Volker Bruch (German: [ˈfɔlkɐ ˈbʁʊx]; born 9 March 1980) is a German television and film actor. He is best known internationally for his leading roles as Wilhelm Winter in the television drama Generation War (2013) and as Inspector Gereon Rath in the neo-noir series Babylon Berlin (2017–present); for the latter, he was awarded the 2018 Grimme-Preis, Germany's most prestigious television award. In film, he was part of the ensemble cast of two films nominated for Academy Awards in 2009: The Reader (Best Picture) and The Baader Meinhof Complex (Best Foreign Language Film); more recently, he appeared in the thriller The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) and Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia (2024).
Volker Bruch | |
|---|---|
 Bruch in 2014 | |
| Born | 9 March 1980 |
| Nationality | German, Austrian |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Partner | Miriam Stein (2009–present) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life
editBruch was born in 1980 in West Germany to a German father and Austrian mother.[1] He grew up in Munich with five siblings.[2] He began acting during his years at gymnasium and was involved with student acting groups.[3] After completing his university-entrance diploma, he studied performing arts at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Austria.[4] Bruch made a deliberate choice while studying to commit himself to acting for television and film, as opposed to theater.[2][5] During this time, he made some of his first television appearances. He graduated in 2005.[6]
Career
editBruch spent the beginning of his career primarily playing small roles in German television and TV movie productions. His first noteworthy role was as Axi in the 2005 German television movie Rose, for which he won a German Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.[7] The year 2008 was notable for Bruch's career as he acted in a number of movies including the French film Female Agents, the English-language German biopic The Red Baron as Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen, the Oscar-nominated German film The Baader Meinhof Complex as Stefan Aust, as well as the Oscar-winning American film The Reader.
Bruch had a few small supporting roles after this period before his breakout role in the popular 2013 German miniseries Generation War in which he played one of the five protagonists. Bruch was nominated for a German Television Award for his performance and received a special award for Ensemble Cast at the 2013 Bavarian TV Awards.
After Generation War, Bruch starred in a variety of film and television productions of varying scopes until 2016 when he was cast in Babylon Berlin. In Babylon Berlin, Bruch stars as the main character, police inspector Gereon Rath, who investigates a series of crimes in Weimar Republic-era Berlin. The first two series of the show were filmed over eight months beginning in May 2016 and released consecutively in the fall of 2017. Babylon Berlin has been very popular in Germany as well as with international audiences and has elevated Bruch to international prominence; Bruch is considered one of Germany's upcoming stars.[8][9] For his portrayal, Bruch received a 2018 Golden Camera Award and shares an Adolf Grimme Award with the Babylon Berlin team.
The show went on a yearlong production hiatus during which Bruch filmed two movies; in 2018, he played a role in the wide-release American film The Girl in the Spider's Web and filmed the German production Rocca Changes the World. In late 2018, Bruch began the six-month shoot for the third series of Babylon Berlin which premiered in Germany in January 2020.[10][11][12] A fourth series starring Bruch was produced mid-2021 and was released in 2022.[13]
In 2022, he was cast as German rally driver Walter Röhrl in the English-language film Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia, formerly known as 2 Win. Starring opposite Daniel Brühl and Riccardo Scamarcio, the film depicts the 1983 World Rally Championship and will be released January 2024.[14]
Personal life
editBruch lives in Berlin with his partner, actress Miriam Stein. They had a child together in 2017.[15][16] Bruch met Stein in 2009 on the set of the film Young Goethe in Love.[17] Notably, they later starred together in 2013's Generation War, 2014's Tour de Force, and 2015's Das goldene Ufer.[18]
Bruch speaks English fluently,[1][19] and has acted in English.[20][21]
Advocacy
editBruch is an environmentalist and, with his partner Stein, has supported the climate action group Extinction Rebellion as well as the Joint Declaration made by the German government and media industry "for the sustainable production of films and television series."[22][23]
In 2019, Bruch, along with other German actors and artists like Daniel Brühl, signed a petition advocating against the election of a far-right Alternative for Germany mayoral candidate in Görlitz, Germany, an oft-used filming location in Europe.[24][25]
In June 2020, Bruch took part in the video "Was sie mitgenommen haben" for the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR).[26]
Bruch is a vocal opponent of the restrictions introduced in Germany to curb the spread of COVID-19. In May 2021, it was reported that Bruch had applied to join the Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany, an anti-lockdown fringe party.[27][28]
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Vater wider Willen | Sammy | Episode: "Große Kinder - Kleine Kinder" |
| 2003 | SK Kölsch | Bert Wunderlich | Episode: "CSD" |
| 2004 | SOKO Kitzbühel | Julian Schweiger | Episode: "Tödliches Dreieck" |
| 2004 | Inspector Rex | Max König | Episode: "Nina um Mitternacht" |
| 2004 | Baal (de) | Johannes | Television film |
| 2004–2013 | Tatort | various | 4 episodes |
| 2004 | Die Verbrechen des Professor Capellari | Bernd Geissler | Episode: "Ein Toter kehrt zurück" |
| 2005 | Leipzig Homicide | Marco Hoss | Episode: "Die Polizistin" |
| 2005 | Unter weißen Segeln | Florian | Episode: "Abschiedsvorstellung" |
| 2005 | Hengstparade (de) | Markus Lex | Television movie |
| 2005 | Der Untergang der Pamir (de) | Bernd Russek | Television movie |
| 2007 | Der Staatsanwalt | Bastian Tressen | Episode: "Glückskinder" |
| 2007 | Ein starkes Team | Tim König | Episode: "Stumme Wut" |
| 2007 | Nichts ist vergessen (de) | Olaf Stahmann | Television movie
Nominated – German Television Award |
| 2008 | Machen wir's auf Finnisch (de) | Matti | Television movie |
| 2008 | Einer bleibt sitzen (de) | Michel | Television movie |
| 2011 | Treasure Guards | Luca | Television movie; English language |
| 2013 | Generation War | Wilhelm Winter | Miniseries; 3 episodes
Nominated – German Television Award |
| 2013 | München Mord (de) | Toni Bernlocher | Television movie |
| 2014 | Die Pilgerin | Otfried Willinger | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Das goldene Ufer | Walther Fichtner | Television movie |
| 2016 | Ein Teil von uns (de) | Micki | Television movie |
| 2017–present | Babylon Berlin | Gereon Rath | 28 episodes
Won – Golden Camera Award |
| 2019 | Jerks (de) | Volker | Episode: "Volker" |
Film
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Getting a Life (Raus ins Leben) | ||
| 2005 | Rose (de) | Axi | Nominated – German Television Award |
| 2006 | Life Actually (de) | Charles Spatz | |
| 2007 | Good Times (de) | Priglmeier Toni | |
| 2008 | The Best Place to Be (de) | Toni | |
| 2008 | Female Agents | Lieutenant Becker | French language |
| 2008 | The Red Baron | Oberleutnant Lothar von Richthofen | |
| 2008 | Little Paris | Stefan | |
| 2008 | The Baader Meinhof Complex | Stefan Aust | Nominated – Undine Award (de) |
| 2008 | The Reader | Dieter | English language |
| 2009 | The Murder Farm (de) | Johann Hauer | |
| 2010 | Nanga Parbat | Gerd Bauer | |
| 2010 | Young Goethe in Love | Wilhelm Jerusalem | |
| 2011 | Westwind | Nico | |
| 2012 | Confession of a Child of the Century | Henri Smith | English language |
| 2013 | Radical Evil | Narrator | |
| 2014 | Beste Chance (de) | Toni | |
| 2012 | Tour de Force | Finn | |
| 2015 | Outside the Box | Frederick Schopner | |
| 2015 | Suck Me Shakespeer 2 | Hauke Wölki | |
| 2017 | The Man with the Iron Heart | Walter Schellenberg | English language |
| 2018 | The Girl in the Spider's Web | Peter Ahlgren | English language |
| 2019 | Rocca Changes the World (de) | Henning | |
| 2022 | The Path (de) | Ludwig | |
| 2024 | Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia | Walter Röhrl | English language |
Accolades
edit| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | German Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor/Actress (de) | Nichts ist vergessen / Rose | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Undine Awards (de) | Best Young Supporting Actor - Film | The Baader Meinhof Complex | Nominated | |
| 2013 | German Television Awards | Best Actor (de) | Generation War | Nominated | Shared with Tom Schilling |
| Bavarian TV Awards | Special Ensemble Award (de) | Won | Shared with Tom Schilling, Katharina Schüttler, Miriam Stein, and Ludwig Trepte | ||
| 2018 | Golden Camera | Best German Actor (de) | Babylon Berlin | Won | |
| Grimme Awards | Fiction Award (de) | Won | Shared with Babylon Berlin production team and cast |
References
edit- ^ a b "Volker Bruch - Schauspieler". www.schauspielervideos.de (in German). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Volker Bruch - Portrait, Interview". 15 April 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Volker Bruch im Interview: "Viele wussten nicht, was ich auf dem roten Teppich zu suchen habe."". Planet Interview (in German). 27 May 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Beta Cinema presents Westwind (PDF). Germany: Beta Cinema. 2011. p. 10.
- ^ "Volker Bruch, ANTI-HEARTTHROB - 032c". 032c.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "1998 - 2017 | Max Reinhardt Seminar". www.maxreinhardtseminar.at. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "Volker Bruch - Actor". Agentur Players Berlin (in German). Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Meza, Ed (20 February 2018). "Actor Volker Bruch on 'Babylon Berlin,' His Biggest Challenge as an Actor". Variety. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Mitchell, Robert (26 April 2017). "Stars of 'Babylon Berlin,' Netflix's 'Dark' Join Effort to Highlight German Cinema (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (24 July 2018). "'Babylon Berlin' Confirmed For Third Season, Plot & Shoot Details Revealed". Deadline. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ Meza, Ed (9 April 2019). "'Babylon Berlin 3' Sells to More Than 35 Countries, Including Netflix for U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ "Volker Bruch on Instagram: "That's a wrap! Thank you for the last 6 month! 🙏🍾🥂🤗😓🕺🏻#champagneinthemembrane #season3 #keepdancing"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ Roxborough, Scott (17 September 2021). "'Babylon Berlin': Hit German Drama Releases First Look at Season 4 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (6 May 2022). "Cannes: Daniel Bruhl, Riccardo Scamarcio, Volker Bruch Team for Rally Car Drama '2 Win'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ ""Babylon Berlin": Tom Tykwer, Liv Lisa Fries und Volker Bruch im Vogue-Gespräch". Vogue Germany (in German). 21 September 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Peters, Bernd (10 March 2017). "Schauspielerin verrät's: Plötzlich Mama! Miriam Stein hielt ihr Baby geheim". Express.de (in German). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Traumpaar vor und hinter der Kamera". tz.de (in German). 4 April 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ ""Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter"-Stars sind ein Paar". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Profile Series – Cannes 70th – One on One". YouTube.(unscripted English interview from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival)
- ^ "The Reader (2008): 'Dieter' (lecture theatre scene)". YouTube.
- ^ "IMDb: Volker Bruch in The Reader (2008)". IMDb.
- ^ "Offener Brief an die Regierung". Extinction Rebellion Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Deutschlands Filme werden grüner". Startseite (in German). 19 February 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "German stars call on voters to shun far-right AfD in 'Görliwood'". www.thelocal.de. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "German stars lead call to shun far-right in 'Goerliwood'". France 24. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ "Was Sie Mitgenommen Haben - UNHCR Deutschland". UNHCR (in German). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ Greiner, Elizabeth (4 May 2021). "'Babylon Berlin' star Volker Bruch's links to COVID skeptics polarizes". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ Schrader, Hannes (4 May 2021). "Das steckt hinter der »Querdenker«-Partei, der Volker Bruch beitreten will". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
External links
edit- Volker Bruch at IMDb