BBC Europe editor Katya Adler asked the actor, who is starring as Angela Merkel in a German political comedy called ‘What to do with Mummy’, how he gets into the zone.
But she would have been surprised by his answer that the German Chancellor is “like a pudding” that can’t be “nailed to a wall”.
Mrs Merkel is likely to be re-elected for her fourth term as Chancellor in a German election this month that could seal the future of the European Union.
The leader is affectionately known to Germans as ‘Mutti’, which translates as ‘Mummy’.
Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Mrs Adler said: “When you get ready for your performance, how do you channel your inner Merkel?”
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The actor replied the Chancellor was like Teflon.
He said: “It’s very difficult. She’s like a pudding and you try to put that pudding on the wall with a nail or something and it won’t work.
“She’s like, do you have the word Teflon also, in English?”
When told Tony Blair is known as Teflon Tony, he added: “We call Angela Merkel, the Teflon Chancellor.”
Mrs Merkel’s victory on September 24 is almost assured if polls are to be believed, with her CDU/CSU coalition polling far ahead of her rivals the SPD.
The latest voter poll published on Sunday by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed the German Chancellor’s conservatives on 36 per cent of the vote, while Martin Schulz’s SPD lagging behind on 22 per cent.
But the pro-European politician’s re-election is likely to result in a push towards close political and economic union across the EU.