Leo Woodall, 29, had to learn German to step into his dream role in Nuremberg, alongside Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Rami Malek.
Leo plays Sergeant Howie Triest, a young U.S. interpreter tasked with translating the words uttered by Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials. Crowe stars as Luftwaffe supreme commander Hermann Göring being analyzed by Malek’s American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley.
The role was one that the Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy star was really longing for. He learnt some German to say the lines for the audition tape. But had to learn a whole lot more for the film when he finally got the role.
“I can’t fully remember how much I was given for the first round of auditioning which was just a self-tape. There was lots of German and I learnt as much as I could. But there was so much of it that I remember thinking, OK, I’m going to flunk this whole tape if I try and get every single sentence in. So, I’m actually just going to do that portion and let it breathe a little bit.”
After he got the role, the One Day heartthrob began studying with a German language coach and took it upon himself to become so fluent that he’d make no mistakes while filming.
“I had a German coach. Her name is Lena Lessing. She was wonderful and she was very patient with me; very encouraging. We worked once or twice a week on Zoom,” he shared.
“It was one of the hardest things that I’ve had to learn to do for a role… My first day was with Rami and Russell translating the first time their characters meet,” he added.
“So the nerves were beyond [stretching his arms]. And even if I was just speaking English, I would’ve still felt the nerves. But I had to nail this German. I knew Russell was going to be speaking German too,” Leo added.
“And so, I just f*cking drilled and drilled and drilled and I was just talking to myself in German as much as I could. It’s funny, everyone makes mistakes on set, but I put the pressure on myself to not make a single f*cking mistake,” said the 29-year-old.
He acknowledged that he went overboard because he didn’t want to fail in front of two Oscar winners.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself and I felt like there was a lot of responsibility to just step up, and if I couldn’t stand next to them and act, it would’ve been a really sh*tty day. [Laughs],” he added, noting that ultimately it went “alright.”
Leo Woodall starring Nuremberg is currently in theaters. The actor will next be seen in Tuner.
