Til Schweiger
Tilman Valentin Schweiger (German pronunciation: [tɪl ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡɐ] (listen); born 19 December 1963) is a German actor, voice actor and filmmaker. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.[1]
Early life
Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers.[citation needed] He grew up in Heuchelheim near Giessen in Hesse, where he went to school. Later, he took acting lessons at Der Keller in Cologne and graduated in 1989.[citation needed]
Career
Schweiger's debut as a producer and (uncredited) director came in 1997 with Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He also directed and produced Der Eisbär (The Polar Bear) in 1998. Schweiger won a Bambi Award for Barfuss (Barefoot) in 2005, which he wrote, directed, and starred in.[2] He also won a Bambi for his lead role in Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1. In 2007, Keinohrhasen (this literally translates to "no ear rabbit" while the English title is Rabbit Without Ears), written, produced, and directed by Schweiger, became the most successful film in German theaters with a box office result of USD 62,000,000.[3] The film won a Bambi, a Bavarian Film Award, the German Comedy Award, two DIVA Awards, a Jupiter Award and the Ernst Lubitsch Award. The sequel, Zweiohrküken (Rabbit Without Ears 2, literally "two ear chicks"), was released the following year with over 4.2 million viewers and a box office collection of USD 45,000,000. Schweiger then went on to direct, produce and star in 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, which also proved a huge cinema hit on its release in 2008.
The movie Kokowääh debuted in German cinemas in February 2011. Schweiger's daughter Emma stars beside him, and the movie is also directed, co-written and produced by him. Schweiger and Emma reprised their roles as Henry and Magdalena, respectively, in its sequel, titled Kokowääh 2. The film was released on 7 February 2013. In 2012 Schweiger made a film alongside his daughter Luna named Schutzengel. In 2013 Schweiger also started to produce commercials with his daughters.(Watchever, VHV Group)[4][5]
Onscreen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1989 in the TV series "Lindenstraße". His first film role came in 1991 with Manta, Manta.[6][7] Additional TV and film roles followed, including Der bewegte Mann (Maybe, Maybe Not), Männerpension (Jailbirds), Das Mädchen Rosemarie (A Girl Called Rosemary), Bastard (Bandyta), Der große Bagarozy (The Devil and Ms. D.), Was tun, wenn's brennt (What to Do in Case of Fire?), Les Daltons vs. Lucky Luke, The Red Baron, Wo ist Fred (Where is Fred?), Phantomschmerz (Phantom Pain), Männerherzen (Men in the City), and others.
Schweiger has also appeared as a supporting actor in American films, including Already Dead, King Arthur, In Enemy Hands, Magicians, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, Driven, SLC Punk!, Investigating Sex, Joe and Max, The Replacement Killers and New Year's Eve. He wore a Nazi uniform for the first time in his career for his role in Inglourious Basterds but, as Quentin Tarantino revealed,[8] "only because his character was killing Nazis."
Schweiger then appeared in the US productions The Courier with Mickey Rourke, This Means War (2012), with Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon and more recently in 2013 as Darko in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman with Shia LaBeouf among others. He also made an appearance in 2014's Muppets Most Wanted. His latest big screen appearance was in David Leitch's Atomic Blonde.
Personal life
Schweiger married American model Dana Carlsen on 19 June 1995. They have four children: Valentin Florian Schweiger (born 1995), Luna Marie Schweiger (born 1997), Lilli Camille Schweiger (born 1998), and Emma Tiger Schweiger (born 2002). Schweiger and Carlsen separated in 2005 and were divorced in 2014.[9]
Schweiger lives in Mallorca, Spain, and his neighbour is German former cyclist Jan Ullrich. In August 2018, Ullrich was arrested for allegedly breaking onto Schweiger's property and threatening him.[10]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Manta, Manta | Bertie | German | Wolfgang Büld | First film in which he was the lead actor |
| 1993 | Ebbie's Bluff | Rudy | German | Claude-Oliver Rudolph | Max-Ophüls-Preis Best Actor Newcomer Award |
| 1994 | Der bewegte Mann | Axel Feldheim | German | Sönke Wortmann | Bambi |
| 1995 | Bunte Hunde | Pepe Brenner | German | Lars Becker | |
| 1996 | Jailbirds | Steinbock | German | Detlev Buck | Bambi; DIVA-Award |
| The Superwife | Hajo Heiermann | German | Sönke Wortmann | ||
| 1997 | Knockin' On Heaven's Door | Martin Brest | German | Thomas Jahn | Also writer and producer 20th Moscow International Film Festival – Best Actor;[11] Jupiter Best Actor; Goldene Kamera Best Actor |
| Hercules | Hercules | English | John Musker Ron Clements | Voice (German version, dubbed) | |
| Bastard | Brute | English | Maciej Dejczer | Polish Film Festival[12] (Polish Oscar) Best Actor; Bravo Otto Best Actor | |
| 1998 | The Replacement Killers | Ryker | English | Antoine Fuqua | |
| Judas Kiss | Ruben Rubenbauer | English | Sebastian Gutierrez | ||
| SLC Punk! | Mark | English | James Merendino | ||
| The Polar Bear | Leo | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer | |
| 1999 | The Devil and Ms. D | Stanislaus Nagy | German | Bernd Eichinger | |
| 2000 | Magicians | Max | English | James Merendino | |
| 2001 | Driven | Beau Brandenburg | English | Renny Harlin | |
| Investigating Sex | Monty | English | Alan Rudolph | ||
| What to Do in Case of Fire? | Tim | German | Gregor Schnitzler | ||
| 2002 | Joe and Max | Max Schmeling | English | Steve James | |
| 2003 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Sean | English | Jan de Bont | |
| 2004 | In Enemy Hands | Captain Jonas Herdt | English | Tony Giglio | |
| King Arthur | Cynric | English | Antoine Fuqua | ||
| Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 | Rock Fertig Aus | German | Michael Herbig | Bambi Best Actor | |
| Les Dalton | Lucky Luke | French | Philippe Haïm | ||
| 2005 | Barfuss | Nick Keller | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer Bambi Best Film |
| Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo | Heinz Hummer the Gigolo with the most below | English | Mike Bigelow | ||
| 2006 | Bye Bye Harry! | Gantcho | English | Robert Young | |
| One Way | Eddie Schneider | English | Reto Salimbeni | Also producer | |
| Where Is Fred? | Fred Krüppers | German | Anno Saul | Jupiter Best Actor | |
| 2007 | Body Armour | John Ridley | English | Gerry Lively | |
| Rabbit Without Ears | Ludo Decker | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer Ernst-Lubitsch-Preis Best Comedy ; Bambi Best Film; Deutscher Comedypreis Best Comedy; Jupiter Best Film; 2x DIVA-Award Best Film | |
| Already Dead | The Man[13] | English | Joe Otting | ||
| 2008 | The Red Baron | Werner Voss | English | Nikolai Müllerschön | Bravo Otto |
| Far Cry | Jack Carver | English | Uwe Boll | ||
| 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde | Ritter Lanze | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer | |
| 2009 | Phantom Pain | Marc | German | Matthias Emcke | |
| Inglourious Basterds | Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz | English French German | Quentin Tarantino | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | |
| Men in the City | Jerome Ades | German | Simon Verhoeven | ||
| Rabbit Without Ears 2 | Ludo Decker | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer Deutscher Comedypreis Best Comedy | |
| 2011 | Kokowääh | Henry | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer |
| The Three Musketeers | Cagliostro | English | Paul W. S. Anderson | ||
| Men in the City 2 | Jerome | German | Simon Verhoeven | ||
| New Year's Eve | James Schwab | English | Garry Marshall | ||
| 2012 | This Means War | Heinrich | English | McG | |
| The Courier | FBI agent | English | Hany Abu-Assad | ||
| Guardians | Max | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer | |
| 2013 | Charlie Countryman | Darko | English | Fredrik Bond | |
| Kokowääh 2 | Henry | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer | |
| No-Eared Bunny and Two-Eared Chick | No-Eared Bunny | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer | |
| 2014 | Muppets Most Wanted | German Cop | English | James Bobin | |
| Head Full of Honey | Niko Rosenbach | German | Til Schweiger | ||
| 2016 | Tschiller: Off Duty | Nick Tschiller | German | Christian Alvart | |
| Vier gegen die Bank | Chris | German | Wolfgang Petersen | ||
| 2017 | Atomic Blonde | The Watchmaker | English | David Leitch | |
| 2018 | Klassentreffen 1.0 | Thomas | German | Til Schweiger | Remake of The Reunion |
| Head Full of Honey | English | Til Schweiger | English remake | ||
| 2020 | Die Hochzeit | Thomas | German | Til Schweiger | |
| 2022 | Medieval | Henry III of Rosenberg | English | Petr Jákl |
Television
| Year | TV Show | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–1992 | Lindenstraße | Jo Zenker | 37 episodes | |
| 1994–1996 | Die Kommissarin | Nick Siegel | 26 episodes | |
| 1996 | Adrenalin | Stefan Renner | Dominique Othenin-Girard | |
| A Girl Called Rosemary | Nadler | Bernd Eichinger | ||
| Teenage Wolfpack | Freddy | Urs Egger | ||
| 2002 | Joe and Max | Max Schmeling | Steve James | |
| 2013–2016 | Tatort | Nick Tschiller | Christian Alvart | Tatort in Hamburg (4 episodes) |
| 2020 | Tatort: Tschill Out | Nick Tschiller | Eoin Moore | Tatort |
| 2022 | Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin | Pickle Host #1 | Richie Keen | Episode: "Verschlimmbessern" |
Awards
- 1994: Bambi für Der bewegte Mann
- 1995: Bambi für Jailbirds
- 1997: Preis des Gdynia Film Festival für Bastard als bester Darsteller
- 1998: Bravo Otto als bester Schauspieler
- 1998: Goldene Kamera für Knockin' on Heaven's Door als bester Schauspieler
- 2003: Hessischer Kulturpreis
- 2008: Jupiter für Wo ist Fred? als bester deutscher Schauspieler
- 2008: Ehren-Bravo Otto
- 2008: Bambi für Keinohrhasen als Film National
- 2008: Deutscher Comedypreis für Keinohrhasen als beste Kino-Komödie
- 2009: Jupiter für Keinohrhasen
- 2009: 2x DIVA-Award für Keinohrhasen
- 2010: Deutscher Comedypreis für Zweiohrküken als beste Kino-Komödie
- 2011: Deutscher Comedypreis für die erfolgreichste deutsche Filmkomödie: Kokowääh
- 2011: Querdenker-Award
- 2012: Jupiter für Kokowääh als bester Darsteller
- 2013: Deutscher Comedypreis für die erfolgreichste deutsche Filmkomödie: Kokowääh 2
- 2015: Romy in den Kategorien beste Regie sowie bester Produzent Kinofilm für Honig im Kopf
- 2015: Deutscher Filmpreis in der Kategorie Besucherstärkster Film für Honig im Kopf
- 2015: CIVIS-Publikumspreis für Honig im Kopf[14]
- 2015: Deutscher Comedypreis für die erfolgreichste deutsche Filmkomödie: Honig im Kopf
- 2015: Bambi für Honig im Kopf in der Kategorie „Ehrenpreis der Jury"
- 2020: Golden Eye Award des Zurich Film Festival
References
- ^ "Barefoot Films". barefootfilms.de.
- ^ "Barfuss: Bambi für Til Schweiger! - Filmnews - Filmmag.de". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Keinohrhasen (2007) – Financial Information". The-numbers.com. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ^ "Til Schweigers Freundin: Hat er jemanden an seiner Seite?".
- ^ "VHV Versicherungen: Neue TV-Spot Premiere mit Til Schweiger". 23 June 2015.
- ^ "Til Schweiger biography and filmography". tribute.ca. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ^ "Til Schweiger movies". listal.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- ^ Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino interview by Elvis Mitchell (at 01:29)
- ^ ${time} (21 May 2014). "Til und Dana Schweiger geschieden: Tatort-Kommissar offiziell solo" (in German). N24.de. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- ^ "Jan Ullrich arrested for jumping Til Schweiger's fence in Mallorca". Deutsche Welle. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ . MIFF. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- ^ [1] Internet Movie Database: Bandyta – Awards
- ^ [2] Internet Movie Database: Already Dead
- ^ "CIVIS Medienstiftung – Startseite". www.civismedia.eu.
External links
- Til Schweiger at IMDb
- Photographs and bibliography
- Til Schweiger in the German Dubbing Card Index