# Til Schweiger

Tilman Valentin Schweiger (German pronunciation: ; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor and filmmaker. He became known in the 1990s for films such as Manta, Manta, Der bewegte Mann and Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He went on to star in international film productions such as Inglourious Basterds and founded his own production company Barefoot Films. Films like Rabbit Without Ears, Rabbit Without Ears 2, Kokowääh and Head Full of Honey, in which he was director, producer and actor, drew large audiences, making Schweiger the most commercially successful German filmmaker.

## Early life

Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers. He grew up in Heuchelheim near Giessen in Hesse, where he went to school. Later, he took acting lessons at Der Keller in Cologne.

## 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, based on the original English screenplay "Barefoot" by Stephen Zotnowski, which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in. 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 US$62 million. 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 US$45 million. 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).
Onscreen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1989 in the TV series Lindenstraße. His first film role came in 1991 with Manta, Manta. 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, "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 in 2013 as Darko in Charlie Countryman with Shia LaBeouf among others. He also made an appearance in 2014's Muppets Most Wanted, 2017's David Leitch's Atomic Blonde, and 2024's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
In November 2024, Til Schweiger took part in the filming of a promotional video about drift in Minsk (Belarus).

## 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.
Schweiger lives in Mallorca, Spain, and his neighbour is former German cyclist Jan Ullrich. In August 2018, Ullrich was arrested for allegedly breaking onto Schweiger's property and threatening him.

## 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 [de] | 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 [de] | Pepe Brenner | German | Lars Becker | |
| 1996 | Jailbirds | Steinbock | German | Detlev Buck | Bambi; DIVA-Award |
| 1996 | 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; Jupiter Best Actor; Goldene Kamera Best Actor |
| 1997 | Hercules | Hercules | English | John Musker Ron Clements | Voice (German version, dubbed) |
| 1997 | Bastard | Brute | English | Maciej Dejczer | Polish Film Festival (Polish Oscar) Best Actor; Bravo Otto Best Actor |
| 1998 | The Replacement Killers | Ryker | English | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 1998 | Judas Kiss | Ruben Rubenbauer | English | Sebastian Gutierrez | |
| 1998 | SLC Punk! | Mark | English | James Merendino | |
| 1998 | The Polar Bear | Leo | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer |
| 1999 | The Devil and Ms. D [de] | Stanislaus Nagy | German | Bernd Eichinger | |
| 2000 | Magicians | Max | English | James Merendino | |
| 2001 | Driven | Beau Brandenburg | English | Renny Harlin | |
| 2001 | Investigating Sex | Monty | English | Alan Rudolph | |
| 2001 | 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 | |
| 2004 | King Arthur | Cynric | English | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2004 | Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 | Rock Fertig Aus | German | Michael Herbig | Bambi Best Actor |
| 2004 | Les Dalton | Lucky Luke | French | Philippe Haïm | |
| 2005 | Barefoot | Nick Keller | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer Bambi Best Film |
| 2005 | Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo | Heinz Hummer the Gigolo with the most below | English | Mike Bigelow | |
| 2006 | Bye Bye Harry! | Gantcho | English | Robert Young | |
| 2006 | The Trip to Panama | Kleiner Tiger | German | Martin Otevrel | Voice |
| 2006 | One Way | Eddie Schneider | English | Reto Salimbeni | Also producer |
| 2006 | Where Is Fred? | Fred Krüppers | German | Anno Saul | Jupiter Best Actor |
| 2007 | Body Armour | John Ridley | English | Gerry Lively | |
| 2007 | 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 |
| 2007 | Already Dead | The Man | English | Joe Otting | |
| 2008 | The Red Baron | Werner Voss | English | Nikolai Müllerschön | Bravo Otto |
| 2008 | Far Cry | Jack Carver | English | Uwe Boll | |
| 2008 | 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde | Ritter Lanze | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer |
| 2009 | Phantom Pain | Marc | German | Matthias Emcke | |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz | English French German | Quentin Tarantino | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 2009 | Men in the City | Jerome Ades | German | Simon Verhoeven | |
| 2009 | 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 |
| 2011 | The Three Musketeers | Cagliostro | English | Paul W. S. Anderson | |
| 2011 | Men in the City 2 [de] | Jerome | German | Simon Verhoeven | |
| 2011 | New Year's Eve | James Schwab | English | Garry Marshall | |
| 2012 | This Means War | Heinrich | English | McG | |
| 2012 | The Courier | FBI agent | English | Hany Abu-Assad | |
| 2012 | Guardians | Max | German | Til Schweiger | Also producer |
| 2013 | Charlie Countryman | Darko | English | Fredrik Bond | |
| 2013 | Kokowääh 2 | Henry | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer |
| 2013 | 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 | |
| 2014 | Head Full of Honey | Niko Rosenbach | German | Til Schweiger | |
| 2016 | Tschiller: Off Duty | Nick Tschiller | German | Christian Alvart | |
| 2016 | Vier gegen die Bank | Chris | German | Wolfgang Petersen | |
| 2017 | Atomic Blonde | The Watchmaker | English | David Leitch | |
| 2018 | Hot Dog | Luke Steiner | German | Torsten Künstler [de] | |
| 2018 | Klassentreffen 1.0 | Thomas | German | Til Schweiger | Remake of The Reunion |
| 2018 | Head Full of Honey | London Restaurant Waiter | English | Til Schweiger | English-language remake |
| 2020 | The Wedding | Thomas | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer |
| 2021 | The Salvation of The World as We Know It | Hardy | German | Til Schweiger | Also writer and producer |
| 2022 | Medieval | Henry III of Rosenberg | English | Petr Jákl | |
| 2023 | Manta, Manta: Legacy | Bertie | German | Til Schweiger | |
| 2024 | The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | Heinrich Luhr | English | Guy Ritchie | |

### Television

| Year | TV Show | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1989–1992 | Lindenstraße | Jo Zenker | | 37 episodes |
| 1994 | Lemgo | Jan Peters | Jörg Grünler [de] | |
| 1994–1996 | Die Kommissarin | Nick Siegel | | 26 episodes |
| 1996 | Adrenalin | Stefan Renner | Dominique Othenin-Girard | |
| 1996 | A Girl Called Rosemary | Nadler | Bernd Eichinger | |
| 1996 | Teenage Wolfpack [de] | 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 for Der bewegte Mann
* 1995: Bambi for Jailbirds
* 1997: Preis des Gdynia Film Festival for Bastard as Best Actor
* 1998: Bravo Otto as Best Actor
* 1998: Goldene Kamera for Knockin' on Heaven's Door as Best Actor
* 2003: Hessischer Kulturpreis
* 2008: Jupiter for Wo ist Fred? as Best German Actor
* 2008: Ehren-Bravo Otto
* 2008: Bambi for Keinohrhasen as Best National Film
* 2008: Deutscher Comedypreis for Keinohrhasen as Best Theatrical Comedy Film
* 2009: Jupiter for Keinohrhasen
* 2009: 2x DIVA-Award for Keinohrhasen
* 2010: Deutscher Comedypreis for Zweiohrküken as Best Theatrical Comedy Film
* 2011: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Kokowääh
* 2011: Querdenker-Award
* 2012: Jupiter for Kokowääh as Best Actor
* 2013: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Kokowääh 2
* 2015: Romy in the categories Best Direction and Best Production in a Theatrical Film for Honig im Kopf
* 2015: Deutscher Filmpreis in the category Most Popular Film for Honig im Kopf
* 2015: CIVIS-Publikumspreis for Honig im Kopf
* 2015: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Honig im Kopf
* 2015: Bambi for Honig im Kopf in the category Ehrenpreis der Jury
* 2020: Golden Eye Award of the Zurich Film Festival