Daniel César Martín Brühl González ([bʀyːl]; born 16 June 1978) is a German actor. He began his work at a young age in a German soap opera called Forbidden Love in 1995. In 2003, his starring role in the German film Good Bye, Lenin! received wider recognition and critical acclaim which garnered him the European Film Award for Best Actor and the German Film Award for Best Actor. Brühl has worked in both European and American productions in several different languages.

He was introduced to mainstream U.S. audiences with his breakout role of Frederik Zoller, a German war hero in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, and appeared in films such as The Bourne Ultimatum, The Fifth Estate and A Most Wanted Man. Brühl received widespread critical acclaim and further recognition for his portrayal of former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda in the Ron Howard biographical film Rush. For his role as Lauda, he received multiple award nominations including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, Critic's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Biography

Brühl was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was the German TV director Hanno Brühl (1937–2010), who was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His Spanish mother was a teacher. He also has a brother and a sister, Oliver and Miriam. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he grew up and attended the Dreikönigsgymnasium. Brought up in a fully multilingual home, he speaks fluent Catalan, German, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.

In 2006, Brühl separated from his long-time girlfriend and later fiancée, actress Jessica Schwarz, whom he had met on the set of the 2001 film Nichts bereuen.

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