Why Nadja From Blood Red Sky Looks So Familiar

"Blood Red Sky," which dropped on Netflix yesterday, is basically a horror movie, but it's also a suspenseful action thriller with a twist. Think of your average terrorist-on-a-plane setup — only, to the terrorists' dismay, there's a vampire hiding among the passengers. The vampire, Nadja, happens to be a mom who has been hiding her monstrous nature but will do anything to protect her young son. You have to admit, that's a pretty amazing setup, and a majority of critics are on board with this unique take on a potential disaster in the sky.

If you're up for the mature excitement of it all, this German-English film could be a fun weekend watch. And as you watch, you may be wondering where you've seen Nadja before. That may be a fairly easy question to answer, because she is a German actress with only a few English credits. Unless you're in the habit of watching Scandinavian films, there are just a few projects in which you might have encountered before. However, she's a prolific actress who has starred in dramatic films, romantic comedies, major television series, and more. She also comes from a show-business family — her father was actor Edwin Noel, her sister is actor Muriel Baumeister, and her former brother-in-law is Rainer Strecker.

In the British series "The Last Kingdom," based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Saxon Stories," Peri Baumeister plays Gisela, often regarded as Uhtred's most beloved female companion. Sadly, she died in childbirth during the first part of the third season after bearing three children, causing unbearable grief to her husband when he heard about it. She was also a fan-favorite for her assertiveness and intelligence and the way she stood by her man. 

The character of Gisele, once a pagan, later a "possession" of her brother's, has a larger role in the books, and some fans thought Gisela was given short shrift on screen. They were disappointed with the way the relationship was portrayed and how her death was handled. "I was dissatisfied with Giselia's whole arc TBH. I think the show doesnt really give a sense of the long time Utred is with her, and doesnt touch any of their happy time together in London," said a Redditor named u/mustangs6551.

The first four seasons of "The Last Kingdom," initially a joint production between BBC and Netflix and now a Netflix series, are currently available on the streaming service. A fifth season, announced recently on Twitter, is expected to debut at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

The Netflix series "Skylines" was released in 2019 and was canceled after the first season. The German drama starred Edin Hasanovic as Jinn, a hip-hop producer in Frankfurt who signs to a great label, only to find that the owner's gangster brother wants to make it the center of his organized crime business. Peri Baumeister plays Sara, a cop and main character whose life and work lead her dark world to merge with Jinn's. The show was part of the streaming service's investment into series that were "undeniably German and at the same time tell stories that are relevant to viewers all over the world," Netflix's VP for Original Series, Kelly Luegenbiehl, said (via Deadline). 

Some believed that the show's quick cancellation had to do with a lawsuit filed against its creators, as the show was well-received among fans. The lawsuit was brought by rapper and music producer Jan Lehmann, who said the Skyline Records label in the series infringed upon his Skyline Records label and contended that the story of Jinn was actually based on his life without his permission. The lawsuit was apparently dismissed, according to the Frankfurter Neue Presse.

"The Heavy Water War," also known as "The Saboteurs," was a high-profile Norwegian, British, and Danish miniseries that focused on little-known real events in World War II. Specifically, it covers efforts by Norwegian and British intelligence agents in 1943 to blow up a heavy water factory in Rjukan, Norway that was important in the Nazis' attempts to build atomic weapons. Had events turned out differently, that war could have had a much different conclusion. 

In this program, Baumeister plays Elizabeth Heisenberg, the wife of the quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg, who was a member of Germany's "Uranium Club" and the man for whom the Uncertainty Principle is named after. She played a supporting role in the proceedings; her husband, however, was one of the characters central to the tale and whose perspective was used to tell part of the story.

While the six-part television event hasn't quite made the waves here that it deserves, it broke records in Norway when it aired on Norway's NRK1 in 2015, garnering a viewership of 1.259 million that made up a 63% market share. This set a new record for ratings for the premiere episode of an NRK drama series, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation said. "The Heavy Water War" was also popular among young people, with 67% of Norway's youth aged 12-19 watching the show. It was picked up in Europe and internationally following its broadcast in its native country. The Guardian called it "intriguing, exciting and involving, even in three different languages."

If you haven't seen it yet, you can buy it on Amazon Prime, where it's also available with a free 7-day trial if you sign up for the Mhz Choice international streaming service.