Biography
Born to Austrian actors Hans Brenner and Monika Bleibtreu, Moritz Bleibtreu started acting at the age of six. He traveled the U.S. and Paris as a teenager before becoming a prominent German actor in television and film. After a few roles in productions with his mother, he appeared in the drama
Einfach nur Liebe (
Simply Love) and the comedy
Stadtgespräch (
Talk of the Town). In 1997, he earned his first major acclaim as the comedic gangster Abdul in
Knockin' On Heaven's Door. The next year he made his international breakthrough as
Franka Potente's slightly dim boyfriend Manni in
Run Lola Run. With his sweetly sensitive looks, Bleibtreau continued playing mostly nice guys in German comedies and dramas: the idiot brother in
Luna Papa, a hustling DJ in
Fandango, and a schoolteacher in Im Juli. He appeared in four films in 2001, including his first American production,
The Invisible Circus, and the goofy comedy
Lammbock. He took on some challenging parts that year as well, appearing with
Harvey Keitel and
Stellan Skarsgård for
Taking Sides and as the lead prisoner in
Das Experiment. Continuing with leading man status, Bleibtreau next portrayed an Italian immigrant in
Solino and Kaiser Titus in
Germanikus. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide