Famous German Actors

Michael Fassbender is a critically-acclaimed Irish-German actor best known for playing a sex addict in the psychological erotic drama film Shame. Apart from being an actor, Michael is also a well-known racing driver; he started his auto racing career in 2017 and currently races for Proton Competition in the European Le Mans Series.

Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl began his career with the soap Verbotene Liebe. Raised trilingual, he is now fluent in six languages. Hollywood knows him best as Fredrick Zoller from Inglourious Basterds, while he first made waves with the German film Good Bye, Lenin! He later co-owned two bars.

Evel Knievel was an entertainer and stunt performer. He attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps in his career, a feat that gained him much popularity. In 1999, he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. He was known to be a man of values and actively preached anti-drug messages to youngsters. He also campaigned for motorcycle helmet safety. 

Best known for his performances as Kunta Kinte in Roots and Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, LeVar Burton is also known for his 23-year stint as the award-winning host of Reading Rainbow. Though he initially aspired to be a Catholic priest, he doesn’t believe in any religion anymore.

Arón Piper is a German-Spanish actor best known for his portrayal of Ander Muñoz in the Spanish thriller teen drama series, Elite. Apart from being an actor, Piper is also a musician. He joined hands with several other musicians to release a single titled Sigo. In 2020, he released another song titled Rosé.

Pantomime and clown Benedikt Negro hails from Germany and began performing at age 9, mastering tricks such as breathing fire, knife throwing, and juggling. Now, the lead attraction of O, the Cirque du Soleil water show, he has also recently worked with famed directors such as James Cameron.

Born to American parents in Germany, Daniel Tosh initially graduated in marketing and began his career as a telemarketer. He later began performing in comedy clubs and scored a breakthrough on the Late Show with David Letterman. He has also appeared in The Love Guru and even had his own show, Tosh.0.

While he initially trained to be an Olympic swimmer, Thomas Kretschmann turned to acting at age 25. Surprisingly, he was typecast as a Nazi officer and ended up playing one in 11 films, including The Pianist. He first gained fame with his Max Ophüls Prize-winning role in Der Mitwisser.

Though German actor Klaus Kinski had gained fame with his stellar performances in the films of Werner Herzog, he had also been in the news for his eccentricity and volatile nature. He was once admitted to psychiatric facility for attempting to kill his sponsor, and his own daughter accused him of abuse.

Flula Borg is a German actor, comedian, musician, DJ, and YouTube personality. Despite being a German, Borg has managed to establish himself in the American film and TV industry; he has appeared in films like Pitch Perfect 2 and Bad Therapy. Popular on social media, Flula Borg was named in The Hollywood Reporter magazine's Top 25 Digital Stars list in 2015.

Til Schweiger is a German actor, filmmaker, and voice actor. Apart from playing important roles in German films, Schweiger has also appeared in several American films, such as Investigating Sex, King Arthur, and Already Dead. Til Schweiger is credited with establishing a production company named Barefoot Films.

Max Riemelt is a German actor who achieved international recognition after portraying Wolfgang Bogdanow in the popular American science fiction TV series, Sense8. His performance in the series landed him opportunities to play important roles in German as well as international projects, such as Berlin Syndrome and World on Fire.

Tobias Santelmann is a German-born Norwegian actor best known for starring in the historical drama film Kon-Tiki. Interested in acting from a young age, he graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Since then, he has been employed at The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo. He is also active in the TV and film industries.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder was a German actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He grew up in the aftermath of World War II and had a tough childhood. He sought solace by watching films and took acting lessons. He began his career in theater and eventually entered films as well. He is considered a prominent figure of the New German Cinema movement. 

Matthias Schweighofer is a German actor, film director, voice actor, and producer. Over the course of his career, Schweighofer has received several prestigious awards like the German Television Prize, Adolf Grimme Award, and Bavarian Film Award. Matthias Schweighofer is also a fashion enthusiast; he is credited with co-founding a fashion label named German Garment along with television presenter Joko Winterscheidt.

Two-time Tony-nominated actor Samuel E. Wright is best known for his performances in The Lion King and The Tap Dance Kid. Fans also know him as the voice of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid, and his track Under the Sea, from the movie, won an Academy Award.

Curd Jürgens was a German-Austrian actor active in both theater and films. Born to parents with no links to the cinema, he never aspired to be an actor and worked as a journalist. He later married an actress who encouraged him to act as well. Naturally skilled at acting, he went on to become a respected character actor.  

German actor Gert Fröbe is best remembered as Auric Goldfinger from the James Bond film Goldfinger and as Baron Bomburst from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He initially gained fame with German films such as Berliner Ballade. He was also part of the Canadian-German series The Little Vampire.

Born to an armyman father, Chris Barrie worked as a grave filler after dropping out of college. He then got a break on a TV show. Best known for his portrayal of Arnold Rimmer in the series Red Dwarf, he also gained fame with the BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire.

German film and stage actor, director, painter and author Armin Mueller-Stahl is best-known for playing the abusive father of pianist David Helfgott in the 1996 Australian biographical drama film Shine. The role earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also featured in other films like Utz and made his directorial debut with Conversation with the Beast.

Numan Acar is a Turkish-German film producer and actor. A civil engineer by profession, Acar chose acting in the late 1990s and started appearing in German and Turkish films. In 2007, he began his own production company Acar Entertainment, which produces German-Turkish movies. Numan Acar achieved international fame in 2019 when he played Dmitri Smerdyakov in Spider-Man: Far From Home. 

Falk Hentschel is a German dancer, actor, and choreographer. Best known for his work in the American film industry, Hentschel has played important roles in movies like Transcendence and White House Down. He earned international recognition when he played Hawkman in DC's Legends of Tomorrow in 2016.   

Emil Jannings was a German actor who became the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was born in Switzerland but moved to Germany as a young child. He began his career as a theater actor and enjoyed tremendous success. He later ventured into films and became a popular figure in Hollywood in the 1920s.