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. 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. ==Filmography==