The actor repeatedly had to endure harsh criticism in the press. Either way: He shapes the German film industry like only a few do. On Tuesday (December 19th) Schweiger will be 60 years old.
He has now broken with at least one resolution in his life: “The next film I can be seen in is the new Guy Ritchie film ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’, in which I play a Nazi for the first time, Even though I swore I would never do that,” Schweiger recently told the German Press Agency. It is an action spy film.
In the past few decades he has made it to the top. In Tarantino’s American World War II film “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), Schweiger played Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz alongside world star Brad Pitt as the leader of a group of Nazi killers.
This was unthinkable when he starred in Germany’s popular classic series “Lindenstrasse” in the early 1990s. The ARD describes his role Jo Zenker as a “friendly contemporary who, as a big brother, always has an open ear for his sisters Iffi and Valerie.”
Cinema debut with “Manta, Manta”
His film debut was “Manta, Manta” in 1991 – a fuel comedy about a group of young people with lots of perms and jeans in North Rhine-Westphalia who have nothing on their minds in life but love and their Manta cars. The car clothes catapult us straight into the current times, because with a very successful second “Manta” part, the most severe criticism of Schweiger to date has emerged in recent months.
The news magazine “Der Spiegel” got the case rolling in the spring and reported on alleged harassment and a “climate of fear” on the “Manta” film set. The production company Constantin Film then initiated a review, and an external law firm presented a mixed result. Schweiger commented in detail in an interview with “Stern” in October. In it he said, among other things: “I don’t want anyone to be afraid of me.” He also talked about his alcohol problems and explained that he was in therapy.
Schweiger polarizes and targets critics
Schweiger recently told the dpa on the occasion of his current film comedy “The best is yet to come!” about two best friends and a fatal illness: “I’m at peace with myself and I can look in the mirror in the morning, despite the mistakes I’ve made and for which I’ve taken responsibility. Not everyone does that either.”
The fact that Schweiger was so polarizing again and again may also be because he joined debates on social media. And dished it out against critics of his films – and, for example, called them “idiots” about a “Tatort” film.
There have been a lot of films and notable successes over the past few decades. Schweiger has not only worked as an actor, but also as a director and producer. “Men’s Pension”, “The Moving Man”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “Keinohrhasen”, “Zweiohrchicken”, “Kokowääh”, “Honig im Kopf” and “Lieber Kurt” are among his portfolio. At times he also played the Hamburg “Tatort” detective Nick Tschiller.
His first documentary in 2020 was about soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger. In addition to his film career, Schweiger runs an interior design company. Years ago he also founded a foundation to help children in need.
One of his film trademarks is that he always lets his children play along. Is there anything else typical of Schweiger? The film star answered this question as follows: “My films, no matter what genre, revolve around love and family, i.e. the two central themes that preoccupied me as a teenager. Love in the family, but also that Love between two friends, or girlfriends. My films are often about fears and illnesses, but they all have a reconciliatory, hopeful ending.”
