Born in Berlin, award winning actor Christian Berkel grew up in Paris where he took his first acting lessons. He then completed his training at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie. His unmistakable way of acting and his characteristic appearance leave a long-lasting impression in the spectator’s mind.
He has acted in numerous pictures such as the thriller “Das Experiment” (2001) by Olivier Hirschbiegel and since 2006 on TV in the acclaimed crime series “Der Kriminalist” where he plays the leading role of inspector Bruno Schumann. He performed his first parts in Ingmar Bergmann’s „The Serpent’s Egg“ (1977) and in Douglas Sirk’s “New Year’s Eve” (1978). His international career started with films such as the Oscar nominated historical drama “Der Untergang” (2004, Director: Olivier Hirschbiegel), or “Black Book” (2006, Director: Paul Verhoeven), also nominated for the Oscars, part of the official selection of the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Furthermore, he played in the war movie “Miracle at St. Anna” (2008, Director: Spike Lee), “Valkyrie” (2008, Director: Bryan Singer) with Tom Cruise and in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Bastards“(2009), where he co-starred with Brad Pitt and Christopher Waltz. At the Brazilian film festival FANTASPOA, he won the prize for best actor for the horror picture “Der letzte Angestellte” (Director: Alexander Adolph). He appeared in the spy thriller “The Man from U.N.C.L.E”, directed by Guy Ritchie in 2015.
Chistian Berkel lives with his wife, actress and author Andrea Sawatzki and their two children in Berlin.