Moritz Johann Bleibtreu (German: [ˈmoːʁɪts ˈblaɪptʁɔʏ] is a German film actor, voice actor, and film director. He has been a successful actor in many movies such as Run Lola Run, Das Experiment, The Baader Meinhof Complex, and Elementary Particles. His role in Knockin' on Heaven's Door was the one that set off his career in 1997.

Moritz Bleibtreu
Bleibtreu in 2014
Born
Moritz Johann Bleibtreu

(1971-08-13) 13 August 1971 (age 53)
OccupationActor
Years active1977–present

Life

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Moritz Bleibtreu was born in 1971 and was raised in the St. Georg district of Hamburg. Moritz Bleibtreu's parents, Monica Bleibtreu, (1944–2009) and, Hans Brenner, (1938–1998) were both actors. Renato Attilio Bleibtreu is Moritz's grandfather and is a well-known writer. Many of his ancestors were actors also, such as his great-grandmother Maximiliane Bleibtreu, her sister Hedwig Bleibtreu and their parents Amalie and Sigmund Bleibtreu. Actress Cilli Drexel is the half-sister of Moritz Bleibtreu. The Bleibtreustrasse, a street in Berlin, was originally named after Georg Bleibtreu who was a battle painter and a distant ancestor of Moritz. Moritz as a child was already in the spotlight when he starred in Neues aus Uhlenbusch (News From Uhlenbusch). The children series was written by Rainer Boldt, Monica Bleibtreu, and Hans Peter Korff. Monica and Hans were married at the time this series was produced. Bleibtreu's career continued to grow as he got a role in Boldt's, I Had a Dream, and then in 1986 in, With My Hot Tears, a television series that he acted in with his mother.

Moritz Bleibtreu grew up attending the Jahnschule, which is now known as the Ida-Ehre-School in Hamburg-Harvestehude. He obtained his secondary school certificate in the eleventh grade while attending the school. He then began to not attend the school anymore after obtaining his certificate. Bleibtreu then moved to Paris to work as an Au-Pair for almost two years. While working this job, he was also able to learn French. He then moved to Italy afterwards for a year and then on to New York. In New York, he attended acting school. He was not offered a job in his audition at the Actors Studio, but he was able to get on as a factotum, which let him observe the actors' rehearsals.

Moritz Bleibtreu had a son in November 2008 with his now ex-wife Annika in Reinbek, Germany.[1][2]

He married Saskia de Tschaschell in Reinbek at the Maria-Magdelenen Church on 21 July 2022.[3]

Career

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At the age of 21 and after 4 years of studying abroad, Bleibtreu continued his career by working at the Thalia Theater and the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, Germany. After this, he began getting smaller roles in television series. Moritz Bleibtreu began his television acting career in 1993 with a role in the series Schulz & Schulz. Bleibtreu took a role in The Little Innocent [de] (1994) as a gay bartender named Thorsten who lives in the Hamburg prostitute scene. In the show, he helps a 16-year-old boy with a predicament with his father. They seek to prove his father's innocence after he is convicted of killing a young man who resided in the red-light district in Hamburg. Bleibtreu also starred in a romantic comedy called Talk of the Town (1995). He played the role of Karl, a homosexual naive carpenter.

In 1998, Moritz began to step away from acting in T.V. series and began to work on more movies. He said, "cinema is an active form of watching, while television is a passive one".[4] Bleibtreu has worked in many well-known films such as Run Lola Run, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, The Baader Meinhof Complex, and The Experiment. He also worked on many other films such as Solino, im Juli, Chiko, and Soul Kitchen in which he worked with filmmaker Fatih Akin. Moritz won the German Film Award for best leading actor in the films im Juli and The Experiment. In 2003, he was a member of the jury at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.[5] Bleibtreu also worked in many films as a voice actor. In 2004 and 2006, he was a voice actor in the film Brother Bear and Brother Bear 2 which were both produced by Walt Disney Studios. He was also awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actor in 2006 for his role in Elementary Particles directed by Oskar Roehler. He also enjoys taking smaller supporting roles in international co-productions. One movie that he worked in was Sam Barbarski's Vijay and I. Bleibtreu, back in 2004, played a role in the Danish film Der Fakir and then in 2016 in Johannes Naber's film adaptation of Wilhelm Hauff's Heart of Stone. Finally, in February 2015, he stepped back into the TV production spotlight after 17 years. He started acting in the ZDF crime series called Schuld. The TV series was based on Ferdinand von Schriach. Bleibtreu played the role of Friedrich Kronberg, a criminal defense lawyer, for three seasons. Following wide positive feedback by fans on his Facebook page whether there should be a sequel to the 2001 classic German stoner film Lammbock, Bleibtreu announced in November 2015 that the sequel would be titled Lommbock. Filming began in summer 2016[6][7] and the film premiered in 2017. He played a main role in the musical adaptation, "I've Never Been to New York", which was first shown in cinemas in Germany in October 2019. He worked alongside a couple other famous actors and actresses such as Katharina Thalbach, Heike Makatsch, and Uwe Ochsenknecht in movies such as I've Never Been to New York and Love Your Neighbour. Bleibtreu then began his journey as a director in September 2020 with his film "Cortex". He premiered his film at the Hamburg Film Festival in October 2020. The next year he worked in a six-part RTL drama series called "Faking Hitler".

Selected filmography

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Year Title Role Director Notes
1994 Simply Love Yüksel Peter Timm [de]
The Little Innocent [de] Thorsten Rainer Kaufmann TV film
1995 Talk of the Town Karl Rainer Kaufmann
1997 Knockin' On Heaven's Door Abdul Thomas Jahn
1998 Run Lola Run Manni Tom Tykwer
Love Your Neighbour! [de] Tristan Müller Detlev Buck
1999 Das Gelbe vom Ei Toon Jungjohann Lars Becker TV film
Luna Papa Nasreddin Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov
2000 In July Daniel Bannier Fatih Akın
Fandango DJ Sunny Matthias Glasner
2001 The Invisible Circus Eric Adam Brooks
Das Experiment Tarek Fahd / Number 77 Oliver Hirschbiegel
Lammbock Kai Christian Zübert
Taking Sides Lt. David Wills István Szabó
2002 Solino Giancarlo Fatih Akın
2004 Germanikus [de] Kaiser Titus Hanns Christian Müller [de]
C(r)ook [de] Valentin Pepe Danquart [de]
Agnes and His Brothers Hans-Jörg Tschirner Oskar Roehler
Fakiren fra Bilbao [da] Lombardo Peter Flinth
2005 The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam Malikshah Kayvan Mashayekh
About the Looking for and the Finding of Love  [de] Mimi Nachtigal Helmut Dietl
Munich Andreas Steven Spielberg
2006 Atomised – The Elementary Particles Bruno Oskar Roehler
The Stone Council Serguei Makov Guillaume Nicloux
2007 The Walker Emek Yoglu Paul Schrader
The Lark Farm Ferzan Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Reclaim Your Brain Rainer Hans Weingartner
2008 Chiko Brownie Özgür Yıldırım
Speed Racer Grey Ghost The Wachowskis
Adam Resurrected Joseph Gracci Paul Schrader
The Baader Meinhof Complex Andreas Baader Uli Edel
Female Agents SS Standartenführer Karl Heindrich Jean-Paul Salomé
2009 Soul Kitchen Illias Kazantsakis Fatih Akın
2010 Zeiten ändern dich Arafat Abou-Chaker Uli Edel
Jew Suss: Rise and Fall Joseph Goebbels Oskar Roehler
Jerry Cotton Sammy Serrano Philipp Stennert [de], Cyrill Boss [de]
Young Goethe in Love Albert Kestner Philipp Stölzl
Angel of Evil Sergio Michele Placido
2011 My Best Enemy Viktor Israel Kaufmann Wolfgang Murnberger
360 Businessman Fernando Meirelles
2012 The Fourth State Paul Jensen Dennis Gansel
Guardians Rudi Til Schweiger
2013 Sources of Life Klaus Freytag Oskar Roehler
World War Z W.H.O. Doctor Marc Forster
Vijay and I Will / Vijay Sam Garbarski
The Fifth Estate Marcus Bill Condon
Die schwarzen Brüder [it] Antonio Luini Xavier Koller
2014 Not My Day Nappo Peter Thorwarth [de]
Stereo Henry Maximilian Erlenwein [de]
2015 Woman in Gold Gustav Klimt Simon Curtis
Kill Your Friends Rudi Owen Harris
The Dark Side of the Moon [de] Urs Blank Stephan Rick [de]
2016 The Confessions Mark Klein Roberto Andò
Heart of Stone [de] Holländer-Michel Johannes Naber [de]
2017 Lommbock Kai Christian Zübert [8]
Bye Bye Germany David Sam Garbarski
Only God Can Judge Me [de] Ricky Özgür Yıldırım
2018 Cut Off Paul Herzfeld Christian Alvart
2019 Roads Luttger Sebastian Schipper
Ich war noch niemals in New York [de] Axel Staudach Philipp Stölzl
2020 Cortex Hagen Moritz Bleibtreu
2021 Blackout Pierre Manzano Oliver Rihs & Lancelot von Naso [9]
2023 Das Engelsgesicht Giorgio Basile Oliver Hirschbiegel
2024 Bonhoeffer Karl Bonhoeffer Todd Komarnicki

Awards

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Year Country and Show Award Movie Winner or Nominee References
1997 Germany (German Film Awards) Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Film Award in Gold) Knockin' on Heaven's Door Winner [10]Same Website Used For All
1998 Germany Ernst Lubitsch Award Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Talk of the Town

Winner
1999 Germany (Berlin International Film Festival) EPF Shooting Star Winner
2001 Germany (German Film Awards) Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Film Award in Gold) Das Experiment

In July

Winner
2001 Germany (German Film Awards) German Actor/Actress of the Year (Audience Award) Winner
2001 Germany (Jupiter Awards) Best German Actor Das Experiment Winner
2002 United States (Seattle International Film Festival) Best Actor (Golden Space Needle Award) Das Experiment Winner
2005 Austria (Roma Gala) Favorite Actor (Romy) About the Looking for and the Finding of Love Winner
2006 Austria (Roma Gala) Favorite Actor (Romy) Atomised Winner
2006 Germany (German Film Awards) Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Film Award in Gold) Atomised Nominee
2006 Germany (Berlin International Film Festival) Best Actor (Silver Berlin Bear) Atomised Winner
2006 Germany (Bambi Awards) National Best Actor (Bambi) Atomised Nominee
2008 Austria (Roma Gala) Favorite Actor (Romy) Reclaim Your Brain Nominee
2009 Germany (European Film Awards) Best European Actor The Baader Meinhof Complex Nominee
2011 Austria (Austrian Film Awards) Best Actor (Austrian Film Award) Jew Suss: Rise and Fall Nominee
2011 Austria (Roma Gala) Favorite Actor (Romy) Jew Suss: Rise and Fall Nominee
2015 Germany (Jupiter Awards) Best German Actor Not My Day Nominee
2017 Germany (Jupiter Awards) Best German Actor The Dark Side of the Moon Nominee
2020 Estonia (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival) Rebels With a Cause Award Cortex Nominee
2022 Germany (German Television Awards) Best Actor Faking Hitler Winner
2022 Germany (German Screen Actors Awards) Best Comedy Role (DSP Award) Faking Hitler Nominee

Directing career

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Moritz Bleibtreu began his career in directing in 2019 with his film Cortex which released in theaters on 22 October 2020. He said, in an interview with the German Films Quarterly, that the film was "very personal to him" as he directed the psychological thriller.[11] Bleibtreu exclaimed that the motivation behind him directing his film was that "... he believed he wanted to watch a film like this himself".[12] He also said that "directing was not an escape from acting, but rather just another challenge for his journey".[13] Not only did Bleibtreu direct the film, but he also played the lead role of a security officer named Hagen. According to IMDb with 540 viewer ratings, Cortex received a 5.3 out of 10 stars. [14] German film critic, Christopher Diekhaus, said in a review that "Bleibtreu finds his own way to challenge and captivate the audience".[15] He also says it "creates an abysmal pull and makes you want to watch it several times to better understand the dance between dream and reality".[16]

Controversy

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Bleibtreu decided in April 2021 to join the #allesdichtmachen campaign.[17] This campaign was meant for people to give advice or measures that they would take to stop COVID-19 from spreading. There were about 50 other actors along with Bleibtreu that joined in on this movement. When an advertising partner decided to step in and talk to him about how this could affect his career and future, he decided it was best to not send out the video that he made for the campaign.

References

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  1. ^ "Moritz Bleibtreu: Ist Vater geworden". bild.de (in German). 31 May 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Promis in Hamburg: 10 Stars, die hier wohnen". kiekmo (in German). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Heimliche Hochzeit! Schauspieler Moritz Bleibtreu heiratet 20 Jahre jüngere Partnerin". TAG24 (in German). 23 July 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  4. ^ NACHRICHTEN, n-tv. "Warum Bleibtreu nur Kino macht". n-tv.de (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. ^ "25th Moscow International Film Festival (2003)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  6. ^ ""Lommbock": Kult-Kiffer-Komödie "Lammbock" mit Moritz Bleitbreu bekommt Fortsetzung" (in German). filmstarts.de. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Hätten Sie den bartlosen Mann links erkannt?" (in German). bz-berlin.de. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  8. ^ Lammbock 2 at IMDb
  9. ^ "Moritz Bleibtreu übernimmt die Hauptrolle in "Blackout"" (in German). goldenekamera.de. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Moritz Bleibtreu". IMDb. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  11. ^ "German Films Quarterly A PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR FRANKA POTENTE". germanfilmsquarterly.de. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  12. ^ "German Films Quarterly A PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR FRANKA POTENTE". germanfilmsquarterly.de. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  13. ^ "German Films Quarterly A PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR FRANKA POTENTE". germanfilmsquarterly.de. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  14. ^ Bleibtreu, Moritz (22 October 2020), Cortex (Crime, Drama, Thriller), Paloma Entertainment, Port au Prince Film & Kultur Produktion, Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany, retrieved 15 November 2022
  15. ^ AG, Cinergy. "Filmkritik Cortex". Cineman (in German). Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  16. ^ AG, Cinergy. "Filmkritik Cortex". Cineman (in German). Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  17. ^ Redaktion, MOPO (4 May 2021). "#allesdichtmachen: Die dubiose Rolle von Schauspiel-Star Moritz Bleibtreu". MOPO (in German). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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