Miko completed his
Matura in Vienna in 1989 and subsequently joined the ensemble of
George Tabori’s theatre group
Der Kreis. From 1990 to 1992 he studied at the
Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, followed by studies at the
Conservatoire de Paris from 1992 to 1993. After returning to Austria he was cast by
Michael Haneke in the leading role of his film
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, portraying Max, a sports student who commits a seemingly motiveless shooting spree shortly before Christmas. For his performance he was nominated as Best Young European Actor at the French film festival "Stars de Demain" (a precursor of
European Shooting Stars) and received a special mention by the jury. From 1994 to 1999 he was a company member of the
Residenztheater in Munich, and from 1999 to 2002 was part of the ensemble of the
Burgtheater in Vienna. He later appeared as a guest actor at
Theater Basel, Stadttheater Klagenfurt and in independent productions, including
Paulus Manker’s theatre installation
ALMA – A Show Biz ans Ende, performing the role of
Gustav Mahler. In cinema he has portrayed a wide range of characters, including Auschwitz survivor Hermann Langbein in Austria's 2016
Oscar submission
Labyrinth of Lies directed by
Giulio Ricciarelli; a far-right lawyer in
Night of a 1000 Hours by
Virgil Widrich; the strict father of blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis in
Mademoiselle Paradis by
Barbara Albert; and a heroin-addicted stepfather in the award-winning film
The Best of All Worlds by
Adrian Goiginger. For the latter he won the
Austrian Film Award in 2018 as Best Supporting Actor. On television he gained wide attention playing an intriguing, manipulative antagonist in the mini-series
Altes Geld directed by
David Schalko. He later appeared as cult leader Brunner in the
Sky series
Pagan Peak (2019) and as psychiatrist Max de Crinis in season two of
Charité (2019). In
Markus Schleinzer’s feature film
Angelo (2018) he portrayed
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and in 2020 he played war criminal Georg von Lichtenberg in the
Netflix series
Freud directed by
Marvin Kren. In 2005 Miko wrote his first screenplay and in 2006 directed the 30-minute short film
Das gefrorene Meer. The film received multiple awards, including the
German Short Film Award in Gold in 2007. Miko is one of the initiators of
#KlappeAuf, an Austrian film industry initiative against hate speech and promoting solidarity. At the Austrian Film Award ceremony in 2018 he delivered a widely noticed speech on behalf of the movement. At the 2021
Diagonale film festival he received the acting award for his role as Gerald in
Me, We by David Clay Diaz. In 2024 he received the Diagonale Grand Acting Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Austrian Film Culture". == Theatre ==