The Big Picture

The Tattooist of Auschwitz
premieres on Peacock on May 2, bringing Lale Sokolov’s gripping Holocaust story to life.
Actor Jonas Nay delves into the chilling real-life role of Stefan Baretzki and the complexities of portraying him.
Nay expresses a desire to reunite with co-star Jonah Hauer-King for a musical post-
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
.

It seems as though nearly every streaming service is trying its hand at adapting novels based on the horrors of the Holocaust, including Peacock which is set to premiere The Tattooist of Auschwitz on May 2. The series stars Jonah Hauer-King and Anna Próchniak as lovers who meet amid the soul-crushing terror and uncertainty of Auschwitz, and Jonas Nay as one of the cruel Nazis at the concentration camp. Ahead of the premiere, I had the opportunity to chat with Nay about working on the series, in addition to his castmates and the series’ creative team.

Based on Heather Morris’ critically acclaimed novel by the same name, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on true events relayed to Morris by the late Lale Sokolov (played by Jonah Hauer-King), who survived Auschwitz alongside a fellow prisoner who would eventually become his wife. In addition to the budding romance between Lale and Gita (Anna Próchniak), the Peacock series also showcases the deeply uncomfortable “friendship” Lale formed with a volatile Nazi officer by the name of Stefan Baretzki (Nay) whose cat-and-mouse torment is his only gateway to spending time with Gita.

During our short but riveting conversation, Nay spoke about how chilling it was to listen to the real-life recordings of Stefan Baretzki, how his character projects onto Lale, and his desire to reunite with Hauer-King for a musical, since they both played a lot of music on the set of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. You can watch the full interview in the player below or scroll on to read the full transcript of our conversation.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz Based on the eponymously titled novel, this is the powerful real-life story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner who was tasked with tattooing ID numbers on prisoners’ arms in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War Two.Release Date May 2, 2024 Main Genre Drama Seasons 1

Jonas Nay Listened to Recordings of the Real-Life Stefan Baretzki for the Role

COLLIDER: I always like to learn how actors develop their characters and what their formula is for coming up with them. For you, are you somebody who journals or creates playlists, or is a character like Stefan just there when you’re on set?

JONAS NAY: Actually, playlists were more the kind of type that got me out of it, you know? [Laughs] Since Jonah Hauer-King is a great musician and a singer and a guitarist, and I’m working as a film composer as well, in between the scenes we shared our music with each other. There are lots of photos of each other listening with AirPods in our costumes to the music, because that was more like how to get out of it.

I think my way of getting near a character was totally different this time for Stefan Baretzki because, of course, he was a real, existing person. I took a lot from talking to Heather Morris, the author of the novel, who spent a lot of time with him listening to his whole story that he wanted her to tell the world. Also, a lot of things that didn’t land in her novel, but I could interview her about whatever he mentioned about Stefan Baretzki, and that could influence my way of playing him. But also, not only that, there are real recordings of Stefan Baretzki. If you Google him, you’ll fastly land on a recording of him defending himself in front of the Frankfurt trials, since you’re historically interested.

Yes, I’ll have to do that.

NAY: I don’t know how you’ll feel when you hear it. I had to stop a few times because I couldn’t bear it. It’s so deeply disturbing how he defends himself as being an executive power just following orders. Also, you feel that he isn’t ashamed, that he really doesn’t feel any guilt, which is so deeply disturbing that, at this point of my research, of my preparation, I was at a point where I felt that I probably couldn’t play him. It was impossible for me to relate to somebody like that, who did such monstrous things. Not only could you listen to him, you could also listen to Holocaust survivors having experienced sadistic, lethal games of Baretzki in the camp. It’s just so unimaginable, brutal, cruel, and inhuman. It’s just awful.

So, I was at a point where I was like, “I think I can’t play him. I think I promised too much by sending in a casting tape. No way.” And I got help from many sources. I got helped a lot by Heather Morris. I sat down, and she told me everything, and she painted a picture about Baretzki that was, of course, a sadistic, brutal, dumb, uneducated and sadistic, monstrous man. At the same time, she said that Lale described him as somebody who’s insecure on a level. Very, very insecure. He’s never experienced love or a relationship in any way, and who’s trying to find anything human left inside of him. He tries to project his will to have a relationship on somebody like Lale, who he spent so much time with. He looks up to Lale so much, and he just really wants to have what Lale has, because Lale finds love. He has these emotions in a place that is so inhuman. He’s so human in a place that’s so inhuman, and Baretzki is so longing to have just a glimpse of that. All of that were the sources to find a way to embody Stefan Baretzki for the series.

Jonas Nay Wants to Re-Team With Jonah Hauer-King on a Musical

You did it wonderfully. I actually watch quite a bit of German and Austrian television, and I feel like so many of my favorite performers, I only ever see them playing Nazi roles in American and English language series. I’m curious for you, are there any other genres that you want to explore more of where you can kind of break free of that typecasting that unfortunately happens so often?

NAY: I think Jonah and me, we should really team up for a musical. He’s got a really, really nice falsetto, I can tell. I could see me singing in the lower range, like a Sinatra kind of style. [Laughs] I think we should do that. I should ask him out of the blue. We should do a musical about Frank Sinatra.

There you go. I mean, there’s the pitch for it right there.

NAY: This just came to my mind. I mean, a musical about Frank Sinatra, that’s very egoistic of me. [Laughs] But he’s a great guitarist as well. But you know, teaming up for a musical, that would be a pitch. I would love that. Like a comedy musical, maybe. Something light.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is set to premiere on Peacock on May 2, 2024.

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