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{{short description|German film and television actor}}
{{refimprove BLP|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{lead too short|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| image = Sebastian Koch 2011.jpg | image = Sebastian Koch at the Berlinale 2020.jpg
| imagesize = 200px | imagesize =
| caption = Koch in 2011. | caption = Koch in 2020
| name = Sebastian Koch | name = Sebastian Koch
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1962|5|31}} | birth_date =
| birth_place = ], ] | birth_place = ], ], ]
| occupation = Actor | occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1990–present | yearsactive = 1990–present
| website = {{URL|http://www.sebastiankoch.com/}} | website = {{Official URL}}
| partner = ] (2005–2009)
|children=2
}} }}


'''Sebastian Koch''' (born 31 May 1962) is a German television and movie actor and recipient of various German film awards. He is perhaps best known in the United States for his role in the 2007 Academy Award winning film '']'' and as a villain opposite ] in '']''. '''Sebastian Koch''' is a German television and film actor. He is known for roles in the 2007 ]-winning film '']'', in ]'s '']'', and as ] in the fifth season of the Showtime series '']''.


==Life and career== == Early life and education ==
Sebastian Koch was born in ], ], ].{{cn|date=December 2024}} He grew up in ] with his mother, a single parent.
Koch was born in ], Germany, and grew up in ]. His mother raised him alone, and he spent some time in the children's home where she worked. From 1982 to 1985 Koch studied at the Otto Falckenberg School in ], and performed during this time with the ''Theater der Jugend'' (Youth Theatre).


He originally wanted to be a musician, but a production by artistic director Claus Peymann influenced him in the late 1970s to change careers to become an actor.{{cn|date=December 2024}} From 1982 to 1985, Koch studied at the renowned ] in ].{{cn|date=December 2024}}
After appearing at the municipal theatres of ] and ], Koch started appearing in ] theatres in 1990. There he acted in works including ]'s '']'', ]'s '']'', and ''Dirty Dishes'' by Nick Whitby. Besides numerous film and TV roles, Koch also made frequent cameos in popular German crime series during this time.


==Career==
Following his acclaimed portrayal of ] in Heinrich Breloer's ] ''Todesspiel'', he appeared in many full-length television dramas.


===Theatre===
His breakthrough roles came in 2001 with the portrayal of the kidnapped ] (son of industrialist ]) in ''Dance with the Devil – The Kidnapping of Richard Oetker'', and of the writer ] in Heinrich Breloer's docudrama ''The Manns – A Novel of the Century''. Koch received the ] for both roles, and is the only actor to have won the award for two different productions in one year. For his portrayal of ], the title character in Jo Baier's '']'', Koch was nominated for the German Television Awards and the Grimme Award, and received the Golden Gong award from the media magazine ''Gong''.
Koch has played many different roles on stage. He acted in ] and Leonce in '']'' at the municipal theatre of ].


At the ] in ] he played the character Roller in ] '']'' and Orest in ]'s '']''.
In 2004, Koch appeared in a Heinrich Breloer production for the third time. This time he played the Nazi architect ] in '']'' ("Speer and He", released as ''Speer and Hitler: The Devil's Architect''). 2006 saw the premiere in German cinemas of the drama ''Das Leben der Anderen'' ('']''), winner of the 2007 ] for best international film,<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2014}}</ref> in which Koch played a leading role.<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2014}}</ref>


From 2006 to 2007, he appeared at ] Theatre after a 12-year absence from the stage, playing Lord Goring in ]'s '']''. Again in 2006 he portrayed ] in the film adaptation of his life. He also took over the role of Lord Goring in ]'s '']'' in the ] Playhouse, under the direction of Armin Holz.


===Film and television===
Koch, along with ], appeared as Russian villains in the fifth movie of the '']'' series, '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/a-good-day-to-die-hard-finds-a-couple-of-male-and-female-villains/|title=A Good Day to Die Hard' Finds a Couple of Male and Female Villains|work=]|date=4 April 2012|accessdate=4 April 2012}}</ref>
Koch had his first TV appearance in 1980 in the 77th episode of the series '']'', followed by an episode in the popular crime series '']'' in 1986. He acted in numerous thrillers like ''Der Mann mit der Maske'', ''Die brennende Schnecke'', and in 1997 in ]'s two-piece ''{{Interlanguage link|Death Game (1997 film)|de|3=Todesspiel|lt=Death Game}}'', in which he portrayed the role of ].


For the title role in ''{{Interlanguage link|Dance with the Devil (2001 film)|de|3=Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|lt=Dance with the Devil}}'' and for his performance as the writer ] in Heinrich Breloer's docudrama '']'', in 2002 he won the ]. He also received the Bavarian TV Award for the same movie.
===Personal life===
Koch lives in ] and has a daughter with journalist Birgit Keller.<ref>. Zeit.de (17 July 2003).</ref> He also had a relationship with actress Anna Schudt<ref>. Welt.de (23 November 2011).</ref> and Dutch actress ], whom he met on the set of '']'' (Dutch: ''Zwartboek'').<ref>. Spiegel.de (17 August 2009).</ref>


His first international productions included the historical drama series '']'', in which he appeared alongside ], ], and ]. He also portrayed the youthful lover of ], Rodolphe Löwenstein, in ''Marie und Freud''.
==Filmography==
*'']'', a.k.a. ''Gloomy Sunday'' (1999)
*'']'', a.k.a. ''The Tunnel'' (2001)
*'']'' (2002)
*'']''
*'']'', a.k.a. ''Operation Valkyrie'' (2004)
*''Tödlicher Umweg'', a.k.a. ''Deadly Diversion'' (2004)
*'']'' (2006)
*'']'' (2006)
*'']'' (2006)
*"In jeder Sekunde"(film) a.k.a. "At Any Second" (2008)
*'']'' (2009)
*'']'' (2011)
*'']'' (2011)
*'']'' (2011)
*'']'', a.k.a. ''Ve stínu'' (Czech title) (2012)
*'']'' (2012)
*'']'' (2013)
*'']'' (2013)
*'']'' (2013)


Koch has portrayed other historically significant personalities, including ] in ]' adaptation '']'' He appeared in '']'', a 2001 made-for-television German film about the idea of going underground by digging a tunnel shortly after the construction of the ] in 1961, and in ]’s historical drama ''Two Days of Hope'' about the uprising on 17 June 1953. Koch appeared in '']'' (2004, by ] and winner of the German Film Award). He played ] in Heinrich Breoler's mini-series '']'' in 2004 – his third collaboration with the director following ''Death Game'' and '']'', receiving the ] for his performance.
==Awards==


Koch appeared in ]'s drama '']'' in 2006 as one of the leading roles. He portrayed the playwright Georg Dreyman, who lived in ] with his lover, a dissident who was spied on and monitored. The movie received an ] for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007 as well as several other major prizes. Koch himself was nominated several times for his work in the film, receiving the ] for Best European Actor, ], and the ].
* 2001 – German Television Awards nomination for best supporting actor in ''Der Tunnel''.

* 2002 – Grimme Award for his portrayal of ] in ''Die Manns''; Bavarian Television Award ("Blue Panther") for the same role; Grimme Award for his portrayal of Richard Oetker in ''Dance with the Devil''.
]'s movie '']'' was also shot in 2006. Koch played a Nazi officer in occupied Holland who falls in love with a Jewish member of the resistance (]).
* 2003 – DIVA Award; nominated for best German actor at the '']'' for his role in ''Napoleon''.

* 2004 – Golden Gong award for ''Stauffenberg''; German Television Awards nomination for best leading actor in ''Stauffenberg''.
After shooting the movie ''{{Interlanguage link|In jeder Sekunde|de}}'' in 2007/2008, Koch appeared on camera for the international production of ]'s classic psychological adventure novel '']'', where Koch portrayed a lone despot of both brutal cruelty and longing romance. The shooting of this two-parter based on ]’ script and under ]’s direction took place in ], Canada. The mini-series won the ] Award and Koch was nominated in 2010 for an ] for his role as Wolf Larsen.
* 2005 – "Blue Panther" award for his portrayal of ] in ''Speer und Er''; German Television Award for best leading role in ''Speer und Er''.

* 2006 – Die Quadriga award for ''The Lives of Others'' (shared with ] and the film's director, ]); ] award for best actor (national).
The shooting of the movie ''Manipulation'' (adapted from the novel ''Das Verhör des Harry Wind'') took place in 2008, with Koch and ] playing leading roles.

In 2010, Koch was the male title role in the English independent tragicomedy '']'' under the direction of ]. He played the role of Prof. Bressler in the movie '']'' (with ] and ]) under the direction of ]. In the summer of 2010, he took a guest role alongside ] and ] in the Irish RT Film TV series '']'', followed by the UFA production '']'' – ''Stich ins Herz'' - under the direction of Stephan Wagner, in which Koch played the role of Max Klöckner. As a host of the ZDF production ''Terra X'', Koch presented the Cologne Cathedral, the Neuschwanstein Castle, and the Dresden Frauenkirche.

In 2011, Koch appeared in the Czech production '']'', in which Koch played the leading role of the investigator Zenk, whose mission is to win through one personal rival and through the regime of communist ] in the 50s. In the German production adapted from ]'s novel ''The Weekend'' in 2012, Koch portrays an amnestied RAF terrorist (Jens Kessler), who has a reunion with his old mates. In the same year, Koch began shooting the Greek-Russian drama film '']'' based upon the true story of ], played by Koch, a former pirate who moved up to being a Greek caviar merchant and eventual benefactor from ]. The international cast also included ] as ] and ] as Officer McCormick. Furthermore, Koch played the title role in '']'', a thriller by ], which was followed by part 5 of the '']'' movies, with Koch as ]' antagonist.

In 2013, ] (director and producer) began working on ''The Vatican'', a pilot episode for a ] series about intrigues concerning the Pope and mysteries and secrets within the Catholic Church. Koch played the role of the ]'s secretary Cardinal Marco Malerba, who is one of the true potentates of the inner circle.

In the Austrian production ''{{Ill|Madame Nobel|de|Eine Liebe für den Frieden – Bertha von Suttner und Alfred Nobel}}'' Koch portrayed ] in 2014, and in the French production '']'', based on a true story, Koch played Dieter Krombach, a German doctor who is accused of murdering his stepdaughter by her biological French father (played by ]). The case had spanned 30 years and has caused considerable publicity because of the issues of French-German relations and vigilante justice it raised.

In 2014, Koch was also part of ]'s historical dramatic thriller '']'' about the negotiations of the release of spies between the East and West. Lawyer James B. Donovan (]) is thrown into the centre of the ] and East German lawyer Wolfgang Vogel (Koch) is a key figure in the process. The film premiered at the ] and was nominated for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture.

The biographical romantic drama film '']'' by Academy Award winner ] (''The King's Speech'') is about one of the first known recipients of ]. Koch portrays ], a doctor at the Dresden Municipal Women's Clinic, who was one of the first to carry out such operations. The cast furthermore includes ] and ].

Subsequently, Koch filmed ''Fog in August'' (by director Kai Wessel), the first feature film to address the Nazis' euthanasia program and the hospital's staunch Nazi chief physician Werner Veithausen's (played by Koch) way of dealing with the issue.

Eventually, in 2015, Koch began shooting the fifth season of the Showtime series '']'' about bipolar CIA Officer Carrie Mathison (]). After leaving the CIA, Carrie now works for German billionaire Otto Düring (Koch), a philanthropist who uses the money his family made through affiliation with the Nazis to help struggling people around the world, including in volatile regions of the Middle East. Düring hires her to be his head of security in Berlin.

In 2016, he collaborated again with director ] for the feature film '']'', produced by ] and ]. The subject of the drama is the life of an artist, loosely based on the biography of ]. Koch stars alongside ], ], ], ] and ]. '']'' was submitted as the German entry for the ] and was ultimately nominated by the ] in the categories of "Best Foreign Language Film" and "Best Cinematography". Koch also won the ] award for "Best Actor National" in '']'' in 2018.

In 2020, Koch starred in the German-Canadian television series '']'' by ]. In the thriller series ''Your Honor'' (German title '']''), a German-Austrian adaptation of the Israeli series ''Kvodo'', which aired in April 2022, Koch embodies a incorruptible judge who violates his moral principles and breaks with law and order driven by the infinite love for his son and the concern for his son's life.

Koch is a member of the ], which awards the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Malkin |first1=Matt Donnelly,Marc |last2=Donnelly |first2=Matt |last3=Malkin |first3=Marc |date=2019-07-01 |title=Academy Reaches Gender Parity in 2019 New Member Invitations |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/academy-reaches-gender-parity-in-2019-new-member-invitations-1203257020/ |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

In addition to his acting work, he also does symphonic-scenic readings, including ''Paradise'' with violinist ], ''Dream Story'' with the Hubert Nuss Jazz Quartet and '']'' after ], which Koch dramaturgically adapted and conceived as a stage play with piano and violin.

===Audiobooks===
Koch has frequently served as an interpreter of literary and musical-literary ]s and live performances of them. Projects have included ''Schumann – Scenes of a marriage'' (with ]) about the exchange of letters between ] and ], and accompanied by Argentinean bandoneon virtuoso Roberto Russo Koch has also presented excerpts from ''The Player'' by ]. The premiere of a play reading of ] by ] – accompanied by compositions especially for jazz – took place at the Literature and Poetry Festival in Bad Homburg in 2011.

In 2012, he produced the audiobook ''Koch is reading Heuss'' about speeches and letters by ], in collaboration with Cherbuliez Productions.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Koch twice lent his voice to the audiobook edition of ''Brigitte – Strong Voices''. In 2007, he recorded the novel ''A perfect friend'' (by ]), followed by the crime story ''On the twelfth day'' (Wolfgang Schorlau) in 2014.

==Personal life==
Koch lives in ] and has two children. He was in a relationship with actress ], whom he met on the set of the movie '']'', from 2005 to 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2013/05/24/flashback-friday-carice-van-houten/|title='Flashback Friday: Carice van Houten|author=Will Lawrence|date=24 May 2013|work=Wonderland Magazine|access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2013/05/24/flashback-friday-carice-van-houten/|title='Flashback Friday: Carice van Houten|author=Will Lawrence|date=24 May 2013|work=Wonderland Magazine|access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref>

==Filmography (selection)==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''{{Interlanguage link|Transit (1991 film)|fr|3=Transit (film, 1991)|lt=Transit|WD=}}'' (1991) – Gerhardt
*'']'' (1991, TV film) – young Gerhard Selb
*''The Duck Bros.''/''Dog Days'' (1991–2011, franchise) – Stanley (voice)
*''{{ill|Cosimas Lexikon|de}}'' (1992) – Sven
*''{{ill|Der Mann mit der Maske|de|Der Mann mit der Maske (1994)}}'' (1994, TV film) – Bernd Schild
*''Blutige Spur'' (1995, TV film) – Daniel
*'']: Two Harts in 3/4 Time'' (1995, TV film) – Hans Ditsch
*''{{Interlanguage link|Les Alsaciens ou les Deux Mathilde|fr||WD=}}'' (1996, TV miniseries) – Wismar
*''{{Interlanguage link|Death Game (1997 film)|de|3=Todesspiel|lt=Death Game}}'' (1997, TV film) – ]
*'']'' (1999) – Obersturmbannführer Eichbaum
*''Valley of the Shadows'' (1999) – von Sviet
*'']'' (2001) – Matthis Hiller
*''{{Ill|Dance with the Devil (2001 film)|de|3=Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|lt=Dance with the Devil}}'' (2001, TV film) – ]
*'']'' (2001, TV miniseries) – ]
*'']'' (2002) – ]
*'']'' (2002, TV miniseries) – Maréchal ]
*''{{Ill|The Flying Classroom (2003 film)|de|3=Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (2003)|lt=The Flying Classroom}}'' (2003) – Robert 'Nichtraucher' Uthofft
*''Two Days of Hope'' (2003, TV film) – Helmut Kaminski
*''{{Interlanguage link|Princesse Marie|fr||WD=}}'' (2004, TV film) – Rodolphe Löwenstein
*'']'', {{aka}} ''Operation Valkyrie'' (2004, TV film) – ]
*''{{Ill|Deadly Diversion|de|Tödlicher Umweg}}'' (2004) – Philipp
*'']'' (2005, TV film) – ]
*'']'' (2006, TV film) – Cosmo
*'']'' (2006) – Georg Dreyman
*'']'' (2006) – Ludwig Müntze
*''Rudy: The Return of the Racing Pig'' (2007) – Thomas Bussmann
*''{{Interlanguage link|At Any Second|de|In jeder Sekunde}}'' (2008) – Dr. Hans Frick
*'']'' (2009) – Geert von Instetten
*'']'' (2009, TV film) – Wolf Larsen
*''Manipulation'' (2011) – Harry Wind
*'']'' (2011) – Professor Bressler
*'']'' (2011, TV miniseries) – King ]
*'']'' (2011) – Jonathan
*'']'' (2012) – Jens Kessler
*'']'' (2012) – Varvakis
*'']'', {{aka}} ''Ve stínu'' (Czech title) (2012) – Zenke
*'']'' (2012) – Martin
*'']'' (2013) – Yuri Komarov
*'']'' (2013) – Andreas
*'']'' (2013) – Heinz Wittmer (voice)
*'']'' (2015–2016, TV series) – Otto Düring
*''{{Ill|Madame Nobel|de|Eine Liebe für den Frieden – Bertha von Suttner und Alfred Nobel}}'' (2014, TV film) – ]
*'']'' (2015) – Warnekros
*'']'' (2015) – ]
*'']'' (2016) – Dieter Krombach
*'']'' (2016) – Dr. Werner Veithausen
*'']'' (2016) – Bobby Hartmann
*'']'' (2018)
*'']'' (2018)
*'']'' (2018, Video game) – Kurt (voice)
*'']'' (2019, TV miniseries)
*'']'' (2021 Netflix series)
*''Your Honor'' (2022, TV series)
*'']'' (2024, TV Series) – ]
{{div col end}}

==Awards and nominations (selection)==
* 2001 – German Television Awards nomination for best supporting actor in ''Der Tunnel''
* 2002
** ] for his portrayal of ] in ''{{Interlanguage link|Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|de|3=Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|lt=Dance with the Devil – The Kidnapping of Richard Oetker}}''
** ] ("Blue Panther") for his portrayal of ] in '']''
** ] for his portrayal of ] in '']''
** ] for his portrayal of ] in ''{{Interlanguage link|Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|de|3=Der Tanz mit dem Teufel|lt=Dance with the Devil – The Kidnapping of Richard Oetker}}''
* 2003 – DIVA Award; nominated for "Best German Actor" at the '']'' for his role in ''Napoleon''.
* 2004 – Golden Gong award for ''Stauffenberg''; German Television Awards nomination for "Best Leading Actor" in ''Stauffenberg''.
* 2005 – ] ("Blue Panther") for his portrayal of ] in ''Speer und Er''; ] for "Best Leading Role" in ''Speer und Er''.
* 2006 – Quadriga award for '']'' (shared with ] and the film's director, ]); ] award for best actor (national).
* 2007 – ] award for "Best European Actor" (Italy)
* 2010 – Nomination for "Best Male Actor" for the ]; Nomination as "Most Popular Actor" for the Austrian ] for his performance in '']''
* 2013 – Nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for the ] for '']''
*2015 – Nomination for "Most Popular Actor" for the Austrian ] for his performance in ''{{Ill|Madame Nobel|de|Eine Liebe für den Frieden – Bertha von Suttner und Alfred Nobel}}''
*2016 – ] for his role in '']''; Nomination for the ] in the category "Best Acting Ensemble in a Drama Series" for ]
*2018 – ] for "Best Actor National"
*2019 – Nomination for "Best Actor" for the Austrian ] for his performance in '']''
*2021 – "Die Europa" award at the Braunschweig International Film Festival<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sebastian Koch: "Diese Stadt macht dieses Festival" |url=https://www.filmfest-braunschweig.de/branche-presse/news/news-artikel/sebastian-koch-diese-stadt-macht-dieses-festival |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=www.filmfest-braunschweig.de |date=7 November 2021 |language=de-DE}}</ref>


== References == == References ==
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==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons category|Sebastian Koch}}
*
*{{Official website}}
* at his management's website
* at his management's website
*{{IMDb name|462407|Sebastian Koch}} *{{IMDb name|462407|Sebastian Koch}}
* {{de icon}} * {{in lang|de}}
* *


{{Authority control}}
{{Translation/Ref|de|Sebastian Koch|oldid=30682262}}


{{Authority control|VIAF=76603813}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Koch, Sebastian
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = German actor
| DATE OF BIRTH = 31 May 1962
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Karlsruhe, Germany
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Sebastian}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Sebastian}}
] ]
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] ]
] ]
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]

Latest revision as of 10:33, 16 December 2024

German film and television actor
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Sebastian Koch
Koch in 2020
BornKarlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
OccupationActor
Years active1990–present
PartnerCarice van Houten (2005–2009)
Children2
Websitewww.sebastiankoch.com Edit this at Wikidata

Sebastian Koch is a German television and film actor. He is known for roles in the 2007 Academy Award-winning film The Lives of Others, in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, and as Otto Düring in the fifth season of the Showtime series Homeland.

Early life and education

Sebastian Koch was born in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. He grew up in Stuttgart with his mother, a single parent.

He originally wanted to be a musician, but a production by artistic director Claus Peymann influenced him in the late 1970s to change careers to become an actor. From 1982 to 1985, Koch studied at the renowned Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts in Munich.

Career

Theatre

Koch has played many different roles on stage. He acted in Peer Gynt and Leonce in Leonce and Lena at the municipal theatre of Darmstadt.

At the Schiller Theatre in Berlin he played the character Roller in Schiller's The Robbers and Orest in Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris.

He also took over the role of Lord Goring in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband in the Bochum Playhouse, under the direction of Armin Holz.

Film and television

Koch had his first TV appearance in 1980 in the 77th episode of the series Derrick, followed by an episode in the popular crime series Tatort in 1986. He acted in numerous thrillers like Der Mann mit der Maske, Die brennende Schnecke, and in 1997 in Heinrich Breloer's two-piece Death Game [de], in which he portrayed the role of Andreas Baader.

For the title role in Dance with the Devil [de] and for his performance as the writer Klaus Mann in Heinrich Breloer's docudrama The Manns – A Novel of the Century, in 2002 he won the Adolf Grimme Award. He also received the Bavarian TV Award for the same movie.

His first international productions included the historical drama series Napoleon, in which he appeared alongside Gérard Depardieu, John Malkovich, and Isabella Rossellini. He also portrayed the youthful lover of Catherine Deneuve, Rodolphe Löwenstein, in Marie und Freud.

Koch has portrayed other historically significant personalities, including Rudolf Höss in Costa-Gavras' adaptation Amen (Der Stellvertreter). He appeared in The Tunnel, a 2001 made-for-television German film about the idea of going underground by digging a tunnel shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and in Peter Keglevic’s historical drama Two Days of Hope about the uprising on 17 June 1953. Koch appeared in Stauffenberg (2004, by Jo Baier and winner of the German Film Award). He played Albert Speer in Heinrich Breoler's mini-series Speer und Er in 2004 – his third collaboration with the director following Death Game and The Manns – A Novel of the Century, receiving the German TV Award for his performance.

Koch appeared in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's drama The Lives of Others in 2006 as one of the leading roles. He portrayed the playwright Georg Dreyman, who lived in East Germany with his lover, a dissident who was spied on and monitored. The movie received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007 as well as several other major prizes. Koch himself was nominated several times for his work in the film, receiving the Globo d'oro for Best European Actor, The Quadriga, and the Bambi Award.

Paul Verhoeven's movie Black Book (Zwartboek) was also shot in 2006. Koch played a Nazi officer in occupied Holland who falls in love with a Jewish member of the resistance (Carice van Houten).

After shooting the movie In jeder Sekunde [de] in 2007/2008, Koch appeared on camera for the international production of Jack London's classic psychological adventure novel Sea Wolf, where Koch portrayed a lone despot of both brutal cruelty and longing romance. The shooting of this two-parter based on Nigel Williams’ script and under Mike Barker’s direction took place in Halifax, Canada. The mini-series won the Directors Guild of Canada Award and Koch was nominated in 2010 for an Emmy Award for his role as Wolf Larsen.

The shooting of the movie Manipulation (adapted from the novel Das Verhör des Harry Wind) took place in 2008, with Koch and Klaus Maria Brandauer playing leading roles.

In 2010, Koch was the male title role in the English independent tragicomedy Albatross under the direction of Niall MacCormick. He played the role of Prof. Bressler in the movie Unknown (with Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger) under the direction of Jaume Collet-Serra. In the summer of 2010, he took a guest role alongside Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes in the Irish RT Film TV series Camelot, followed by the UFA production Bella Block – Stich ins Herz - under the direction of Stephan Wagner, in which Koch played the role of Max Klöckner. As a host of the ZDF production Terra X, Koch presented the Cologne Cathedral, the Neuschwanstein Castle, and the Dresden Frauenkirche.

In 2011, Koch appeared in the Czech production The Shadow of the Horse (Ve Stinu), in which Koch played the leading role of the investigator Zenk, whose mission is to win through one personal rival and through the regime of communist Prague in the 50s. In the German production adapted from Bernhard Schlink's novel The Weekend in 2012, Koch portrays an amnestied RAF terrorist (Jens Kessler), who has a reunion with his old mates. In the same year, Koch began shooting the Greek-Russian drama film God Loves Caviar based upon the true story of Ioannis Varvakis, played by Koch, a former pirate who moved up to being a Greek caviar merchant and eventual benefactor from Psara. The international cast also included Catherine Deneuve as Catherine the Great of Russia and John Cleese as Officer McCormick. Furthermore, Koch played the title role in Suspension of Disbelief, a thriller by Mike Figgis, which was followed by part 5 of the Die Hard movies, with Koch as Bruce Willis' antagonist.

In 2013, Ridley Scott (director and producer) began working on The Vatican, a pilot episode for a Showtime series about intrigues concerning the Pope and mysteries and secrets within the Catholic Church. Koch played the role of the Vatican's secretary Cardinal Marco Malerba, who is one of the true potentates of the inner circle.

In the Austrian production Madame Nobel [de] Koch portrayed Alfred Nobel in 2014, and in the French production Au nom de ma fille, based on a true story, Koch played Dieter Krombach, a German doctor who is accused of murdering his stepdaughter by her biological French father (played by Daniel Auteuil). The case had spanned 30 years and has caused considerable publicity because of the issues of French-German relations and vigilante justice it raised.

In 2014, Koch was also part of Steven Spielberg's historical dramatic thriller Bridge of Spies about the negotiations of the release of spies between the East and West. Lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is thrown into the centre of the Cold War and East German lawyer Wolfgang Vogel (Koch) is a key figure in the process. The film premiered at the New York Film Festival and was nominated for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Picture.

The biographical romantic drama film The Danish Girl by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) is about one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. Koch portrays Kurt Warnekros, a doctor at the Dresden Municipal Women's Clinic, who was one of the first to carry out such operations. The cast furthermore includes Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.

Subsequently, Koch filmed Fog in August (by director Kai Wessel), the first feature film to address the Nazis' euthanasia program and the hospital's staunch Nazi chief physician Werner Veithausen's (played by Koch) way of dealing with the issue.

Eventually, in 2015, Koch began shooting the fifth season of the Showtime series Homeland about bipolar CIA Officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes). After leaving the CIA, Carrie now works for German billionaire Otto Düring (Koch), a philanthropist who uses the money his family made through affiliation with the Nazis to help struggling people around the world, including in volatile regions of the Middle East. Düring hires her to be his head of security in Berlin.

In 2016, he collaborated again with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for the feature film Never Look Away, produced by Wiedemann & Berg and Walt Disney. The subject of the drama is the life of an artist, loosely based on the biography of Gerhard Richter. Koch stars alongside Tom Schilling, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci and Ina Weisse. Never Look Away was submitted as the German entry for the 2019 Academy Awards and was ultimately nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the categories of "Best Foreign Language Film" and "Best Cinematography". Koch also won the Bambi award for "Best Actor National" in Never Look Away in 2018.

In 2020, Koch starred in the German-Canadian television series The Defeated by Måns Mårlind. In the thriller series Your Honor (German title Euer Ehren), a German-Austrian adaptation of the Israeli series Kvodo, which aired in April 2022, Koch embodies a incorruptible judge who violates his moral principles and breaks with law and order driven by the infinite love for his son and the concern for his son's life.

Koch is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscar.

In addition to his acting work, he also does symphonic-scenic readings, including Paradise with violinist Daniel Hope, Dream Story with the Hubert Nuss Jazz Quartet and The Kreutzer Sonata after Leo Tolstoy, which Koch dramaturgically adapted and conceived as a stage play with piano and violin.

Audiobooks

Koch has frequently served as an interpreter of literary and musical-literary audiobooks and live performances of them. Projects have included Schumann – Scenes of a marriage (with Martina Gedeck) about the exchange of letters between Clara and Robert Schumann, and accompanied by Argentinean bandoneon virtuoso Roberto Russo Koch has also presented excerpts from The Player by Dostoyevsky. The premiere of a play reading of Rhapsody: A Dream Novel by Arthur Schnitzler – accompanied by compositions especially for jazz – took place at the Literature and Poetry Festival in Bad Homburg in 2011.

In 2012, he produced the audiobook Koch is reading Heuss about speeches and letters by Theodor Heuss, in collaboration with Cherbuliez Productions.

Koch twice lent his voice to the audiobook edition of Brigitte – Strong Voices. In 2007, he recorded the novel A perfect friend (by Martin Suter), followed by the crime story On the twelfth day (Wolfgang Schorlau) in 2014.

Personal life

Koch lives in Berlin and has two children. He was in a relationship with actress Carice van Houten, whom he met on the set of the movie Black Book, from 2005 to 2009.

Filmography (selection)

Awards and nominations (selection)

References

  1. Malkin, Matt Donnelly,Marc; Donnelly, Matt; Malkin, Marc (1 July 2019). "Academy Reaches Gender Parity in 2019 New Member Invitations". Variety. Retrieved 12 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Will Lawrence (24 May 2013). "'Flashback Friday: Carice van Houten". Wonderland Magazine. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  3. Will Lawrence (24 May 2013). "'Flashback Friday: Carice van Houten". Wonderland Magazine. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. "Sebastian Koch: "Diese Stadt macht dieses Festival"". www.filmfest-braunschweig.de (in German). 7 November 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.

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