Oliver Sabel
Encyclopedia
Oliver Sabel is a popular fictional character
in the German
soap opera
Verbotene Liebe
(Forbidden Love : in English). The character is portrayed by actor Jo Weil
from December 31, 1999 to September 3, 2002 and again since November 2, 2007.
(Gabriele Metzger). Charlie is happy when Oliver comes to Düsseldorf
. Charlie and Oliver's mother Henriette (then played by Susanne Seuffert) haven't had the best relationship and she kept Charlie from Oliver's childhood. It was mentioned one time in 2001, that Oliver has a little brother, but after that he was never mentioned again.
Oliver is a young dreamer and bisexual. His first relationship with a man, the doctor Tom Seifert (Kay Böger), was very complicated. His mother showed up and Oliver kept his relationship with Tom as a secret. Tom's sister Alexa (Kerstin Kramer) helped him out and played the role of beard. Still, Henriette eventually discovers Oliver's relationship. In her disgust, she issues Oliver an ultimatum: either he can end things with Tom or his mother will stop supporting him. Oliver chooses to break off relations with his mother, while Charlie promises him that she will provide for him.
After his relationship with Tom ends in 2002, Oliver leaves Düsseldorf and begins to work as steward. Five years later, on November 2, 2007, Oliver comes back for the christening of his cousin Sophia von Lahnstein, daughter of his uncle Lars
(Herbert Ulrich). He also reunites with Charlie and his other cousin Olivia
(Kristina Dörfer
). He moves into a flat-share and becomes friends with Coco Faber (Mariangela Seclsi) and her boyfriend Christian Mann
(Thore Schölermann
). But Christian begins to have a problem with Oliver when he finds out that he also sleeps with men. With the tension between Christian and Oliver going on, Coco's friendship with Oliver becomes a problem in her relationship with Christian. After another fight, she goes out with Oliver and kisses him. Oliver wants to just forget about it, but Coco realizes that she is falling in love with him. Christian decides to give his friendship with Oliver another chance and it works and they become close friends. Coco isn't happy about that and tells Christian's sister-in-law Sarah Hofmann
(Sina-Valeska Jung
) about the kiss and her feelings for Oliver. At this time, Oliver realizes his feelings for Coco's boyfriend Christian.
After this realization Oliver begins to want a relationship with Christian. When Christian finds out about the kiss that Oliver and Coco shared he becomes very angry with Oliver. He yells at Oliver "Why should I believe that you don't have feelings for Coco?" To which Oliver responds with a kiss for Christian as well. Christian at first thinks that all Oliver was trying to do was break up himself and Coco. Oliver tries to put the record straight and tells Christian that it was never his plan to break them up, but that he is in love with Christian. Christian becomes very withdrawn towards Coco who soon leaves the show giving Christian her blessing to start a relationship with Oliver as she can tell he also has feelings for him. Oliver and Christian are very strange around each other. Each not wanting to give away his true feelings. Christian starts to talk on a coming out website about his feelings for Oliver, never knowing that he was talking to Oliver anonymously on the website. Neither man knew he was speaking to the other. When Oliver posts a picture of himself on the website Christian thinks that Oliver knew it was him all along and was playing a joke with his feelings. Oliver responds that if Christian was having all these thoughts about coming out then he must be gay. Which Christian then denies and a kiss ensues followed by sex. The next day Christian tells Oliver that it was good they had sex, because he now knows that he is not interested in men. The guys also look for a new flatmate now that Coco is gone. Judith Hagendorf
(Katrin Heß) moves in and comments on their closeness thinking them a gay couple which Christian denies. A few days later after getting pressure from his brother to date, Christian goes out with Mariam, a fellow waitress at No Limits. They go to a club and Christian sees Oliver with another guy and a fight erupts when the guy makes a pass at Oliver. Oliver accuses Christian of being jealous which Christian denies. Later on in the flat both Christian and Oliver admit they love one another, have sex again and begin to date secretly. Christian is scared to come out to his brother as he is the only family he has. Oliver is okay with Christian taking his time and Judith discovers Oliver and Christian's relationship.
In the meantime, Christian has been given a contract by Wolle, a boxing contractor who hates gay people, so Christian hides his relationship with Oliver. When Christian wants to come clean to everyone, Oliver stops him and resolves to keep their love a secret as long as it takes to get Christian into the boxing world. When Christian falls into the temptation of taking steroids, Oliver reasons with him and stops him from doing so. Wolle by chance sees the two of them hugging and confronts them to which Christian denies everything and accuses Oliver of making a pass at him. Wolle hits back by making stinging remarks to Oliver and asks him to keep away from Christian.
Christian fires Wolle as his manager. Gregor is confused as to why Christian has done this and offers to be his brother's manager. Christian is unsure whether to accept this offer, as he has still not come out to Gregor, who is oblivious to Olli's relationship with Christian. Olli comforts Christian and later that evening an unsuspecting Gregor walks in on them in a passionate clinch. Olli confirms their relationship to Gregor, who leaves promptly without comment. Christian believes his brother is not accepting of his relationship with Olli, and confronts Gregor, but Gregor still makes no remark. Olli finally breaks and also confronts Gregor, who finally realises what Christian believes Gregor thinks about the relationship. Gregor tells Christian that he accepts his brother's sexuality: the only reason he was angry was that Christian felt that he couldn't come out to his brother. They agree to stick together no matter what.
Trouble soon arises again as Gregor feels that Christian needs a "beard" to cover his relationship with Olli and get back on terms with Wolle. This comes in the form of Judith, and for a while, everything is OK, until Fabian, who has been dating Judith, becomes annoyed as they have no time together. Things get even worse when Axel, another boxer under Wolle spots Fabian and Judith together. Believing Judith is having an affair with Fabian, Axel punches him. However, this means that Judith and Christian can end their fake relationship without question.
For a few weeks Oliver and Christian are minor characters in the soap while other storylines develop. In July Christian is preparing for his fight with Axel: if he wins, he will move into the National German Boxing Championship. His determination to win nearly destroy's his relationship with Olli, as he spends no time with his boyfriend, ending in a big argument just before Christian fights Axel. During the first part of the match, Olli stays at the apartment. After talking with Lydia, he realises that his relationship with Christian is not worth giving up on, and rushes to the boxing ring. Christian and Axel start boxing, but within a few minutes, Christian is knocked to the ground, unable to get back up again. Olli arrives just in time to encourage Christian to get back on his feet and continue fighting, until a few rounds later it is Axel who gets knocked to the ground, and doesn't get up, making Christian the winner. As Christian celebrates his victory, Olli joins him in the ring, and Christian publicly comes out by kissing Olli in front of the crowd.
At the celebration party at "No Limits" later that evening, Olli and Christian are the last people left. Olli persuades Christian to go and take a bath while he cleans up. Just as Olli is locking the door Axel bursts in with a nightstick, eager for revenge, and badly beats Olli while Christian relaxes in his bath. Christian finds Olli lying under the bar, and rushes him to hospital, where the Doctors confirm that he will be okay. Christian blames himself for Olli's attack, and vows to get revenge.
Olli and Christian start looking for a newspaper or magazine that will publish an article on Homophobia in Boxing. Unfortunately, they are rejected by every publisher, until Constantin saves the day by persuading his lesbian Aunt, Carla von Lahnstein
, to enlist the help of a contact to get their story published. Carla manages to convince her contact to publish their story, on the grounds that Axel is charged with assault. However, due to lack of evidence Axel is released without charge, and the contact won't put their article in the magazine, for fear of being sued for libel. Carla refuses to be beaten and buys an entire Publishing Company, unafraid of being sued. The article is finally published, though it is not exactly what they hoped for.
Meanwhile Olli is suffering from persistent headaches, but hides it from his friends and family, including Christian. While he and Christian are celebrating the possibility of getting a fellow boxer, Kai, to give evidence against Axel, Olli suddenly collapses, and is rushed to hospital again. He is found to have a brain haemorrhage, and has to have a life-threatening operation to stop it. Christian is terrified Olli won't make it, and slips away while everyone waits to find Axel. Unbeknownst to his boyfriend, Olli comes through the operation OK, but is in an artificial coma, and won't wake up for a few hours. While the rest of their family and friends rejoice at the news, Christian finally finds Axel, and is about to attack him with a baseball bat, when Olli's cousin Olivia, who also doesn't know about Olli pulling through, stops him, reminding him about his probation. Christian goes to the boxing club, and tries to persuade them to support him, but to no avail. On finding out Olli has pulled through he rushes back to the hospital to be with his boyfriend when he wakes up. Kai visits them, refusing to give evidence against Axel for fear of being discriminated against. Later on Kai sends Christian a confusing text, telling him to meet him at the Boxing Club. Christian lies to Olli and tells him he is going to the cafeteria and sneaks out to meet Kai. Olivia eventually tells Olli where his boyfriend has gone, leaving Olli scared but powerless to help. Christian arrives at the boxing club to find everyone, including Axel and Kai, waiting for him. Axel threatens to beat up Christian, not knowing that Kai has arranged for Police to hear their every word. They intervene and arrest Axel: Kai has decided to give evidence. Christian is even more surprised when the rest of the boxers welcome him back with open arms; free to be friends with him now Axel has gone. Christian returns to the Hospital to explain to Olli what has happened, and everything is well again.
Olli and Christian started talking about adoption, but after this proved too troublesome, they instead fostered for a Cameroonese girl. The strain of losing her after her father took her back to Cameroon damaged their relationship. During a party, a drunk Christian danced with Jessica Stiehl, and apparently cheated on him with her. At the beginning, Olliver seemed to forgive her, but this incident triggered again his doubts about Christian's attraction to him. Olli called for a break on the relationship and made Christian move out to the horse stables on Königsbrunn, which later got burned down on a fire with all of Christian's belongings, making him move in with Olli's aunt Charlie. Meanwhile, Olli tried to distance himself from his pain with constant partying.
Olli then suffered another deep blow after witnessing Phillip zu Hohenfelden being hit by a car while he stopped on mid-street to greet Olli, and was struck with guilt by thinking he had made Phillip to stop, thus causing the accident, and shut himself in his appartment for several days. Christian later had sex with a female coworker, adding another trouble to their relationship.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe , often abbreviated to VL, is a Rose d'Or Award-winning German television soap opera. The show was created by Reg Watson and first broadcast on Das Erste on 2 January 1995...
(Forbidden Love : in English). The character is portrayed by actor Jo Weil
Jo Weil
Johannes "Jo" Hermann Bruno Anton Weil is a German actor. He is best known for his role of Oliver Sabel in Verbotene Liebe, on the German soap-opera channel, Das Erste...
from December 31, 1999 to September 3, 2002 and again since November 2, 2007.
Character's background
Oliver is the nephew of Charlie SchneiderCharlie Schneider
Charlotte 'Charlie' Schneider is a fictional character from the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe, portrayed by actress Gabriele Metzger. She made her first appearance on screen in the series premiere on 2 January 1995...
(Gabriele Metzger). Charlie is happy when Oliver comes to Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. Charlie and Oliver's mother Henriette (then played by Susanne Seuffert) haven't had the best relationship and she kept Charlie from Oliver's childhood. It was mentioned one time in 2001, that Oliver has a little brother, but after that he was never mentioned again.
Oliver is a young dreamer and bisexual. His first relationship with a man, the doctor Tom Seifert (Kay Böger), was very complicated. His mother showed up and Oliver kept his relationship with Tom as a secret. Tom's sister Alexa (Kerstin Kramer) helped him out and played the role of beard. Still, Henriette eventually discovers Oliver's relationship. In her disgust, she issues Oliver an ultimatum: either he can end things with Tom or his mother will stop supporting him. Oliver chooses to break off relations with his mother, while Charlie promises him that she will provide for him.
After his relationship with Tom ends in 2002, Oliver leaves Düsseldorf and begins to work as steward. Five years later, on November 2, 2007, Oliver comes back for the christening of his cousin Sophia von Lahnstein, daughter of his uncle Lars
Lars Schneider
Lars Schneider is a fictional character of German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character has been played by actor Herbert Ulrich from October 24, 2002 to May 18, 2005 and again from October 13, 2006 to August 29, 2008....
(Herbert Ulrich). He also reunites with Charlie and his other cousin Olivia
Olivia Schneider
Olivia Schneider is a fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe portrayed by actress and singer Kristina Dörfer from December 29, 2006 to September 24, 2009.- Character's background :...
(Kristina Dörfer
Kristina Dörfer
Kristina Dörfer, also known by the stage name KR!S or Kris, is a German singer and television actress.-Biography:...
). He moves into a flat-share and becomes friends with Coco Faber (Mariangela Seclsi) and her boyfriend Christian Mann
Christian Mann
Christian Mann is a popular fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe portrayed by actor Thore Schölermann since November 27, 2006.-Storylines:...
(Thore Schölermann
Thore Schölermann
Thore Schölermann is a German actor.- Career :After graduation in 2004 he trained to be a professional actor at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He then took part in a few short movies until he came to the soap opera Verbotene Liebe...
). But Christian begins to have a problem with Oliver when he finds out that he also sleeps with men. With the tension between Christian and Oliver going on, Coco's friendship with Oliver becomes a problem in her relationship with Christian. After another fight, she goes out with Oliver and kisses him. Oliver wants to just forget about it, but Coco realizes that she is falling in love with him. Christian decides to give his friendship with Oliver another chance and it works and they become close friends. Coco isn't happy about that and tells Christian's sister-in-law Sarah Hofmann
Sarah Hofmann
Sarah von Lahnstein is a fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character was portrayed by actress Sina-Valeska Jung from July 11, 2006 to May 5, 2009....
(Sina-Valeska Jung
Sina-Valeska Jung
Sina-Valeska Jung is a German actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Hofmann on the long-running German soap opera Verbotene Liebe on the German television channel Das Erste. Her first appearance was on July 11, 2006...
) about the kiss and her feelings for Oliver. At this time, Oliver realizes his feelings for Coco's boyfriend Christian.
After this realization Oliver begins to want a relationship with Christian. When Christian finds out about the kiss that Oliver and Coco shared he becomes very angry with Oliver. He yells at Oliver "Why should I believe that you don't have feelings for Coco?" To which Oliver responds with a kiss for Christian as well. Christian at first thinks that all Oliver was trying to do was break up himself and Coco. Oliver tries to put the record straight and tells Christian that it was never his plan to break them up, but that he is in love with Christian. Christian becomes very withdrawn towards Coco who soon leaves the show giving Christian her blessing to start a relationship with Oliver as she can tell he also has feelings for him. Oliver and Christian are very strange around each other. Each not wanting to give away his true feelings. Christian starts to talk on a coming out website about his feelings for Oliver, never knowing that he was talking to Oliver anonymously on the website. Neither man knew he was speaking to the other. When Oliver posts a picture of himself on the website Christian thinks that Oliver knew it was him all along and was playing a joke with his feelings. Oliver responds that if Christian was having all these thoughts about coming out then he must be gay. Which Christian then denies and a kiss ensues followed by sex. The next day Christian tells Oliver that it was good they had sex, because he now knows that he is not interested in men. The guys also look for a new flatmate now that Coco is gone. Judith Hagendorf
Judith Hagendorf
Judith Hagendorf is a fictional character on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe portrayed by actress Katrin Heß from February 18, 2008 to September 15, 2009, when the character was surprisingly written out without any conformation from the production.-Storylines:In the beginning, Judith finds...
(Katrin Heß) moves in and comments on their closeness thinking them a gay couple which Christian denies. A few days later after getting pressure from his brother to date, Christian goes out with Mariam, a fellow waitress at No Limits. They go to a club and Christian sees Oliver with another guy and a fight erupts when the guy makes a pass at Oliver. Oliver accuses Christian of being jealous which Christian denies. Later on in the flat both Christian and Oliver admit they love one another, have sex again and begin to date secretly. Christian is scared to come out to his brother as he is the only family he has. Oliver is okay with Christian taking his time and Judith discovers Oliver and Christian's relationship.
In the meantime, Christian has been given a contract by Wolle, a boxing contractor who hates gay people, so Christian hides his relationship with Oliver. When Christian wants to come clean to everyone, Oliver stops him and resolves to keep their love a secret as long as it takes to get Christian into the boxing world. When Christian falls into the temptation of taking steroids, Oliver reasons with him and stops him from doing so. Wolle by chance sees the two of them hugging and confronts them to which Christian denies everything and accuses Oliver of making a pass at him. Wolle hits back by making stinging remarks to Oliver and asks him to keep away from Christian.
Christian fires Wolle as his manager. Gregor is confused as to why Christian has done this and offers to be his brother's manager. Christian is unsure whether to accept this offer, as he has still not come out to Gregor, who is oblivious to Olli's relationship with Christian. Olli comforts Christian and later that evening an unsuspecting Gregor walks in on them in a passionate clinch. Olli confirms their relationship to Gregor, who leaves promptly without comment. Christian believes his brother is not accepting of his relationship with Olli, and confronts Gregor, but Gregor still makes no remark. Olli finally breaks and also confronts Gregor, who finally realises what Christian believes Gregor thinks about the relationship. Gregor tells Christian that he accepts his brother's sexuality: the only reason he was angry was that Christian felt that he couldn't come out to his brother. They agree to stick together no matter what.
Trouble soon arises again as Gregor feels that Christian needs a "beard" to cover his relationship with Olli and get back on terms with Wolle. This comes in the form of Judith, and for a while, everything is OK, until Fabian, who has been dating Judith, becomes annoyed as they have no time together. Things get even worse when Axel, another boxer under Wolle spots Fabian and Judith together. Believing Judith is having an affair with Fabian, Axel punches him. However, this means that Judith and Christian can end their fake relationship without question.
For a few weeks Oliver and Christian are minor characters in the soap while other storylines develop. In July Christian is preparing for his fight with Axel: if he wins, he will move into the National German Boxing Championship. His determination to win nearly destroy's his relationship with Olli, as he spends no time with his boyfriend, ending in a big argument just before Christian fights Axel. During the first part of the match, Olli stays at the apartment. After talking with Lydia, he realises that his relationship with Christian is not worth giving up on, and rushes to the boxing ring. Christian and Axel start boxing, but within a few minutes, Christian is knocked to the ground, unable to get back up again. Olli arrives just in time to encourage Christian to get back on his feet and continue fighting, until a few rounds later it is Axel who gets knocked to the ground, and doesn't get up, making Christian the winner. As Christian celebrates his victory, Olli joins him in the ring, and Christian publicly comes out by kissing Olli in front of the crowd.
At the celebration party at "No Limits" later that evening, Olli and Christian are the last people left. Olli persuades Christian to go and take a bath while he cleans up. Just as Olli is locking the door Axel bursts in with a nightstick, eager for revenge, and badly beats Olli while Christian relaxes in his bath. Christian finds Olli lying under the bar, and rushes him to hospital, where the Doctors confirm that he will be okay. Christian blames himself for Olli's attack, and vows to get revenge.
Olli and Christian start looking for a newspaper or magazine that will publish an article on Homophobia in Boxing. Unfortunately, they are rejected by every publisher, until Constantin saves the day by persuading his lesbian Aunt, Carla von Lahnstein
Carla von Lahnstein
Carla Sophia von Lahnstein is a fictional character from the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe , portrayed by actress Claudia Hiersche. She made her first appearance on screen on September 19, 2003 and left the show on November 10, 2009. Hiersche then returned for a guest stint on January 29, 2010...
, to enlist the help of a contact to get their story published. Carla manages to convince her contact to publish their story, on the grounds that Axel is charged with assault. However, due to lack of evidence Axel is released without charge, and the contact won't put their article in the magazine, for fear of being sued for libel. Carla refuses to be beaten and buys an entire Publishing Company, unafraid of being sued. The article is finally published, though it is not exactly what they hoped for.
Meanwhile Olli is suffering from persistent headaches, but hides it from his friends and family, including Christian. While he and Christian are celebrating the possibility of getting a fellow boxer, Kai, to give evidence against Axel, Olli suddenly collapses, and is rushed to hospital again. He is found to have a brain haemorrhage, and has to have a life-threatening operation to stop it. Christian is terrified Olli won't make it, and slips away while everyone waits to find Axel. Unbeknownst to his boyfriend, Olli comes through the operation OK, but is in an artificial coma, and won't wake up for a few hours. While the rest of their family and friends rejoice at the news, Christian finally finds Axel, and is about to attack him with a baseball bat, when Olli's cousin Olivia, who also doesn't know about Olli pulling through, stops him, reminding him about his probation. Christian goes to the boxing club, and tries to persuade them to support him, but to no avail. On finding out Olli has pulled through he rushes back to the hospital to be with his boyfriend when he wakes up. Kai visits them, refusing to give evidence against Axel for fear of being discriminated against. Later on Kai sends Christian a confusing text, telling him to meet him at the Boxing Club. Christian lies to Olli and tells him he is going to the cafeteria and sneaks out to meet Kai. Olivia eventually tells Olli where his boyfriend has gone, leaving Olli scared but powerless to help. Christian arrives at the boxing club to find everyone, including Axel and Kai, waiting for him. Axel threatens to beat up Christian, not knowing that Kai has arranged for Police to hear their every word. They intervene and arrest Axel: Kai has decided to give evidence. Christian is even more surprised when the rest of the boxers welcome him back with open arms; free to be friends with him now Axel has gone. Christian returns to the Hospital to explain to Olli what has happened, and everything is well again.
Wedding
On September 3, 2010, after a series of changes and problems from 2008 to 2010, Oliver held on to Christian and married him in a church wedding.Olli and Christian started talking about adoption, but after this proved too troublesome, they instead fostered for a Cameroonese girl. The strain of losing her after her father took her back to Cameroon damaged their relationship. During a party, a drunk Christian danced with Jessica Stiehl, and apparently cheated on him with her. At the beginning, Olliver seemed to forgive her, but this incident triggered again his doubts about Christian's attraction to him. Olli called for a break on the relationship and made Christian move out to the horse stables on Königsbrunn, which later got burned down on a fire with all of Christian's belongings, making him move in with Olli's aunt Charlie. Meanwhile, Olli tried to distance himself from his pain with constant partying.
Olli then suffered another deep blow after witnessing Phillip zu Hohenfelden being hit by a car while he stopped on mid-street to greet Olli, and was struck with guilt by thinking he had made Phillip to stop, thus causing the accident, and shut himself in his appartment for several days. Christian later had sex with a female coworker, adding another trouble to their relationship.