Biography for
Matthias Schweighöfer More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 March 1981, Anklam, German Democratic Republic [now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Federal Republic of Germany]

Height

5' 10¾" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Matthias Schweighöfer is considered one of the most promising young German actors. Born into a family of actors, he soon knew he belonged in front of a camera, too. His parents, the theatre actors Gitta Schweighöfer and Michael Schweighöfer, often took him to some of their rehearsals, so he later participated in his high school's drama group in Chemnitz, Germany. After his graduation, he went to Berlin, where he is still living with his girlfriend. His first role in a feature film was Changing Skins (1997) (TV), directed by Andreas Dresen. In the following years, he appeared in critically acclaimed projects such as Soloalbum (2003), Off Beat (2004) or Das wilde Leben (2007), which brought him several important awards.

IMDb Mini Biography By: fippi2000

Trivia

Son of actor Michael Schweighöfer and actress Gitta Schweighöfer.

Is fluent in German, English and French.

Plays the piano and the violin.

Provided his voice for the part of Thomas in the German version of Tom Tykwer's True (2004).

Lives in Berlin and Paris.

He loves writing poems and his favorite author is Max Frisch.

Collaborated with Jessica Schwarz in Die Freunde der Freunde (2002) (TV), Kalter Frühling (2004) (TV), Off Beat (2004) and Lulu (2006) (TV).

Enjoys running and swimming.

Studied acting at the School of Theater "Ernst Busch" in Berlin.

Although suffering from aviatophobia (fear of flying), he portrayed war pilot Manfred von Richthofen in The Red Baron (2008).

His role in Rabbit Without Ears (2007) was one of the last roles in the movie to be cast. Til Schweiger mentioned that he simply couldn't find a suitable actor for the role as Moritz the paparazzi, so he let his friend Matthias Schweighöfer audition for it and eventually had found a suitable actor.

Had to cut his hair for his part in Rabbit Without Ears (2007).

Daughter Greta (with longtime girlfriend Ani Schromm) was born on May 1 2009 in Berlin.

Godfather of his daughter Greta is Silbermond drummer Andreas Nowak.