- Born
- Birth nameUdo Kierspe
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Beginning his life with the same flair for the dramatic that would come to define his career, Udo Kier was born in Köln, Germany near the end of the 2nd world war. The hospital was bombed and buried Kier and his mother in the rubble. Both survived, and Kier would later move to London as a young adult to study English. Kier was discovered in London by Michael Sarne, who cast him in his first role as a gigolo in "Road To Saint Tropez". Kier then starred in Michael Armstrong's extremely controversial "Mark Of The Devil". He would go on to work with Paul Morrissey in Andy Warhol's "Flesh For Frankenstein" and "Blood For Dracula", Dario Argento in "Suspiria", and Rainer Werner Fassbinder in "The Third Generation", "Lili Marllen", and "Lola".
Kier entered the American independent cinema scene many years later after meeting Gus Van Sant at the Berlin Film Festival. Van Sant offered Kier the role of Hans, the lamp-singing john in "My Own Private Idaho" with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. He would later have roles in Gus Van Sant's "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and "Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot" as well as such 90s Hollywood hits as "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Johnny Mnemonic", "Barb Wire", "End Of Violence", "For Love Or Money", "Armagedden", "Blade", and "End Of Days". Kier is probably best known for his collaboration with Lars von Trier, appearing in most of his films including "Medea", "Europa", "Breaking The Waves", "Dancer In TheE Dark", "Dogville", "Manderlay", "Melancholia", "Nymphomaniac (Vol. II)" and "The Kingdom" (Danish TV). Kier's recent renaissance has seen him play memorable roles in the Activision game "Call Of Duty", numerous television roles in North America and Europe, and in the films "Iron Sky", "Brawl In Cell Block 99", "Downsizing", "American Animals", "Bacurau", "The Painted Bird", "The Blazing World" and "Swan Song", among many others.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymos
- ParentsThekla Kierspe
- Frequently portrays a vampire character
- Piercing blue eyes
- Often plays leading or secondary villains who end up with a horrible death
- Eccentric characters and persona
- He was the subject of indie band Half Eye's seven-album repertoire: the first letter of the album names spell out his name: U.D.O. K. I. E. R.
- Can speak at least three languages, including German, English and Danish.
- Loves horror movies, and has a particular fondness for playing vampire characters.
- He also sings.
- Is the godfather of director Lars von Trier's daughter Agnes.
- I think to be the devil you have to be angel. Only an angel can play the devil because the devil was a fallen angel.
- Audition is the worst thing. It's like cleaning furniture in a department store.
- Werner Herzog, I knew him for so many years, when [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] was at his highest moment. But we had a rule: An actor from Fassbinder could never work with an actor of Werner Herzog or Wim Wenders. Because if we would have done that, we would have been spies. AAh, you worked with Werner - how was it? How did he direct you? I was Fassbinder's actor.
- (2010, on My Own Private Idaho) I was in Berlin, and I saw a film by the name of Mala Noche. And I thought "Wow. Wow, wow, wow. How independent can you get?" Then I went to a party and I met Gus Van Sant. He came to me and he said, "You know, you are one of my favorite actors. I'm making a movie with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, and I would like that you play, if you like, Hans." Of course, if you're German, your name in films is always Hans. Simple. If you make a film in Japan, your name is Hans-man. I thought, "Ah, I like him." Very intelligent man... So I said, "Okay. Here's my address." A couple of weeks later, I got- this was not the time of e-mail, and not even faxes. So he sent me the script, I read the script, and I was scared, I was so scared, thinking, "I have to go to bed with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix?" My friends back in Germany said, "Fuck you! They are teenage idols in America! Every American actor would love to be able to do that!" Then I wrote Gus back. I love Gus, because he's the one who got me my work permit, and he's the reason that I'm living in America... So it was very funny, and I said, "Okay, I'm coming." I wrote him saying, "I just found a suitcase at a flea market, and Hans should have a suitcase." I brought all my clothes, and I said to him, "Hans should be always dressed very high, should cover his body," because I knew I had to be naked to have sex with Keanu Reeves. Amazing to have sex with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix! So I came to Idaho, and I was sitting in a restaurant with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, and Gus introduced me, and River was amazing. He said, "Hans, sit next to me!" And Keanu didn't understand anything. Anyway, to make the story short, I made the film and I had a great time.
- (2010) Shadow of the Vampire was a film we shot in Luxembourg with Willem Dafoe, and Malkovich playing Murnau, and I played the producer, Albin Grau. It was with Eddie Izzard, some very interesting British actors in it. Personally, I'm not an ensemble actor, because it's always a lot of ego when you're all together in the scene. It's kind of intellectual fighting for something. But it was very good, and I was only jealous that I didn't play the vampire, Nosferatu, which Willem Dafoe played, and he was nominated for the Oscar for his performance, which was an amazing performance. But the actor's always as good as the stories are. And so many important things, there is the light, there is the costumes, the makeup, there's the text, there's so many elements which the actor himself cannot control. But the script is the most important thing. First of all the story, and then you go from there. You know, it's like you stand in the kitchen, and say are we making a fish or do we grill a steak? And you go from there... Shadow Of The Vampire was an okay film. You never know. I made so many films I thought were great and they turned out horrible, and I made films I did not believe in at all, and Shadow of the Vampire was one of these films I did not believe in during the shooting. And then when I saw it I was surprised what they had made out of it. They edited for quite a long time. I like Willem. I did with Willem Manderlay, and I did with Willem My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, last year, a David Lynch production. And he's a wonderful actor, a good actor and a wonderful person.
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