Sebastian Koch

Sebastian Koch is a German television and film actor born in 1962 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. Raised in Stuttgart by his mother as a single parent, Koch initially aspired to become a musician. However, a production by artistic director Claus Peymann in the late 1970s inspired him to shift his career focus to acting. He subsequently pursued formal acting training at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts in Munich from 1982 to 1985.

Koch began his acting career in theatre, performing prominent roles in productions such as Peer Gynt and Leonce and Lena at the municipal theatre of Darmstadt. He later appeared as Roller in Schiller's The Robbers and Orest in Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris at the Schiller Theatre in Berlin, as well as Lord Goring in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband at the Bochum Playhouse under Armin Holz's direction. On television, he made his debut in 1980 in Derrick, followed by Tatort in 1986, and went on to star in productions such as Heinrich Breloer's 1997 docudrama Death Game, in which he portrayed Andreas Baader.

During the early 2000s, Koch earned widespread industry recognition for his television and film work. In 2002, he received Adolf Grimme Awards for his roles in Dance with the Devil and the docudrama The Manns – A Novel of the Century, also winning a Bavarian TV Award for the latter. He expanded into international projects such as the historical series Napoleon and Marie und Freud. Koch portrayed several historically significant figures, including Rudolf Höss in Amen, Albert Speer in the mini-series Speer und Er—which earned him a German TV Award and Bavarian TV Award—and appeared in productions such as The Tunnel, Two Days of Hope, and Stauffenberg.

Koch achieved major international success in 2006 starring as playwright Georg Dreyman in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's Academy Award-winning drama The Lives of Others. For his performance, Koch won the Globo d'oro for Best European Actor, The Quadriga, and a Bambi Award. That same year, he starred as a Nazi officer opposite Carice van Houten in Paul Verhoeven's Black Book. His leading role as Wolf Larsen in the mini-series adaptation of Sea Wolf subsequently earned him an International Emmy Award nomination in 2010.

Throughout the 2010s and beyond, Koch maintained an active career across feature films and international television. He appeared in projects including Unknown, In the Shadow, God Loves Caviar, Mike Figgis's Suspension of Disbelief, and the fifth Die Hard film. His prominent film work included depicting lawyer Wolfgang Vogel in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, Dr. Kurt Warnekros in The Danish Girl, and Dr. Werner Veithausen in Fog in August. On television, Koch portrayed Otto Düring in the fifth season of Homeland, starred in the series The Defeated, and played a judge in Your Honor.

In 2018, Koch reunited with Henckel von Donnersmarck for the drama Never Look Away, winning another Bambi Award for his performance. His later screen projects include the Dutch series Máxima and a role in The Batman Part II. In addition to acting, Koch conceives and performs symphonic-scenic readings, presents documentary television projects, and records literary audiobooks. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Koch resides in Berlin and has two children.