Sebastian Koch

Sebastian Koch (born 31 May 1962) is a German television and film actor and recipient of various German film awards. He is perhaps best known in the United States for his role in the 2007 Academy Award winning film The Lives of Others and co-starring Bruce Willis in A Good Day to Die Hard, and he has a featured role in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies.

Life and career

Koch was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, and grew up in Stuttgart. His mother brought him up alone, and he spent some time in the children's home where she worked. From 1982 to 1985 Koch studied at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich, and performed during this time with the Theater der Jugend (Youth Theatre).

After appearing at the municipal theatres of Ulm and Darmstadt, Koch started appearing in Berlin theatres in 1990. There he acted in works including Schiller's The Robbers, Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris and Dirty Dishes by Nick Whitby. Besides numerous film and TV roles, Koch also made frequent cameos in popular German crime series during this time.