Urs Rechn (born 18 January 1978) is a German actor, most known for his appearance in the 2015 Cannes Grand Prix-winning

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

drama ''

Son of Saul ''Son of Saul'' () 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, and follows ...

''.

Biography

Urs Günther Rechn was born on 18 January 1978, in Halle an der Saale, then

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, now

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

, Germany, to Günther Rechn (a painter and graphic artist from East Germany) and his wife Beate Rechn, the second of their three children. In 1997 he was drafted into the German paratrooper corps, and later was in the German special forces. In the meantime, he appeared in several TV episodes under to an agreement with his colonel. After leaving the military in 2002, Rechn attended the University of Music and Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and graduated in 2004. He played the Jewish

Oberkapo A kapo was a type of prisoner functionary () at a Nazi concentration or extermination camp. They were, whether voluntary or coerced, collaborators who worked under the '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) to carry out administrative tasks or supervise t ...

Biedermann in the film ''

'' by Hungarian director

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 ...

which won the Grand Prix at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2015. Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition, marking the first time that two people co-chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers ...

as well as several further international awards. In June 2015,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

announced its submission of ''Son of Saul'' as their candidate for the foreign language film

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

at the 2016

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. On February 28, ''Son of Saul'' won the Oscar.

Filmography

TV (selection)

* 1999: '' Die Strandclique'' – Dir.: Wolfgang Münstermann * 2000: ''Powderpark'' – Dir.: Christian Stier * 2001: '' Klinikum Berlin Mitte'' – Dir.: Ullrich Zrenner * 2002: '' Our Charly'' – Dir.: Franz Josef Gottlieb * 2003: '' Die Kommissarin'' (''Lady Cop'') – Dir.: Rolf Liccini * 2007: '' GSG 9'' (''Special Unit'') – Dir.: Florian Kern * 2003: '' Der Ermittler: Stadt, Land, Mord'', ZDF * 2004: ', TV movie * 2005: '' Tatort – Freischwimmer'', ARD (MDR) * 2015: '' Polizeiruf 110 – Im Schatten'', ARD (MDR) * 2016: '' X Company'', "Black Flag",

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, Dir.: Kelly Makin * 2018: '' Dogs of Berlin'' –

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 ...

, Dir.: Christian Alvart

Cinema (selection)

* 2003: ''Broad Hit'', Dir.: Gennadi Poloka, RUS * 2004: ''Juraan'', Dir.: Andrej Kudinenko, RUS * 2006: ''

Eight Miles High "Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn (later known as Roger McGuinn), and David Crosby. It was first released as a single on March 14, 1966. Musically influenced by sitar playe ...

'', Dir.: Achim Bornhak, GER * 2013: '' Run Boy Run'', Dir.: Pepe Danquart, GER * 2014: '' The King's Surrender'', Dir.: Philipp Leinemann, GER * 2015: ''

'', Dir.:

, HUN * 2019: '' Inside Man: Most Wanted'', Dir.: Michael J. Bassett, USA * 2020: '' Waiting for Anya'', Dir.: Ben Cookson, UK, BEL

Roles on stage since 2003 (selection)

Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Landestheater Tübingen, Schauspiel Chemnitz Chemnitz Opera * '' Man Equals Man'' (Galy Gay)

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, Dir.: Küf Kaufmann * '' The Broken Jug'' (Adam) Heinrich von Kleist, Dir.: Rudolf Donath * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' (Treblev) Anton Tchechov, Dir.: Tom Quaas * ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' (Antonio)

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 ...

, Dir: Holk Freitag * ''

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

'' (Caligula) Albert Camus, Dir: Rudolf Donath * '' Draussen vor der Tür'' (Beckmann) Wolfgang Borchert, Dir: Mario Grünewald * '' Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer'' (Koch) Bertolt Brecht/Heiner Müller, Dir.: Tim Grobe * ''

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 ...

'' (Brick)

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 ...

, Dir.. Holk Freitag * ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' (Marcus Antonius) William Shakespeare, Dir.: Rainer Flath * ''Mamma Medea'' (Jason)

Tom Lanoye Tom Lanoye (; born 27 August 1958) is a Belgian novelist, poet, columnist, screenwriter and playwright. He is one of the most widely read and honoured authors in his language area (the Netherlands and Flanders), and makes regular appearances at ...

, Dir.: Simone Sterr * '' The Good Person of Szechwan'' (Yang Ssun) Bertolt Brecht, Dir.: Ralf Siebelt * '' A Report to an Academy'' (Red Peter)

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

, Dir.: Urs Rechn * '' The Prisoner's Dilemma'', David Edgar, Dir.: Clemens Bechtel * '' Iphigenie auf Tauris'' (Orest) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dir.: Alexander Nerlich * ''Innocence'' (Elisio) von Dea Loher, Dir: Tomas Krupa * ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' (Stanley Kowalski), Tennessee Williams, Dir.: Enrico Lübbe * '' A Report to an Academy'' (Red Peter)

, Dir.: Mario Grünewald, Urs Rechn * ''The Snow Queen'' (Märchenerzähler / Rabe / Räuber),

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

/ Jewgenij Schwarz * ''

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ...

'' (Amphitryon), Heinrich von Kleist, Dir.: Kay Neumann * ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'' (Peachum), Bertolt Brecht, Dir.: Philip Tiedemann

References

External links

Website of Urs Rechn
*
"Son of Saul" on indiewire.com

Portrait of Urs Rechn (German

Portrait of Urs Rechn (German)

Portrait of Urs Rechn (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rechn, Urs 1978 births Living people 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors German male film actors Actors from Halle (Saale) Male actors from Saxony-Anhalt