There just aren't enough movies this summer about groupies. Thank heavens for "Eight Miles High!", a film that details the real-life story of Uschi Obermaier, a gorgeous German model from the 1960s who seduced some of the most famous men of the era - including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Obermaier became the symbol for Germany's sexual revolution. We talked with the beautiful Natalia Avelon, the actress who plays Obermaier in the movie.
GALA: What attracted you to play the part of Uschi Obermaier in this film?
NATALIA: The biggest attraction was to play my first main part in a movie. I loved the script, the director and the rest of the cast, and it was really exciting to get involved in the wild 60s. I knew it would be the best time of my life! And of course it was!
GALA: What does her character mean to you personally?
NATALIA: I respect anybody who follows their goals and dreams. Someone like Uschi was and still is a beautiful and sexy woman with a great sense of humor. She had a colorful and exciting life. I would call her a "gourmet of life". She tasted all the best that life could offer. Just like me: I am a bon vivant, too. We have many things in common.
GALA: What do you think has made her story so iconic both to her generation and the next generation?
NATALIA: She was the prime example for the emancipation of women, but she wasn´t an aggressive feminist. She was the hot and beautiful German figurehead and pin-up of the sexual revolution going on in the 60s. Her slogan was: "I get what I want! And I want what I want! Aim high!" Pretty self-confident and modern. Last, but not least, she dated hot superstars like Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. And lived the life of a Rock star like everybody wanted to. She worked with Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, met icons like Antonioni and Ponti, traveled throughout the whole wide world, and life had no limits. For me, she is one of the best examples that dreams do come true.
GALA: How do you think the sexual revolution differed in Germany and America?
GALA: How do you think the sexual revolution differed in Germany and America?
NATALIA: In both the USA and Germany, there were similar features: rebellious students fighting against the system and the prudish generation of their parents, the emancipation of women, miniskirts, the revolutionary birth control pill, legalized abortion, Flower-Power teens taking drugs and having sex all day long. The youth was, and is, the same all over the world. It is just the government that makes the differences between the countries. The only difference in sexual matters nowadays is the censorship in arts. In my opinion, Germany is a lot more tolerant and liberal about that topic. But of course it was America, and not Germany, who celebrated sex not being evil or a taboo by publishing Playboy, and that was already in the 50s! All my respect to Hugh Hefner!
GALA: What famous women today embody the sexual freedom that Uschi epresented?
NATALIA: Pam Anderson and Kate Moss for example. Both are one with their sexuality. You can exactly see that they love their bodies and that they are proud of what they have and who they are. Hot and clever girls running their business well, not forgetting to enjoy being a woman! That's sexy! Both seem like a modern-day Marilyn Monroe to me.
