Géza Röhrig ( hu, Röhrig Géza, ; May 11, 1967) is a Hungarian actor and poet. He is best known for his role in the 2015 film ''

Son of Saul ''Son of Saul'' ( hu, Saul fia) is a 2015 Hungarian historical drama film directed by László Nemes, in his feature directorial debut, and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer. It is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, ...

'', which won the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

, the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Life and career

Géza Röhrig was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

. His mother left the family after he was born, and his father died when he was four, so Röhrig spent his childhood in foster care. From the age of 12 he was raised by a Jewish family. In the 1980s, he was the frontman of an

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

band called ''Huckleberry'' (also known as ''HuckRebelly''), whose concerts were almost always interrupted by the communist authorities. At university he studied Hungarian and Polish, and after a visit to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

during a study tour in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, he decided to become an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He portrayed poet

Attila József Attila József (; 11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) was one of the most famous Hungarian poets of the 20th century. Generally not recognized during his lifetime, József was hailed during the communist era of the 1950s as Hungary's great ...

in a film by

József Madaras József Madaras (16 August 1937 – 24 April 2007) was a Hungarian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1958 and 2006. Selected filmography * '' Tales of a Long Journey'' (1963) * '' The Round-Up'' (1965) * '' The Red and ...

. He studied filmmaking under

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since the ...

. He published two collections of poems on the theme of the Shoah, ' (literally "Book of Incineration", 1995) and ' ("Captivity", 1997). He graduated from the

Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest ( hu, Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem, SZFE) is an educational institution founded in 1865 in Budapest, Hungary. It became a university in 2000 and the name was changed to University of Theatre and F ...

with a degree in

filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...

. Since 2000, he has lived in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he received a degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary and has been a kindergarten teacher at Hannah Senesh Community Day School in Brooklyn. He is married, and has four children. He has published many collections of poetry.

Work

Prose

Poetry

* * * * * * * *

Filmography

Film

*2015: ''

'' by

László Nemes László Nemes (born Nemes Jeles László; ; 18 February 1977) is a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. His 2015 debut feature film, ''Son of Saul,'' was screened in the main competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the ...

: Saul *2018: '' To Dust'' by Shawn Snyder: Shmuel *2018: '' The Chaperone'': Joseph * 2019: ''

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

'' by Candida Brady: Luca * 2019: Bad Art by Tania Raymonde: Gene * 2020: '' Resistance'' by Jonathan Jakubowicz:

Georges Loinger Georges Loinger (29 August 1910 – 28 December 2018) was a French soldier during World War II. During his time in the French Resistance, he helped hundreds of Jewish children escape from occupied France to Switzerland. Early life He was born o ...

* 2020: Undergods by Chino Moya: Z *TBA: ''

The Way of the Wind ''The Way of the Wind'' is an upcoming epic biblical drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and produced by Josh Jeter. Starring Géza Röhrig as Jesus, the film retells his story. Alongside Rohrig, Mark Rylance stars as Satan, Matth ...

'' by

Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include ''Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Television

*1989: ''Közjáték'', episode '' Mrożek: Levélkék'' (director) *1989: ''Eszmélet'' by

, episodes 1 and 2:

*1990: ''Armelle'' by Jacek Lenczowski: Piotr

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohrig, Geza 1967 births Living people Jewish Hungarian actors 21st-century Hungarian male actors Hungarian male film actors Hungarian male television actors 20th-century Hungarian male actors Hungarian expatriates in the United States Hungarian male poets 20th-century Hungarian poets 21st-century Hungarian poets