Franz Rogowski

Franz Rogowski was born in 1986 in Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany. The son of a pediatrician and a midwife, he grew up in a bourgeois environment in Tübingen. His maternal grandfather is former BDI President Michael Rogowski. Franz worked as a bike courier and bookstore assistant, attended a Swiss clown school, and trained in dance.

Since 2007, he has been active in the independent theater scene, appearing as a dancer, choreographer, and actor on various stages such as the Thalia Theater Hamburg, the Schauspielhaus Hannover, and the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz.

Rogowski has a cleft lip that was surgically closed, resulting in a slight lisp. He was discovered as a film actor by Berlin director Jakob Lass, who cast him in Frontalwatte (2011) and the award-winning Love Steaks (2013).

The actor gained international attention with the film Victoria (2015), one of the few feature films shot in a single continuous take. The German thriller won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for Cinematography as well as six German Film Award categories. That same year, Rogowski became a permanent member of the Münchner Kammerspiele ensemble.

In 2017, he played the son of Isabelle Huppert's character in Michael Haneke's Happy End, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He also starred in Transit by Christian Petzold and In den Gängen by Thomas Stuber, both of which were presented in the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival. Rogowski was named a German "Shooting Star" in 2018 and won the German Film Award for Best Actor for In den Gängen. Rogowski gained further international recognition with Transit, which earned him a nomination for the Florida Film Critics Circle Award. Transit appeared on Barack Obama's list of favorite films of 2019.

In 2020, he collaborated again with Christian Petzold on Undine alongside Paula Beer. In 2021, Rogowski earned a European Film Award nomination for his performance in Great Freedom. The following year, he received a David di Donatello nomination for his role in the Italian film Freaks Out.

In 2023, his lead role in Lubo earned a spot in the competition at the Venice Film Festival. He also starred in Ira Sachs' drama Passages, winning the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Films featuring Rogowski have been screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival. He currently resides in Berlin.