was on a holiday in India: the production company who currently prepares the filming of Ian Flemings novel Casino Royale made their decision towards the German.
For Ludger Pistor it’s a child’s dream come true: “It’s no joke, I never missed a James Bond movie in the cinema.” Pistor will play “a Swiss Banker. That is quite a bigger role.” In the first version of the movie, this was a main role apart from secret agent 007.
Ludger Pistor hasn’t read the script yet: “I only know fragments of it. I don’t even know if I am on the good or on the bad side. They’re making a secret out of it. And that’s why I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I knew.”
But he does know that he’ll have to pack his bags: “Shooting will take place in Prague, Italy and the Bahamas. I’ll be in front of the camera for 4 or 5 weeks, but I won’t be shooting all the time.”
Ludger Pistor was born on March 16th 1959 in Recklinghausen. He started his acting career in 1978 at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna, and later continued at the Herbert-Berghoff-Studio in New York. Pistor is a popular TV actor in Germany, best known there for his role as Hauptkommissar Krapp in the RTL cop series Balko, for which he was awarded the “Adolf-Grimme-Preis” (Germany’s highest profiled TV award) for best actor in 1996 and the Deutscher Fernsehpreis in 1999 for best actor in a TV series. He also played in a number of German movies, mostly in comedic roles.
He may be known to an international audience for playing the role of Lagerkommandant Josef Liepold in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, and he also was in Run Lola Run, in which he played Lola’s father (Herr Meier). In addition to that, he can also be spotted alongside Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose as one of the monks.
Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond film produced
by franchise holders Eon Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production
begins shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on 17 November 2006.
Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, it will be filmed in the Czech Republic,
the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.