Schweiger's debut as a producer and (uncredited) director came in 1997 with ''
Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He also directed and produced Der Eisbär (The Polar Bear
) in 1998. Schweiger won a Bambi Award for Barfuss (Barefoot
) in 2005, based on the original English screenplay "Barefoot" by Stephen Zotnowski, which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in. He also won a Bambi for his lead role in Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1. In 2007, Keinohrhasen (this literally translates to "no ear rabbit" while the English title is Rabbit Without Ears
), written, produced, and directed by Schweiger, became the most successful film in German theaters with a box office result of . The film won a Bambi, a Bavarian Film Award, the German Comedy Award, two DIVA Awards, a Jupiter Award and the Ernst Lubitsch Award. The sequel, Zweiohrküken (Rabbit Without Ears 2
, literally "two ear chicks"), was released the following year with over 4.2 million viewers and a box office collection of . Schweiger then went on to direct, produce and star in 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde'', which also proved a huge cinema hit on its release in 2008. The movie
Kokowääh debuted in German cinemas in February 2011. Schweiger's daughter
Emma stars beside him, and the movie is also directed, co-written and produced by him. Schweiger and Emma reprised their roles as Henry and Magdalena, respectively, in its sequel, titled
Kokowääh 2. The film was released on 7 February 2013. In 2012 Schweiger made a film alongside his daughter
Luna named
Schutzengel. In 2013, Schweiger also started to produce commercials with his daughters (Watchever,
VHV Group). Onscreen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1989 in the TV series
Lindenstraße. His first film role came in 1991 with
Manta, Manta. Additional TV and film roles followed, including
Der bewegte Mann (
Maybe, Maybe Not),
Männerpension (
Jailbirds),
Das Mädchen Rosemarie (
A Girl Called Rosemary),
Bastard (
Bandyta),
Der große Bagarozy (
The Devil and Ms. D.), ''
Was tun, wenn's brennt (What to Do in Case of Fire?
), Les Daltons vs. Lucky Luke, The Red Baron, Wo ist Fred (Where is Fred?
), Phantomschmerz
(Phantom Pain
), Männerherzen (Men in the City''), and others. Schweiger has also appeared as a supporting actor in American films, including
Already Dead,
King Arthur,
In Enemy Hands,
Magicians,
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life,
Driven,
SLC Punk!,
Investigating Sex,
Joe and Max,
The Replacement Killers and ''
New Year's Eve. He wore a Nazi uniform for the first time in his career for his role in Inglourious Basterds'' but, as
Quentin Tarantino revealed, "only because his character was killing Nazis." Schweiger then appeared in the American productions
The Courier with
Mickey Rourke,
This Means War (2012) with
Chris Pine and
Reese Witherspoon, and in 2013 as Darko in
Charlie Countryman with
Shia LaBeouf among others. He also made an appearance in 2014's
Muppets Most Wanted, 2017's
David Leitch's
Atomic Blonde, and 2024's
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. In November 2024, Til Schweiger took part in the filming of a promotional video about drift in
Minsk (
Belarus). == Personal life ==