Many actors throughout their lives feel like they are in the theater. That is, they observe people and thanks to this they constantly learn - they learn to play those very people. Such, for example, is the Austrian actor Karl Markovich, who also sometimes tries himself in directing and writing scripts.
He was a very famous actor in the post-Soviet space - all the countries of the socialist camp enjoyed watching the series "Commissar Rex" with his participation. Moreover, this series has been running for ten years without losing its position in the ranking.
As a director, he received the Label Europa Cinemas for Breath (2011) at the Cannes Film Festival. Markovich also wrote the script for this film himself.
The best films in his filmography are considered: "The Counterfeiters" (2006), "Nangan Parbat" (2010), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014), "Unknown" (2011). Best TV series: "Commissioner Rex" and "Babylon Berlin" (2017- …).
Biography
Karl Markovich was born in 1963 in the Austrian capital - Vienna. He spent his childhood and school years there. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in art school and later joined the Serapiostheater. For three years he devoted himself entirely to the theater, and it was a great time to gain experience, interact with other actors and spectators.
However, his acting ability manifested itself at an earlier age: from 1971 he began acting in short films and TV series, playing episodic roles. These were the series "Police Phone", "Special Commission", "Wolf's Law" and others.
Actor's career
The first more or less significant work of the actor in cinema was the role in the film "India" about two crooks. And in 1993, Markovich joined the Commissioner Rex project. This year, he continued to collaborate with theaters, but filming the series took away all of his time. Therefore, we had to say goodbye to the scene for the filming period. Later in an interview, the actor said that a lot of theatrical roles then “passed him by”, but he could not do anything, because the work on the series captured him. He was anxiously awaiting for the next episode to begin, and he would need to go to the set again.
This series made Karl famous in all the countries of the socialist bloc, and when the project schedule more or less settled down, he was again invited to theatrical roles.
By that time, viewers were already accustomed to his role in "Commissar Rex", and were quite surprised when they saw their favorite actor in completely different images, as if it were not him at all.
And in 1996, directors Bodo Fürneisen, Hans Werner and Dagmar Damek began filming an alternative sequel to Commissioner Rex - a series called Stockinger. The audience immediately understood what was the matter - after all, the name of the picture contained the name of Inspector Stockinger, who disappeared from the series in 1996. This project already has a completely new sound, it has a different atmosphere, but a well-chosen team of actors did their job: the series had high ratings.
In the future, Markovich starred in several more series, and each time the audience noted that his presence in the frame brings some brighter shade to the events taking place on the screen.
Markovich especially succeeded in roles in historical films. For example, in his filmography there are such pictures as "Crown Prince Rudolph" - a story about the son of Emperor Franz Joseph the First.
The film Counterfeiters, a very lively and acclaimed by the audience, also describes the historical events of the Second World War. The crime drama lifts the curtain over the economic crimes of the fascists: they printed counterfeit currencies of different countries in order to undermine their economies. The main character of the film, played by Markovich, by the will of fate was involved in this process, and with very little choice: either work for the Nazis or be shot. This film won an Oscar in 2008 as the best foreign language film of the year. He was also nominated for the Berlin IFF as the best film of the year.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the charismatic actor was very popular with directors from different countries: he starred in Germany in the film almanac "Germany 09", which had a tremendous success with the audience of this country; in Norway, he took part in the filming of the military historical drama The King's Choice (2016); in Russia, he starred in the fantastic film The Mystery of the Snow Queen (2014). This fairy tale won the Golden Eagle prize for the best costumes.
Markovich successfully combines work in theater and cinema. In one interview, he said that these two areas of art complement each other. As for the actors, their work in the theater helps them better understand how to convey this or that idea to the audience. Moreover, it is much more difficult to do it under the gun's sight, because you do not have a lively response from the audience. Therefore, like many actors, he would not want to leave the theater for the sake of cinema.
Although lately, he also often appears on the set. His most recent works are the role of Roman Zilberstein in the film How I Learned to Be a Child (2019) and the role of the major in The Secret Life (2019).
Personal life
Like many actors, Karl met his future wife on the set - it was the actress Stephanie Tussing. Now the Markovic family has two children, and they all live in Vienna.
Markovich is an inveterate homebody, and all the time free from work, he spends within four walls, surrounded by relatives.
