Such a side job is a long way removed from the glamour of film festivals but, as the 27-year-old actor reflects, “it is reality.” The side job gets him out of bed in the morning. If his colleagues at the supermarket realise that he is a Golden Calf-winning actor, they do not show that much attention. “They are really neutral. That is something that is really Dutch. I wish I could be doing this acting thing non-stop, but that will not work in Holland.”

Nonetheless, Lakemeier has now spent almost exactly half his life as an actor. He was fourteen when cast by Martin Koolhoven in the Oscar-shortlisted wartime drama, Winter in Wartime (2008).

The young actor recently shot another war drama, The East^** by Jim Taihuttu, in which he co-stars with Marwan Kenzari (Aladdin, Instinct and Dutch Shooting Star in 2014). This was shot on location in Indonesia and exposes a shameful part in recent Dutch history. He plays Johan, a young soldier led by the “Turk” (Kenzari) during the Indonesian War of Independence, in which the tactics the Dutch used against the Indonesian freedom fighters were brutal in the extreme.

“For every person in the Indonesian crew, this story was in their blood. It really added something to the energy of the shooting,” Lakemeier observes. He also describes the movie as “a big adventure.” He had to go to boot camp to be taught by an ex-marine how to handle weapons and behave like a soldier. The schedule was very tight. Taihuttu needed to finish the film and get his cast and crew out of Indonesia before the 2019 elections. No, Lakemeier did not know anything about the history behind the movie - nor the war crimes it exposes. “When I started doing my research and read the script for the first time, I realised ‘oh shit,' this is something that really happened." This is an important piece of history in the Netherlands and yet, it still is not widely known.

“We have to admit it was wrong for us to be there in the first place, ruling over a piece of land that just is not ours.”

The tone of the film is very different, more extreme and a lot more violent, to that of his debut. When he was cast in Winter in Wartime, he was still a schoolboy. At the time, he had never even been to Amsterdam. He grew up in Zwijndrecht, a sleepy town in the province of South Holland. “My world, I guess, was quite small. I just knew that I liked acting, so I started doing theatre lessons every Friday afternoon at this huge theatre school in Rotterdam.” He had only been going there for a few weeks when he was asked to audition for the film which turned out to be Koolhoven’s epic. He won the part and his career quickly took off.

“It was not like it [acting] was going on continuously. I did this work for a few months every year,” Lakemeier remembers of how he combined acting and school work in those early years. Nonetheless, he has racked up plenty of credits, among them the hugely popular TV series, Holland’s Hoop, and films like Ventoux^* and Adios Amigos^**. Aged 17, he went to drama school for six months but then quit. Instead, he has learned through experience. He has always been in demand.

Now, Lakemeier is part of the same Berlinale talent showcase which has given exposure to actors like Daniel Craig, Daniel Bruhl and Rachel Weisz early in their careers. After the online event in February, the Shooting Stars award ceremony will be held on June 14th, as a part of the Berlinale summer event. Luckily, he will be able to travel to Berlin, with restrictions slowly being lifted. “I am looking forward to it,” the actor enthuses.

For more information on Berlinale, click here.

For more information on the Shooting Stars event, click here.
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We spoke with Martijn Lakemeier past February about Berlinale and his acting career. This interview is updated for the Shooting Stars award ceremony.

^*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund.
^**Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, Netherlands Production Incentive.