Tom Schilling

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' home when he was 18 and still at school. He left school with an Abitur certificate.

Schilling's screen acting debut was in 1996, when he appeared in the Sat.1 TV series Hallo, Onkel Doc! at the age of 14. He was later cast in the theatrical film Paradise Mall (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) Schilling appeared alongside Max Riemelt as 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 a semester.

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.

Schilling 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 being in the acting profession.

In 2006, Schilling had a son by a woman whose name is not known. In spring 2014 he and his partner, assistant director Annie Mosebach, had a son, followed by a daughter in January 2017. In early 2019, Schilling and Mosebach got married.

Filmography

1996: Hallo, Onkel Doc! (TV series), episode: Manege frei

1996: Für alle Fälle Stefanie (TV series), episode: Rettung des Retters

1998: Der heiße Genuss (short film)

1999: Tatort (TV series), episode: Kinder der Gewalt

1999: Paradise Mall

2000: Crazy

2000: Exit to Heaven

2001: Tatort (TV series), episode: Tot bist Du!

2001: Heart Over Head

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?

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: Jodi Picoult: Neunzehn Minuten (Nineteen Minutes) – role: Peter Houghton (audiobook), publisher: der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3867172523

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 A Coffee in Berlin

2013: Bavarian Film Awards, Germany: Best male actor award (Bester Darsteller) for his performance in A Coffee in Berlin

2013: German Film Awards (Goldene Lola): Best male actor in a leading role (for his performance in A Coffee in Berlin)