Bötschi asks Yvonne Eisenring "It annoys me that many Swiss people want to avoid attracting attention at all costs"
Yvonne Eisenring is a bestselling author, successful podcaster - and now also an actress. Her first film is being released in cinemas on Thursday. A conversation about open relationships, strong women and the early death of her father.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- She writes bestsellers and is one of the most successful podcasters in the country - and from next Thursday, December 4, Yvonne Eisenring can be seen in the cinema as an actress for the first time.
- To mark the release of her romantic film "Love Roulette", the 38-year-old talks about open relationships, female strength and why the early loss of her father became a driving force behind her work.
- "There is more discussion in an open relationship because, unlike a monogamous partnership, there are fewer unspoken rules," says Eisenring in an interview with blue News.
- He continues: "It annoys me that many Swiss people want to avoid attracting attention at all costs. Unfortunately, in the desire to be a neutral country, they often avoid or fail to think big."
Yvonne Eisenring, I'm going to ask you as many questions as possible over the next 40 minutes. And please answer as briefly and quickly as possible. If you don't like a question, you can also say "next" once.
All right.
Fall or winter?
Autumn. I love walking through colorful foliage. But I also love winter. I used to be a snowboard instructor. Can I choose both?
I'll leave that up to you. Hairdresser or dental hygiene?
I go to the dental hygienist once a year and to the hairdresser every three years.
Cold shower or double espresso?
Double espresso - although I know that cold showers are supposed to be healthy.
About the author: Bruno Bötschi
blue News editor Bruno Bötschi regularly talks to well-known personalities from Switzerland and abroad for the question-and-answer game "Bötschi fragt". He asks them lots of questions - always direct, often funny and sometimes profound. It always remains open until the very last question as to where the fast-paced ping-pong will lead.
How do you see the world?
Benevolently and curiously.
The riskiest and most courageous decision in your life so far?
You mean professionally? Playing the lead role of Charlie in the movie "Love Roulette".
When you look back on the year 2025, how would you summarize it in one sentence?
It was the craziest year of my life so far - in a positive sense.
How happy are you at the moment?
Ten out of ten.
How happy were you on Sunday, October 26, after you rocked the sold-out Hallenstadion in Zurich for an evening together with Gülsha Adilji and Maja Zivadinovic and your podcast "Zivadiliring"?
100 out of ten.
How did it feel when you and Gülsha Adilji kissed on stage in front of 10,000 people in the Hallenstadion?
It was great. I also found it exciting to see what kind of waves a kiss between two women on stage can still cause today. But I wasn't completely surprised by the reactions either. I know the world a bit and I know Switzerland very well.
Is it really true that the kiss between Gülsha Adilji and you wasn't planned?
The kiss was planned, but not rehearsed.
Do you like kissing?
Professionally, you've kissed a lot this year - including during the filming of your first movie "Love Roulette". Which actress or actor did you have in mind for the two main roles of Charlie and Tom when you started writing the script for your love story in 2019?
When I was writing the script, I didn't see Max Hubacher, who plays my boyfriend in the film, or myself in the main roles. I imagined a woman with short, brown hair.
Why couldn't you imagine Max Hubacher as Tom?
"Love Roulette" is a humorous love story. I mistakenly thought Max didn't have a comedic streak. But I quickly realized that he is an incredibly funny person and therefore the perfect cast for this role.
The fact that Max came to the audition and got the part in the end is not down to me. I even resisted it because I didn't think he was right for the role - so I'm all the happier today that director Chris Niemeyer and the producers of the film prevailed.
You not only wrote the screenplay for the film "Love Roulette", but also took on the leading role of Charlie. Who advised you to take part in the casting?
Chris Niemeyer and the producers at Tellfilm encouraged me to do it. But I told them several times in advance that they should only take me if they thought I could play it. The movie as an overall project was always more important to me than playing the main character. But of course I was delighted to get the contract.
After you were signed for the lead role, you wanted to remove all the sex scenes from the script. Why?
Because I realized that if I played Charlie, I would be naked several times in the film and in all kinds of different positions.
Who made sure that the sex scenes were in the finished movie after all?
Director Chris Niemeyer and the producers were able to plausibly explain to me that Charlie and Tom's love story makes no sense without sex scenes.
After all, the two main characters want to open up their relationship and live it out, go on dates and have one-night stands. They can't just go on dates to drink tea or eat pasta and that's why all the sex scenes had to be included ...
... really all of them?
There was even an extra one (laughs).
When did it become clear that your two friends and podcast partners Gülsha Adilji and Maja Zivadinovic would take on small roles in the movie "Love Roulette"?
I was already thinking about Gülsha's appearance while I was writing the script. I knew that she would be happy to appear in "Love Roulette".
We decided at short notice during the shoot that Maja would appear in the movie. She wanted to visit the set and was scheduled to be an extra that day. At some point, we decided it would be cool if she could be seen for longer - as a featured extra.
How does a movie kiss differ from a real kiss - apart from the missing butterflies in your stomach?
Much less than you might think.
There are supposed to be tricks that make a movie kiss look more real. Do you know them all now?
A movie kiss is real. The difference to a normal kiss is that you have a camera next to your face and lots of people standing around watching.
I always thought they kissed without tongues in movies?
That's not true - depending on the partner and the scene, people kiss with tongue. However, I'm not a fan of the tongue being visible in movies. I don't find it aesthetically pleasing.
Did Max Hubacher and you kiss with tongue?
Go on.
Is Max Hubacher a good kisser?
A very good one.
In your movie "Love Roulette", lovers Charlie and Tom take a six-month break before their wedding so that they can live it up sexually. Charlie and Tom have been together since they were teenagers. So this is the first real relationship for both of them. What do you want moviegoers to take away from your film?
I want my film to entertain people for 100 minutes - and for moviegoers to have a break from the negative news that is constantly flying around our ears. At the same time, my film also contains socially critical, feminist messages.
For women as well as men?
For all genders.
What do you think people should dare to do more within a relationship? In other words, try something unusual if it feels good?
I'm convinced that a person shouldn't always follow their every impulse. Just because someone annoys me in a bar, I don't immediately slap them just because I have that impulse for a moment. But I do think that there are certain relationship patterns in our society and role models that are worth questioning.
Do people around you live in open relationships more often today than they did ten years ago?
Yes.
You yourself have also been in an open relationship. What was it like?
(Ponders for a long time) There is more discussion in an open relationship because, unlike a monogamous partnership, there are fewer unspoken rules. People who don't want to live in a traditional relationship have to redefine everything for themselves - and that creates a need to talk.
Does that make the relationship more complicated - or more exciting?
Both. There are people who are totally fine in an open relationship, while others have difficulties with it.
Is monogamy still in keeping with the times?
Yes.
What have you often advised other people to do in your life so far? A) to break up? B) not to break up?
I would say 50/50.
How did it feel when you saw yourself naked on the big screen for the first time in the movie "Love Roulette"?
It's quite special to see yourself like that. But today I can say that I've gotten used to the sex scene. Seeing myself on a screen is nothing new for me. As a former TV reporter, I was already in front of the camera at a young age. But I've never seen myself crying or screaming on a screen before.
Love Roulette" will be released in cinemas on December 4. How nervous are you at the moment?
Very nervous.
How do you deal with criticism?
If the criticism is fair and well argued, I find it exciting. On the other hand, I find criticism that is spiteful and only aims at superficialities tedious.
Why are women who are successful attacked so much because of their appearance?
Unfortunately, there is still the idea in our society that women should not stand out and should not be successful. But fortunately there are also a lot of people today - and not least many young women - who celebrate it immensely when women are successful.
Your mother and father worked as teachers at school and shared a 50/50 job as parents at home. When did you realize that this wasn't the case in other families?
I realized this early on because the fathers of the other children were usually not at home during the day. However, I only realized later that my parents' model was so unusual and modern and how difficult it was for them to have to assert themselves against traditional role models.
In an interview with the NZZ last August, you said: "We never talked about feminism or equality at home. Our parents simply set an example ." Why do the Eisenrings achieve this - but many other families don't?
My parents wanted to live in a way that was right for us as a family and not to please others. I think people in Switzerland too often want to please others and are constantly thinking about it: What do the others think?
But if I am constantly thinking about what others think, then I will hardly be able to break out of old patterns or implement new ideas.
Your father died of a heart attack when you were 14 years old. Who helped you through the loss in the early days?
My mother and my sister. We often talked about my father and death.
Were you afraid back then that you would never be happy again?
That was a long time ago now and the memory has faded somewhat, but probably yes. When you lose a parent so young, the pain is almost unbearable. At the same time, those around you keep telling you that time heals all wounds.
And does it do that?
Shortly after my father's death, it was inconceivable to me that time could heal wounds. Today I know that time can heal wounds - even if not all of them, because the person who has died never comes back. But the shock of the death goes away at some point and the pain becomes less.
Were you angry at anyone or anything when your father died?
I was angry about life. While my classmates were thinking about who they could fall in love with next, I had to deal with a loss. I thought that was unfair. I would have liked to go through life carefree.
What do we humans need to do to deal better with death?
We should all talk more about death and stop making it a taboo. That's also the reason why I talk about it publicly. Because it is still hushed up in Switzerland. The only thing I can do to change that is to talk about it publicly and set a good example.
Do you have any specific tips for dealing with grieving people?
I always recommend saying something, writing a card or a letter. I also sometimes find it difficult to express my condolences, but you just have to get over your own shadow. I think it's important not to leave a grieving person alone, but to ask them directly what they need at the moment - whether they want to talk about their situation, be made to laugh or be distracted in some way. Wishes are very often individual. Losing someone is brutal - and if people turn away from you in such a situation, it only makes things worse.
Does the early death of your father still affect you today: do you suffer from fear of loss?
My father's death showed me very early on how great pain can be. Today, this experience ensures that I am braver than other people in some areas of life.
What do you mean by that?
When one of my professional projects fails, it hurts. But it doesn't compare to the pain that the early death of my father caused me. His death also showed me how quickly life can be over. That's why I always think very carefully about what I want to use my time for. After all, I don't know if I'll still be around tomorrow.
Performance artist Marina Abramovic said in aninterview with Der Spiegel: "There are so few great female artists because women want too much: Children and family and love and harmony and art and success."
This statement is nonsense.
What needs to be done to make equality between men and women a reality in Switzerland?
We need to rethink and change the system, because unfortunately we are still a long way from real equality. Incidentally, this also has a lot to do with the fact that everyone, including people like me who have been dealing with these issues for a long time, still have old role models and ideologies in their heads because we grew up with them and see them reproduced over and over again in films and books.
Do we need legal quotas for women?
I find this a difficult question ... I would need forty minutes just to answer this question. And so: please continue.
When was the last time something happened to you that you would call sexism?
(Ponders for a long time) I can't think of a current example at the moment. I experienced classic examples during my time as a TV reporter. As a young woman, I had to fight harder than my male colleagues to be taken seriously.
Basically, what has the #MeToo sexism debate changed in your personal environment?
People - especially younger men - are much more aware of the issue today. And that's a good thing.
What are your personal experiences with men who are green?
Thank God I haven't had any such experiences.
Is Switzerland as modern as we like to think?
Unfortunately not. Switzerland is rather conservative and ranks low in international comparison when it comes to the role of women.
You are a globetrotter - if my research is correct, you currently live in Zurich, Paris and New York. What drives you?
Curiosity.
Are the Swiss actually more popular or unpopular abroad?
It all depends on where you're traveling. Switzerland is definitely popular in Paris and New York because people think it's such a pretty and clean country. But if I talk to someone who has lived here themselves, almost everyone says that they didn't manage to make friends in Switzerland. It's one of the reasons why I wish we Swiss were more open-minded and didn't constantly persist in our garden-variety thinking.
What typical Swiss inferiority complex gets on your nerves?
It annoys me that many Swiss people want to avoid standing out at all costs. In their desire to be a neutral country, they unfortunately often avoid or fail to think big.
Finally, we come to the talent test: Please rate yourself - one point no talent, ten points super talent. Your talent as a funeral orator?
Ten points. I think I would make a good eulogist because, unfortunately, a few people have died in my circle.
Politician?
Three points. I could probably persuade people, but I don't have enough patience for projects, which I think would progress far too slowly.
Kisser?
Ten points - and if you want to judge for yourself, go and see the movie "Love Roulette" in the cinema (laughs).
Will we also get to see you as an actress in the future?
I hope so. That depends on whether I'm cast for other roles. But there is already a request for another engagement. I'm very happy about that.
"Love Roulette" will be shown at blue Cinema from Thursday, December 4, 2025.
