Urs Rechn

Urs Rechn (born 18 January 1978) is a German actor, most known for his appearance in the 2015 Cannes Grand Prix-winning Holocaust drama Son of Saul.

Biography Urs Günther Rechn was born on 18 January 1978, in Halle an der Saale, then German Democratic Republic, now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, to Günther Rechn (a painter and graphic artist from East Germany) and his wife Beate Rechn, the second of their three children.

In 1997 he was drafted into the German paratrooper corps, and later was in the German special forces. In the meantime, he appeared in several TV episodes under to an agreement with his colonel. After leaving the military in 2002, Rechn attended the University of Music and Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig, and graduated in 2004.

He played the Jewish Oberkapo Biedermann in the film Son of Saul by Hungarian director László Nemes which won the Grand Prix at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival as well as several further international awards. In June 2015, Hungary announced its submission of Son of Saul as their candidate for the foreign language film Oscar at the 2016 Academy Awards. On February 28, Son of Saul won the Oscar.

Filmography

TV (selection) 1999: Die Strandclique – Dir.: Wolfgang Münstermann 2000: Powderpark – Dir.: Christian Stier 2001: Klinikum Berlin Mitte – Dir.: Ullrich Zrenner 2002: Our Charly – Dir.: Franz Josef Gottlieb 2003: Die Kommissarin (Lady Cop) – Dir.: Rolf Liccini 2007: GSG 9 (Special Unit) – Dir.: Florian Kern 2003: Der Ermittler: Stadt, Land, Mord, ZDF 2004: , TV movie 2005: Tatort – Freischwimmer, ARD (MDR) 2015: Polizeiruf 110 – Im Schatten, ARD (MDR) 2016: X Company, "Black Flag", CBC Television, Dir.: Kelly Makin 2018: Dogs of Berlin – Netflix, Dir.: Christian Alvart

Cinema (selection) 2003: Broad Hit, Dir.: Gennadi Poloka, RUS 2004: Juraan, Dir.: Andrej Kudinenko, RUS 2006: Eight Miles High, Dir.: Achim Bornhak, GER 2013: Run Boy Run, Dir.: Pepe Danquart, GER 2014: The King's Surrender, Dir.: Philipp Leinemann, GER 2015: Son of Saul, Dir.: László Nemes, HUN 2019: Inside Man: Most Wanted, Dir.: Michael J. Bassett, USA 2020: Waiting for Anya, Dir.: Ben Cookson, UK, BEL 2024: Hounds of War

Roles on stage since 2003 (selection) Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Landestheater Tübingen, Schauspiel Chemnitz Chemnitz Opera Man Equals Man (Galy Gay) Bertolt Brecht, Dir.: Küf Kaufmann The Broken Jug (Adam) Heinrich von Kleist, Dir.: Rudolf Donath The Seagull (Treblev) Anton Tchechov, Dir.: Tom Quaas The Merchant of Venice (Antonio) William Shakespeare, Dir: Holk Freitag Caligula (Caligula) Albert Camus, Dir: Rudolf Donath Draussen vor der Tür (Beckmann) Wolfgang Borchert, Dir: Mario Grünewald Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer (Koch) Bertolt Brecht/Heiner Müller, Dir.: Tim Grobe Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Brick) Tennessee Williams, Dir.. Holk Freitag Julius Caesar (Marcus Antonius) William Shakespeare, Dir.: Rainer Flath Mamma Medea (Jason) Tom Lanoye, Dir.: Simone Sterr The Good Person of Szechwan (Yang Ssun) Bertolt Brecht, Dir.: Ralf Siebelt A Report to an Academy (Red Peter) Franz Kafka, Dir.: Urs Rechn The Prisoner's Dilemma, David Edgar, Dir.: Clemens Bechtel Iphigenie auf Tauris (Orest) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dir.: Alexander Nerlich Innocence (Elisio) von Dea Loher, Dir: Tomas Krupa A Streetcar Named Desire (Stanley Kowalski), Tennessee Williams, Dir.: Enrico Lübbe A Report to an Academy (Red Peter) Franz Kafka, Dir.: Mario Grünewald, Urs Rechn The Snow Queen (Märchenerzähler / Rabe / Räuber), Hans Christian Andersen/Jewgenij Schwarz Amphitryon (Amphitryon), Heinrich von Kleist, Dir.: Kay Neumann The Threepenny Opera (Peachum), Bertolt Brecht, Dir.: Philip Tiedemann