Swiss acting star Joel Basman: "I had to pay my rent with a bread-and-butter job"
Swiss acting star Joel Basman ("Wolkenbruch") opens up in a podcast. He talks about his drug problems and his bread-and-butter job. And that he is working on a big theater project.
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- In a podcast, Joel Basman talks openly for the first time about his drug problems and financial difficulties, which forced him to work as a security guard for a time.
- Despite previous successes such as "Wolkenbruch" and "Monuments Men", he has hardly received any role offers recently, but is currently working on a new theater project with director Michael Steiner.
- In the play about a drug-addicted woman, Basman deals with his own experiences with addiction and criticizes the crack problem in Switzerland.
Joel Basman from Zurich is one of our country's great acting exports. He is one of the few who has made it into a Hollywood production.
He played the sly Zizou in the cult series "Lüthi und Blanc", starred in the hit movie "Wolkenbruch" and appeared in "Monuments Men" - a Hollywood film starring and directed by George Clooney.
And yet things have been a little quieter around the 35-year-old recently. He made appearances in the award-winning mini-series "Kafka" (2024) and in the SRF crime series "Die Beschatter" (2025).
Basman still gets joints today because of his role in "Cannabis"
And what does Joel Basman do now? He worked as a security guard for a Swiss company for a while. In the latest podcast episode of "Spaghetti with Ketchup and Cheese", the actor tells media personality Jonathan Schächter: "I paid my rent with it. You have to work to pay your sh** rent." He has since founded his own film production company and has various ideas in his quiver.
He has already asked himself why he has no new commissions after 23 years of working in the acting field. His last big project? A role in the series "Kafka", which was filmed in 2023. Since then, he hasn't been offered any good scripts in a major production. Just small stuff.
The podcaster can't understand this job slump - Basman is one of the most brilliant actors in the country. He didn't want to go back to his parents' fashion store, he says, it was a "matter of the heart" and not a necessity.
He was already drawn to acting in the fourth grade when he heard the applause after a school play. After "Lüthi und Blanc", his role in "Cannabis" went down in Swiss film history. "I still get asked about it today, people give me joints on the street," says Basman.
Joel Basman admits in the podcast that the two quiet years on the job kept him busy and questions about the future arose. But showing himself naked on Instagram or OnlyFans is not an option. He would rather focus on oldies or pop fans, he says.
Basman: "Something very big in the pipeline"
Director Michael Steiner has been one of Basman's admirers since "Sennentunschi" (2010). Basman played the role of Albert in it.
They have been pregnant with the theater idea since "Sennentuntschi". Now they are teaming up again, Basman reveals in the podcast: "There's something really big in the pipeline. We're going to the theater."
At the center of the play is the main character Sonia, a 50-year-old heroin addict who lives on Zurich's Helvetiaplatz. Basman grew up in district 4, where he sometimes experienced funny and strange, but also gruesome situations in connection with addicts.
"Last year, the idea took shape and the play was written. It is based on 'Waiting for Godot': It centers on a young woman who is addicted and waiting for her dealer."
Basman: "We have a crack problem in Switzerland"
For the play, the Zurich native took a close look at the subject of drugs. He says: "We have a crack problem in Switzerland. It's cheaper than cocaine."
Basman then explains which drugs cause the most damage. Schächter wants to know: "Why do you talk as if you have a lot of experience with it?"
Basman: "I've had one or two experiences." You have to inform yourself in advance and be clear about why you want to consume a substance. He continues: "I have a huge potential for addiction. I even eat my fingernails. I got stuck on everything and realized that I was done!"
At the moment, he is focusing on his theater project with Michael Steiner, the 90-minute play about the drug-addicted Zurich woman. He will then be on stage alone. The aim is for it to premiere on the Kanzlei stage in Zurich in February 2026.
