- Born
- Height5′ 11½″ (1.82 m)
- Sebastian Koch is one of the most internationally sought-after German actors of his generation. After stage engagements in Berlin, Bochum and Darmstadt, the Karlsruhe native was twice awarded the "Grimme Prize" in 2002 for the title role in Peter Keglevic's "Der Tanz mit dem Teufel - Die Entführung des Richard Oetker" (Dance with the devil - The kidnapping of Richard Oetker) and for his acting performance as Klaus Mann in the family story "The Manns" by Heinrich Breloer. He also received the "Bavarian Television Award" for his portrayal of Klaus Mann. His international breakthrough came in 2006 with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's Oscar-winning theatrical success "The Lives Of Others". For his outstanding portrayal of the GDR writer Georg Dreyman, Koch received numerous nominations and awards, including the 2007 Italian Foreign Press Award, the "Globo d'Oro" for Best European Actor.
He has since appeared in numerous international film productions. His performances in the historical drama "Napoleon" alongside Isabella Rossellini, Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich, and alongside Catherine Deneuve in Benoît Jaquot's "Princesse Marie" (Marie Bonaparte, 2004) brought him great attention. He starred in Constantin Costa-Gavra's Hochhuth adaptation "Amen" (2002) and played the title role in Jo Baier's documentary "Stauffenberg". He received the "German Television Award" for his portrayal of Nazi criminal Albert Speer in Heinrich Breloer's multi-part series "Speer and Hitler".
Together with Paul Verhoeven, Sebastian Koch filmed the World War II drama "Black Book" (Zwartboek, 2006) and was nominated for an "Emmy Award" in 2008 for his portrayal of the title role in the international co-production "The Sea Wolf", based on Jack London's classic. He also appeared in Jaume Collet-Serra's "Unknown" (2011) with Liam Neeson, as well as Mike Figgis' "Suspension Of Disbelief" (2012). He assumed the lead role in the most successful Greek film of 2012, "God Loves Caviar" (O Theös Agapäei To Chaviäri), alongside John Cleese and Catherine Deneuve. Koch starred alongside Bruce Willis in John Moore's "A Good Day To Die Hard" (2013) and in the pilot of Ridley Scott's US series "The Vatican" (2014). He then co-starred with Daniel Auteuil in the German-French feature film "Kalinka" (Au Nom De Ma Fille, 2015) and with Oscar winners Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hooper in Hooper's Oscar-nominated bestselling adaptation "The Danish Girl" (2016). That same year, Sebastian Koch joined Tom Hanks in front of the camera for Steven Spielberg's "Bridge Of Spies", a story about brokering the first agent exchange in the Cold War - the film was nominated for an "Academy Award". Koch was lauded for his leading role in Kai Wessel's "Fog In August" (2016). In "Bel Canto" (2017), a film by Paul Weitz, he stars alongside Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe. In the 5th and 6th seasons of the US series "Homeland", he played the German entrepreneur Otto Düring. The film "Never Look Away", yet another collaboration with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, gained international attention after it premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in fall 2018 and was nominated for several Oscars and Golden Globes. Sebastian Koch received the "Bambi" in the category "Best Actor National" for the role of Prof. Seeband in 2018. In 2021, he was awarded the European film prize "Die Europa" at the Braunschweig International Film Festival. Most recently, Sebastian Koch starred in the German-Austrian thriller series "Euer Ehren" (Your Honor), which is set to air in spring 2022 on the German public broadcaster Das Erste. He was also involved in the creation of the scripts.
Sebastian Koch has been a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since July 2019.
In addition to his acting work, he regularly delights audiences with symphonic-scenic readings, including "Paradise" with violinist Daniel Hope, "Dream Story" with the Hubert Nuss Jazz Quartet and recently "The Kreutzer Sonata" after L. Tolstoy, which Sebastian Koch dramaturgically adapted and conceived as a stage play with piano and violin.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Sebastian Koch
- ChildrenPaulina KellerJacob Koch
- Lives in Berlin and has a daughter, Paulina and a son, Jacob.
- Speaks fluent French and dubbed himself in French production "Princesse Marie" (2004).
- Only actor winning two Adolf-Grimme-Awards for two different productions in one year ever (2002).
- Grew up in Stuttgart, Germany.
- Plays the guitar and originally wanted to become a musician.
- [As someone from Stuttgart, did you ever speak the Swabian dialect?] In a terribly strong fashion. [How did you get rid of it?] Only with a lot of difficulties. The Swabian as such is generally taciturn and if he is required to speak standard German, to him it's as if he has to learn a new language. All of a sudden he is supposed to pronounce the endings of words. This scares him and so he withdraws into mumbling. It was a long way until I even dared to speak standard German.
- In a lot of cases these environments [the 70s, Swabia, yearning feelings while living in rural areas, religion and the limitedness of it all] also exploded eventually. A lot of people from terrorist groups came from environments like these. It's just that I was completely different. A good boy who wanted to measure up to the expectations there were. On the other hand I had, probably thanks to my mother, the guts to take risks. To not follow everything blindly, but to find my own way.
- [Originally you wanted to become a music therapist which sounds a bit like a woman's man...] Does it? Ok, this wish originated when I was 15 and affiliated with a sort of club via the church, as leader of a youth group, Jungschar is what they were called back then. I didn't do devotions with them. Instead, I tried to give them an understanding of caring social behavior. We went on holidays together, played football, made music. I always had my guitar with me. And so I thought you can join these two things together, the music and the social aspect.
- I don't want to be part of the living room furniture anyway, becoming famous is not my goal.
- I watched the first season of Homeland in one go, within two days. Then I stopped. Because it is simply addictive - and I detest addictions. I am already addicted to nicotine. But addicted to TV series - no.
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