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Actress and Host Julia Helbich
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“With acting you put yourself into a role to tell a story. I like to
work on that and to touch the people out there,” says our guest at
Riveting Riffs Magazine, Julia Helbich, from Germany.
Acting represents just one of the many facets of Julia Helbich’s career
and education, including, her television hosting in which she has
established a noteworthy career, as an interviewer of top athletes, both
American and European, she also has an MBA Global Management, an MBA in
Business Administration, two bachelor’s degrees, one in political
science and the other in the arts.
For now, her primary focus is on acting and continuing to interview
others.
“It is a tough decision to go to a new road in your career, but that is
what you have to do. You have to go a few more steps, to see where it
(takes you) because if you don’t you will stay in the same place,” she
says
Finding herself attracted to the arts is not an accident with Julia
Helbich.
At his funeral there were over 2,000 people from all over the world. He
was so appreciated. It was very touching.
My dad was not such a good businessman and that is why my mom took over
at one point. We had five kids though, so my mom still had to be a mom.
She gave piano lessons and she opened up a music school. With five kids
she studied culture and music management and got her master’s degree. My
dad and my mom were an amazing team,” she recalls.
Continuing to talk about her early artistic endeavors, Julia Helbich
says, “I started off with singing, I played the violin. I then started
with theater.
I guess I always had it in me (to become an actress), but I was afraid
and I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t want to do just an acting
school. I also wanted to have the assurance that I was safe. I had that
from my parents. I grew up in an artist’s family and my parents were
always focused on us getting a great education.
I started off very quickly with great roles in Germany (appearing) in
pretty big series and movies. That gave me the (confidence) that I do
have talent.
One of those series is called Tatort and it is one of the biggest
series in Germany. Everybody knows it. It is a little bit like
Criminal Minds. I played in that (three times) and it was one of my
first roles. One time I had a role when I played a bad agent and I liked
that.
Other television and film appearances include, Lügen und andere
Wahrheiten and she played a young mother in Haltet die Welt an.
She has three films in various stages of production, Islamaphobia
in post-production, Torquemada’s Curse and I Will…anything
that moves, which is in pre-production. Julia Helbich played
Henrietta in die Expats and herself in the short film Water.
At the time of our interview Julia Helbich had just completed an
audition for a role as a morphine addict.
“That was really (a stretch) for me. How do I play this? I usually do a
lot of comedy. It is something I really like to be honest with you. I do
like the deep, serious roles too. I worked with my coach for six hours
for that role, just to find out who that person is and how she got to
this (place). I liked preparing for that character, because I got into
the story of who that person was, how she got to this point and how I
should play her,” she says.
The way that I work as an actress I get really into the character and I
ask who is this person? I build my own story, so I can really get into
who I am and be able to play them. Everybody brings a little bit of
themselves into the characters, but it still should be the characters.
It can’t just be with you. You need to work it around and build on it.”
It is also not surprising that as a host she is attracted to
interviewing athletes. She was the only daughter in a family with four
sons and she says she played sports like soccer with her
“I did a lot of sports throughout my life, because with four brothers I
always had to keep up with them. I did judo and I am always very
competitive, because I wanted to show my brothers that I was as good as
them or better. That is why still I play soccer with them.
I also played field hockey growing up. I played in a regional league and
on the best team in Bremen (where she grew up). When I went to America I
switched to basketball and volleyball, because they didn’t have a field
hockey team. That is how I fell in love with those other sports.
When I went to America, I did the tryouts for basketball and I noticed
how much I suck (Editor’s Note: In fairness she had never played
basketball in Germany). The coach said I definitely had something,
talent in me, but he also said you definitely need to practice. He also
said I can tell you really never played. I did not want to switch my
cool street shoes for ugly sports shoes. They were laughing at me while
I was doing the tryouts. I practiced every single day. I was jogging
outside. I went to the gym at two in the morning just to work out and to
practice. I played only with guys on the street, street basketball to
improve my game. Then at some point I started going to the camps in
Connecticut. Back in the day that was pretty big. That is how I got my
scholarship. I had to prove myself first,” she says.
So why did Julia Helbich move from Bremen Germany near Hamburg and to
the United States when she was just seventeen years old?
“I have family in America. My cousin lives in Florida and my aunt, her
mom lives in Vermont. That is why that coast was my focus to go to,
because I wanted to visit her. My first step was to visit my aunt, after
my parents said okay. My parents were always (encouraging us) to go to
other places, to take the opportunity to see the world. My parents gave
us the chance and not many people have that. I have brothers who studied
and lived in Brazil, I had another brother who lived in Belgium and a
brother who went to school in Egypt. For me it was America.
I fell in love with America and I fell in love with somebody there too.
I was definitely at the age when, yay I met the man of my life forever
(light laughter), but he was not the man for my life. It was a wonderful
time. I was impressed with the Americans and how friendly and nice they
were. I wanted to have that chance. I wanted to improve my English, so I
could get into college.
I thought back in the day that I was going to be the first woman in the
NBA. It didn’t happen, but that’s okay, at least I had a goal and my
dream. The funny thing is when I went to the States, I was supposed to
go back with my first boyfriend and he was chickening out. He didn’t
want to go. I think he was nervous. I was afraid to go, because I was
only seventeen. I thought what am I going to do when I switch planes and
I get lost? My mom said you can do it. Just believe in yourself and it
will be the best experience. We will drop you off at the airport and you
will be picked up from the airport. Everything will be fine and people
will help you, you can do it. If she wouldn’t have put that push on me,
I wouldn’t have done that. That was a big push in general in life that
she was always there, supporting me and believing in me. If I had done
that step who knows if I would have had that time in America? Who knows
if I would have gone down that path? Who knows if I would have the
self-esteem to be in this whole entertainment world?” she says.
Julia Helbich’s interviews have been wide ranging from NBA star Dennis
Schröder, to Jazz virtuoso guitarist Lee Ritenour, popular German
television star Alicia von Rittberg and she has also conducted numerous
red-carpet interviews for Hollywood premieres.
The future is bright for Julia Helbich, she is fluent in both English
and German and when she speaks English her accent is neutral.
Please take time to
visit the website for Julia Helbich and to watch
her German and English
showreel or her English only
showreel here.
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