‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’: Daniel Brühl Used to Play Dead to Scare His Mom
Daniel Brühl currently appears in The Falcon and the Winter Solider as Helmut Zemo. Brühl originally played the character in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
Since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiered on Disney+, Brühl has stolen the show with his character’s wit and dance moves, making Zemo a surprising fan-favorite character. Before becoming an actor, Brühl got attention by pretending to be dead as a way to scare his mother.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Episode 3 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.]
Daniel Brühl would play dead as a child
In 2013, Brühl was interviewed by actor and director Julie Delpy for Interview Magazine. During the interview, Delpy asked Brühl why he decided to pursue a career in acting.
“Well, I don’t know. It has something to do with liking to get attention, and also lying, or pretending something. Like, my special thing as a kid was to play dead because I thought I was really good at it,” Brühl said.
He continued, “When I was 7 or 8, I even did it in the bathroom with a hair dryer in the bathtub. I realized that I was good at it because each time my mom would scream.”
“Daniel, that is evil,” Delpy said in response.
Brühl replied, “Well, it was fun.”
Daniel Brühl’s dancing on ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ went viral
In the third episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) travel to Madripoor. The three go clubbing, and a short clip of Zemo fist-bumping in the club went viral after the episode aired.
“It’s so hysterical. [That moment] was improvised when I saw the crowd dancing, going loco. I felt the beat and was like, Zemo has been sitting in a dodgy German prison cell for years. So, he needs to let off some steam and show his moves,” Brühl told Entertainment Weekly.
After filming the episode, Brühl assumed that the scene of him dancing would be cut from the Disney+ show. After the episode aired on April 2, friends texted him about his dancing.
“I didn’t know what was happening, but I then received all these messages from my friends cracking up. My friends who know me well know I’m an embarrassing, passionate dancer on the floor but it would be different moves,” he said. “It would be the Spanish side of me kicking in and doing some matador, flamenco moves, going down on my knees. Highly embarrassing for my friends.”
You won’t get spoilers out of the Marvel actor
There are only two episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier left. The finale will premiere on Disney+ on April 23, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen.
Marvel actors are notoriously tight-lipped about spoilers, and Brühl is no exception. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the Marvel actor claimed he would never leak spoilers.
“Like Zemo, I just enjoy being opaque and secretive. So, I wouldn’t answer that question. There will be interesting twists and turns and surprises, I can assure you. Keeping up that cinematic level until the very end really impressed me because it’s like six movies,” he shared. “But as in the story, I would prefer not to say anything. I’m the master of spoilers.”
