Clemens Schick (born 15 February 1972) is a German actor, model, political activist and human rights advocate.
He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1998, including leading roles in both German and international productions. He has appeared in various major German and international TV productions and series.
He has also played several leading theatre roles in classical plays like
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
’s ''
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
,''
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright.
He was born i ...
’s ''Don Carlos'' and
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
’ ''
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...
.''
Schick is politically active and an active member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). He is an active champion of human rights issues and is a committee member of the German
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
chapter.
Life
Schick was born in
Tübingen
Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...
, West Germany.
The son of a teacher and a prosecutor, he has four siblings, including a sister and an older brother. He studied at the Hölderlin High School in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, from where he graduated in 1992. After his graduation, he enrolled at the Academy of Performing Arts (AdK) in
Ulm.
Following one year of studies, the then 22-year-old Schick decided to leave Germany and headed for France, where he intended to join the
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
of the
Taizé Community
The Taizé Community () is an ecumenical Christian monastic community in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of about one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countries ...
in
Taizé, Saône-et-Loire.
After an eight-month stay, however, he returned to Germany, where he enrolled at the Berlin School of Drama.
He completed his studies in 1996, having financed his studies with part-time jobs as a
landscape gardener, bouncer, and waiter in restaurants and pubs in
Berlin-Mitte
Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district.
Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...
and
Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right ...
.
In an interview with ''
Gala
Gala may refer to:
Music
* ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush
* Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter
*'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman
* GALA Choruses, an association of ...
'' magazine in September 2014, Schick came out as a homosexual. He stated that he is not interested in either "gay" or "heterosexual" labels and falls in love with both men and women, but only dates men. In the past he had a few girlfriends, including German actress
Bibiana Beglau, who he briefly dated in 2010. Today, he lives in Kreuzberg in central Berlin.
Theatre career
An actor with a confessed love for life on the classical stage, Schick has a long track record of engagements and leading roles in both modern and classic theatre plays, primarily with German theaters. His career include engagements at
Staatsschauspiel Dresden,
Schauspiel Frankfurt,
Schauspielhaus Wien, Sophiensaelen,
Kampnagel,
Staatstheater Stuttgart
The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgart Ballet, Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama ...
,
Schauspielhaus Zurich,
Deutsches Schauspielhaus
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus, sometimes referred to as the Hamburg Schauspielhaus or Hamburg Theatre, is a theatre in the St. Georg, Hamburg, St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany
History
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus was co-foun ...
in Hamburg,
Schauspielhaus Köln and
Schaubühne Berlin,
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/nowiki>/sup> where he performed as 'Orestes' in Hugo von Hofmannsthal"><_a><br>_nowiki>.html" ;"title="">[4
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/nowiki>/sup> where he performed as 'Orestes' in 's play ''Elektra'' in 1999, and 'Major Vershinin' in Three Sisters by Chekhov">Hugo von Hofmannsthal's play ''Elektra'' in 1999, and 'Major Vershinin' in Three Sisters (play)">Three Sisters by Chekhov in 2006.
From 2002 to 2006, Schick was a regular part of the ensemble at the Schauspielhaus Hannover, where he was seen in, among others, Schauspiel Hannover">Schauspielhaus Hannover, where he was seen in, among others, Johann Kresnik's directorial work of Peer Gynt">Johann Kresnik">Schauspiel Hannover">Schauspielhaus Hannover, where he was seen in, among others, Johann Kresnik's directorial work of Peer Gynt, in a leading role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...
by Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
under the direction of Christina Paulhofer, in leading roles in Shakespeare's Richard III and Twelfth Night under the direction of Sebastian Baumgarten, as well as the title role in Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright.
He was born i ...
’s ''Don Carlos'', under the direction of Wilfred Minks.
In the summer of 2007 and again in 2008, Schick was also to be seen in the role as 'Death' at the Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
in Hofmannsthal's ''Jedermann''.
Schick's first solo show, ''Windows or: Let's imagine Bill Gates as a happy person'', a monologue written by Mathias Greffrath, was staged by the Schauspielhaus Hannover in 2010. The play saw Schick in the role of Bill Gates musing with the audience about business, technology, narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...
and life's moral questions. He later performed in the solo show in the Sophiensäle theatre, and again for German soldiers stationed in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
.
Cinema and television
In addition to his theatre work, Schick has acted extensively in both German and international film and TV productions with roles in more than 70 movies and TV series. His work spans from roles in Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
productions to independent cinema.
Arguably, his international breakthrough role came in the 21st James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
movie, ''Casino Royale'' (2006), where Schick played alongside Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. His accolades include two National Board of Review Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards.
...
and Eva Green
Eva Gaëlle Green (; ; born ) is a French British-based actress, known for appearing in blockbuster and independent films, in which she often portrays eccentric, villainous, and complex characters. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she ...
in the role as the bodyguard 'Kratt' of the movie villain 'Le Chiffre
Le Chiffre (, 'The Cypher' or 'The Digit') is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Ian Fleming's 1953 James Bond novel, ''Casino Royale (novel), Casino Royale''. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the Casino Ro ...
' (Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher (film series), ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Detective Sergea ...
).
The opening film of the "Perspective German Cinema" at the Berlinale 2007 was ''Upright Standing'' by Hannah Schweier, in which Schick plays the main role of 'Joe'. In 2008, Schick played alongside Alexandra Neldel
Alexandra Monika Neldel (born 11 February 1976) is a German actress from Berlin.
Career
Neldel worked as a dental assistant before she was discovered by the boss of a Berlin casting agency during a polo competition. He helped her audition f ...
and Erhan Emre
Erhan Emre (born 4 September 1978) is a Turkish–German actor, director, film producer and writer.
Filmography
Television
Director
Producer
Personal life
Emre was born to Kurdish immigrants in Germany, he is one of eight children.
Re ...
the role of the detective 'Marco Lorenz' in the television series '' Innocent.''
In 2008, he appeared in the French movie '' Largo Winch II,'' playing alongside Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...
and Tomer Sisley, in the role as the villain Dragan Lazarevic.
In 2011, Schick and Saralisa Volm performed in the mainly crowdfund
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...
ed financed erotic film '' Hotel Desire''. The film features scenes of Volm and Schick engaging in unsimulated sex
In the film industry, unsimulated sex is the presentation of sex scenes in which actors genuinely perform the depicted sex acts, rather than simulating them. Although it is ubiquitous in films intended as pornographic, it is very uncommon in ...
.
In 2013, Schick played in the French two-part TV mini-series ''Le vol des cigognes'' (or '' Flight of the Storks''), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jean-Christophe Grangé. He took the role of the policeman 'Hervé Dumaz', who speaks French, English, and German. It was directed by Jan Kounen
Jan Kounen (born Jan Coenen; 2 May 1964) is a Netherlands-born French film director and Film producer, producer.
In France, he is mostly known for his films ''Dobermann (film), Dobermann'' (1997), ''Blueberry, l'expérience secrète, Blueberry, ...
. Harry Treadaway, Perdita Weeks, and Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
H ...
starred in other roles. It aired in January 2013 on Canal +.
In 2014, Schick joined the cast of Karim Aïnouz
Karim Aïnouz (; ; born 17 January 1966) is a Brazilian film director and visual artist. He is best known for his film '' The Invisible Life of EurÃdice Gusmão.''
Career
Karim Aïnouz was born to a Brazilian mother and an Algerian father, in ...
’ Brazilian-German drama '' Praia do Futuro'', playing among others alongside Wagner Moura and Jesuita Barbosa. Later that same year, he also appeared in Austrian-German mystery western '' The Dark Valley,'' directed by Andreas Prochaska, featuring Sam Riley and Paula Beer.
Soon after, in 2015, Schick appeared in Theresa von Eltz’ German drama ''4 Könige,'' alongside Jella Haase, Jannis Niewöhner
Jannis Niewöhner () (born 30 March 1992) is a German actor known for his role in the ''Timeless'' trilogy of films: ''Ruby Red'', ''Sapphire Blue'', and ''Emerald Green'', based on a book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certa ...
and Paula Beer. Also in 2015, he performed in Ericson Core
Ericson Core is an American film director and cinematographer, best known for directing the 2006 sports film ''Invincible (2006 film), Invincible'' and the 2015 film ''Point Break (2015 film), Point Break''. He has been director of photography on ...
’s action thriller ''Point Break
''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", where a ...
,'' with among others Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey
Luke Bracey (born 26 April 1989) is an Australian actor.
He is known for his work in films such as '' Elvis'', ''Monte Carlo'', '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'', '' The November Man'', ''Point Break'', and ''Hacksaw Ridge''; and for television serie ...
and Teresa Palmer
Teresa Mary Palmer (born 26 February 1986) is an Australian actress and model. Following her film debut in '' Wolf Creek'' (2005), Palmer had supporting roles in films such as '' The Grudge 2'' (2006), '' Bedtime Stories'' (2008), ''The Sorcer ...
.
In 2018 he performed in the Finnish-German crime drama series ''Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circl ...
.'' Playing alongside Maximillian Brückner, Pihla Viitala and Iina Kuustonen among others, Schick is seen in the role of Marcus Eiben, a multimillionaire CEO of a pharmaceutical company. The series is directed by Hannu Salonen, a Finnish director based in Germany.
More recently, Schick has appeared in the Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
-produced bio-pic ''Sergio'' (2019) about the life of controversial diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, alongside Wagner Moura and Ana de Armas. In 2019, he appeared in a leading role in the first german Netflix Original ''Kidnapping Stella'' (2019)'','' directed and written by Thomas Sieben and featuring leading roles from Schick, Jella Haase and Max von der Groeben. In 2022 he appears in Dylan Moran
Dylan William Moran ( ; born ) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series '' Black Books'' (which he co-wrote and starred in), and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as ' ...
sit-com for the BBC '' Stuck''.
Volunteer work and political engagement
Schick is openly politically engaged and has been an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...
(SPD), since 2016. He was actively supporting the SPD-initiated "My Voice for Reason" campaign in 2016.
In 2008, Schick visited the German ISAF
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
contingent in Masar-e Sharif ( Camp Marmal), Kunduz
Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...
and Feyzabad in Afghanistan. Here he performed his solo show ''Windows'' for the troops, and was accompanied by a camera crew, for a documentary by Jobst Knigge which was titled ''"The Trooper: Clemens Schick plays theatre in Afghanistan"''. Schick visited the troops again in 2011 and 2012, supporting the German soldiers at Afghan military sites of the German ISAF
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
troops through theatre performances in Masar-i-Sharif and Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
.
Schick also participated in the Alliance Against Castor 2010 and signed a call for artists in numerous newspapers, calling on the population to take part in protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
against the castor transport and the extension of the term of German nuclear power plants.
Schick is a member of Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, and sits on the charter's Berlin committee. He is a member of the Bundesverband Schauspiel (BFFS or Federal Association of Acting), and an ambassador for the Hugo Tempelmann Stiftung, a non-profit working to battle HIV in South Africa.
In 1996 and again in 2009, Schick modelled in Paris and Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
for US photographer Nan Goldin
Nancy Goldin (born 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the Bohemian style, bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing w ...
.
In 2018, Schick was named a brand ambassador for German luxury brand Montblanc.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other work
In 2016, he was the main actor in the music video for Fritz Kalkbrenner's track "In This Game".
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schick, Clemens
1972 births
Living people
People from Tübingen
German male film actors
German gay actors
German male models
German LGBTQ models
Gay models
21st-century German LGBTQ people
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Human Rights Watch people
Male actors from Baden-Württemberg