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Tom Schilling (/ˈʃɪliŋ/; born 10 February 1982) is a German television and film actor.
Life and acting career
Schilling grew up in the formerly East German borough of Berlin Mitte. He was discovered at the age of 12 by stage director Thomas Heise, and cast in the stage play Im Schlagschatten des Mondes (Under the shadow of the moon) at the Berliner Ensemble theatre company, which he stayed with for the next four years to play in other productions as well. Acting jobs earned him enough money to move out of his parents' place when he was 18 and still in school. He left school with Abitur certificate.
Schilling's screen acting debut was in 1996, when he, aged 14, appeared in the Sat.1 TV series ‘Hallo, Onkel Doc!’ He was later cast in the theatrical film Schlaraffenland (1999) where he played alongside Franka Potente, Daniel Brühl and Heiner Lauterbach, but the breakthrough for him came with his performance in Crazy (2000, directed by Hans-Christian Schmid), for which he received the Talented Young Actor Award of the Bayerischer Filmpreis.
In the critically well-received 2004 film Before the Fall (German title: Napola – Elite für den Führer, directed by Dennis Gansel) he played alongside Max Riemelt a young and fragile student at a Nazi elite school (Napola). In 2006, he received a scholarship for the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, where he studied for half a year. In the same year, he became a father to a son. Schilling was later given the role of the young Adolf Hitler in Urs Odermatt's 2009 film Mein Kampf (the UK DVD release is marketed as Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich), co-starring Götz George.
He originally wanted to become a painter and study art after school. In a 2008 interview he said he was not much of an extrovert, and that, to him, having to deliver oneself up on a day-to-day basis was a major disadvantage of the acting profession.
In the early summer of 2014 his second child was born - the first child for Schilling and his partner, the assistant director Annie Mosebach.
Filmography
- 1996: Hallo, Onkel Doc! (TV series), episode: Manege frei
- 1998: Der heiße Genuss (short film)
- 1999: Tatort (TV series), episode: Kinder der Gewalt
- 1999: Schlaraffenland
- 2000: Crazy
- 2000: Der Himmel kann warten
- 2001: Tatort (TV series), episode: Tot bist Du!
- 2001: Herz im Kopf
- 2002: Fetisch (short film)
- 2002: Mehmet (short film)
- 2002: Schlüsselkinder (short film)
- 2002: Weil ich gut bin
- 2002: Weichei (short film)
- 2003: Play It Loud! (Verschwende deine Jugend)
- 2004: Agnes and His Brothers (Agnes und seine Brüder)
- 2004: Egoshooter
- 2004: Kurz – Der Film
- 2004: Before the Fall (Napola – Elite für den Führer)
- 2005: Die letzte Schlacht
- 2005: Tatort (TV series), episode: Wo ist Max Gravert?
- 2006: Einfache Leute
- 2006: Atomised / The Elementary Particles (Elementarteilchen)
- 2006: Der Feind im Inneren – Joy Division
- 2006: Schwarze Schafe
- 2006: Wigald (short film)
- 2007: Pornorama
- 2007: KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst (TV series)
- 2007: Neben der Spur
- 2007: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps (Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken)
- 2008: Robert Zimmermann Is Tangled Up in Love (Robert Zimmermann wundert sich über die Liebe)
- 2008: Tatort (TV crime series), episode: Der frühe Abschied
- 2008: Mordgeständnis
- 2008: The Baader Meinhof Complex (theatrical film, drama)
- 2009: Dawn of Evil: Rise of the Reich (Mein Kampf), inspired by a stage play by George Tabori
- 2009: Bloch (TV series), episode: Tod eines Freundes
- 2009: Ken Follett's Eisfieber (German/Italian TV film based on Ken Follett's novel Whiteout)
- 2010: Tatort (TV series), episode: Am Ende des Tages
- 2010: Ich, Ringo und das Tor zur Welt (TV biopic)
- 2011: Polizeiruf 110 (TV series), episode: Die verlorene Tochter
- 2011: Tatort (TV series), episode: Auskreuzung
- 2012: Oh Boy! (theatrical film, comedy/drama)
- 2012: Ludwig II. (theatrical film, period drama)
- 2013: Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga (TV mini-series)
- 2013: Hai-Alarm am Müggelsee (theatrical film, comedy)
- 2013: Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter (TV mini-series) Also broadcast on BBC 2(UK) in April/May 2014 as Generation War.
- 2014: Who Am I – No System is Safe
- 2014: Posthumous
- 2014: Suite Francaise
- 2015: Woman in Gold
Audio plays
- 2003: Die Meute der Mórrígan (The Hounds of the Morrigan) – role: Pidge
- 2003: Das Geheimnis der verborgenen Insel (Monster Mission)
- 2003: Hanni und Nanni und ihre Gäste (based on Enid Blyton's book series St. Clare's) – role: Peter
- 2008: 19 Minuten – role: Peter H.
- 2011: Übernacht – role: Jan
- 2012: Als ich meine Eltern verließ – audiobook recording of the novel by Michel Rostain (orig. French title: Le Fils)
Awards
- 2000: Bavarian Film Awards, Germany: Young Talented Actor award for his performance in Crazy
- 2005: Undine Awards, Germany: Best young character actor award (Bester jugendlicher Charakterdarsteller) for his performance in Before the Fall
- 2005: Undine Awards, Germany: Audience award (Zuschauerpreis) for his performance in Before the Fall
- 2008: Wiesbaden Fernsehkrimi-Festival: Deutscher Fernsehkrimipreis (German crime fiction TV award) special award for outstanding performance in Tatort – Der frühe Abschied
- 2012: Oldenburg International Film Festival: Seymour Cassel Award for his performance in Oh Boy
- 2013: Bavarian Film Awards, Germany: Best male actor award (Bester Darsteller) for his performance in Oh Boy
- 2013: German Film Awards (Goldene Lola): Best male actor in a leading role (for his performance in Oh Boy)
- Kastelan, Karsten (16 September 2012). ""Oh Boy" Scores Three for Three at Oldenburg Film Fest". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ""Oh Boy" gewinnt beim Bayerischen Filmpreis". Zeit Online. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.