GERMAN ACTOR DANIEL Bruhl will be a fixture in U.S. movie theatres this fall with leading roles in two major releases - auto racing rivalry tale Rush and the WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate.

In director Ron Howard’s Rush, the 35-year-old Bruhl had the challenge of playing former Formula One racer Niki Lauda in the transformative 1976 season. Not only is the Austrian driver hard to please, but he was also severely disfigured in a fiery crash that year, only to come back and race weeks later.

Bruhl plays opposite Chris Hemsworth, who portrays James Hunt, the hard-partying playboy British driver who battled Lauda for the championship that year in one of Formula One’s most memorable rivalries. The film opens in UAE this weekend.

The Berlin-based Bruhl, who was born in Spain, made his international breakthrough as the son in 2003’s German dark comedy Good Bye, Lenin! He also had the role of a German war hero in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds in 2009.

Bruhl talked about winning over Lauda, learning about his fear, and the Austrian’s suggestion about travelling with hand luggage.

You have two co-leads in two top films showing at the Toronto International Film Festival. How did that happen?

I sensed after Inglourious Basterds that there was a very positive change and a rising exchange between film cultures. Americans would go to Europe to shoot their movies, and not only because of tax reasons but also because the characters came from there or the stories were set in Europe.

When I went to the Rush audition, I was blown away by the script. I thought it was fantastic. I wanted to play the part but I thought I am very, very different and Niki and I don’t have that much in common. I was quite surprised when I got the call after the first audition after three days and my agent said, “Ron is offering you the part.” I sensed these things are possible now. And that’s good, I think, because it makes these movies more authentic.

In Rush you get an opportunity to develop the character.

It is one of these characters who is a gift because you have such a dramatic journey and an arc within that story. It was freaking me out at first because I realised really how different that man is. It is not only the driving that I had to learn. I mean I have a driver’s license, but it is another thing to drive these race cars. I wanted to get the accent right. It is so different to my accent and you sound like a clown when you first try it as a German.

So the first time Niki called me was very early in the morning and he said, “Yes, I guess we have to meet now” (Bruhl puts on his Lauda accent) and I said “Yes, that would be great,” and he said “Just bring hand luggage to Vienna. In case we don’t like each other you can piss off right away.”

I went to Vienna with my little tiny handbag and after five minutes I felt better because I saw a smile on his face and I realised, “Ok, I think the guy likes me and likes the idea of me playing him.”

What nuggets did you learn about him by talking to him?

After every conversation, he was more willing to open up about sensitive stuff. So we talked about death and fear and overcoming fear. He told me a story that I didn’t read in any book about him being almost paralysed when he came back after the hospital and tested a car before the race in Monza and couldn’t shift gears. Then he went into his room and closed the curtains and laid down on the bed and analyzed his fear, as he said, for one hour. Still it is a mystery to me how you do that. Then he was able to go back into the car and was fourth in Monza, which was absolutely incredible.

Were you steeling yourself for rejection from Lauda?

Yes, of course, I was nervous. While we were shooting, I was begging (screenwriter) Peter Morgan to show rushes to Niki as soon as possible so I could adjust things in case Niki would not approve. After one week, it was the press conference scene (after the accident) ... that Niki saw and he called me again at 6 o’clock in the morning and he said, “Good, good good. But just the wedding ring is bulls**t. Why are you wearing a wedding ring? I never wore it. It is romantic bulls**t.” I said “But other than that, was it fine?” “Yeah, yeah, yeah, go on. Good, good, good.” Then I knew I was on the right path.

Do you ever think you will move to Hollywood?

A dream my girlfriend and I have is to move to New York for a year or two because we just love the city. I would take some acting classes.

And now you can afford it, right?

Sort of.

Film Review Ode to rivalry Opposites attract at high speeds in Rush says Jake Coyle MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, Ron Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan are perfect opposites: one a swinging playboy, the other a cold calculator. They have twice now collaborated on what you might call coin-flip films: movies about dueling, diametrically opposed forces. Their latest, the Formula One thriller Rush, is a lot like their Frost/Nixon, only on wheels. Chris Hemsworth plays the English bounder James Hunt, a dashing head of blond hair whose daring-do and high-class accent turn women into mush. Daniel Bruhl plays Niki Lauda, an analytical Austrian with pointy front teeth and a complete dearth of what you might call people skills. Whereas Hunt is a classic, carousing, big-ego racer, Lauda is a methodical tactician. The film, based on the lives of the two famous racers, captures the climax of their collision in the 1976 world championship that came down to the final race and that also featured a crash that left Lauda’s face terribly burned. Just as Frost/Nixon marvelled at the contrast of flashy TV newsman David Frost and the curmudgeonly Richard Nixon, Rush (also set in the ‘70s) toggles between Hunt and Lauda. Howard’s film is propelled by the clash of styles that repels them from one another, even as their mutual dedication draws them closer. Racing films often speed inevitably toward clichés of fast-paced living catching up to the men behind the wheel. Rush has plenty of that — the adrenaline-fueled death dance required for the checkered flag. (Hunt describes his car as “a little coffin, really, surrounded by high-octane fuel.”) But it veers away toward something much sweeter: a simple ode to rivalry. Rush makes for a terrific double feature with the superb 2010 documentary Senna, about Brazilian Formula One racer Ayrton Senna, which Howard has said he studied in making Rush. Formula One, which engenders far more passion in Europe than in the NASCAR-favored U.S., has otherwise seldom turned up in the movies. Most notably, there was the handsomely photographed Grand Prix (1966). While Rush has plenty of exciting, highly saturated racing scenes as it makes pit stops through famous Formula One courses, Howard (whose directorial debut, 1977’s Grand Theft Auto, was a far less accomplished tale of car chases) is more concerned with the personality conflict, played out at high speed. Without Thor’s hammer in tow, Hemsworth looks particularly unburdened in a role perfectly suited to his talents and natural bravado. Bruhl, though, is even more compelling. The German-born actor (who also makes a strong impression in the upcoming WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate), makes Lauda, with a clipped Austrian accent, endearing in his obsessive pursuit. Howard, with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, frames both actors in close-up, letting the ping pong of their competition fill the movie. There are other good supporting performances (Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara as the drivers’ wives), but the film belongs to Hemsworth and Bruhl as they weave through a tumultuous racing season. It’s not only one of the better racing films, it’s one of Howard’s best. For Morgan, who also penned another distinct sports film, 2009’s The Damned United, it’s yet another example of his great talent for taking seemingly minor true stories and expanding them operatically. Whatever the nature of Howard and Morgan’s collaboration, it seems to be pushing them — like Hunt and Lauda — to greater heights. AP