Petra Schmidt-Schaller (born 28 August 1980) is a German actress. She is noted for the roles of ''Helene'' in '' Runaway Horse'' alongside

Ulrich Noethen Ulrich Noethen (born 18 November 1959) is a German actor who has appeared in many movies and TV films. He starred in ''Comedian Harmonists''. He also played Heinrich Himmler twice, in ''Der Untergang'' and '' Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrs ...

, Ulrich Tukur and

Katja Riemann Katja Hannchen Leni Riemann (, born 1 November 1963) is a German actress. The daughter of two teachers, Riemann grew up in Weyhe, near Bremen. After high school she went to Hamburg to study music and theater. She is the mother of actress Paula ...

, and ''Maud Brewster'' in ''

The Sea Wolf Seawolf, Sea wolf or Sea Wolves may refer to: Animals * Sea wolf, a wolf subspecies found in the Vancouver coastal islands * Seawolf (fish), a marine fish also known as wolffish or sea wolf * A nickname of the killer whale * South American sea ...

'' (2008

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

film) alongside

Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann (; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. His notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in '' Stalingrad'' (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in '' The Pianist'' ( ...

Life and career

Schmidt-Schaller was born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, the daughter of actors Andreas Schmidt-Schaller and Christine Krüger. She grew up in Prenzlauer Berg, a borough of

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. Although she comes from a family of actors, her first experience with acting was during a one-year stay 1997–1998 as an exchange student in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, where she attended her High School's acting class. Before her movie and TV career, she studied acting at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

from 2001 to 2005, and acted at the '' Deutsches Nationaltheater

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

'' from 2003 to 2005. Having played leading roles in several German films, a minor part in Dark Castle Entertainment's ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...

'' (2011) was her first international assignment. After ''A Hero's Welcome'' (''Nacht vor Augen'', 2008) and '' Almanya – Welcome to Germany'' (''Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland'', 2011), ''Unknown'' was her third work that was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. For the TV movie ''Happiness Divided'' (''Das geteilte Glück'', 2010) she was awarded the German Actors' Award and was nominated for the

German Television Award The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, tho ...

as best actress. In

Marcus H. Rosenmüller Marcus H. Rosenmüller is a German film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the films ''Grave Decisions'', ' and directed ', ' and '' Beste Gegend''. Selected filmography * ''Grave Decisions ''Grave Decisions'' (german: Wer f ...

's comedy-drama ' she starred as Amrita, a member of the

Rajneesh movement The Rajneesh movement are people inspired by the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931–1990), also known as Osho, particularly initiated disciples who are referred to as "neo-sannyasins". They used to be known as ''Rajneeshees'' or "Orang ...

caught between the pursuit of self-realization and the love of her children. Schmidt-Schaller lives in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In August 2011, she gave birth to a daughter.''Das Baby ist da!''
Bunte.de, retrieved 14 August 2011

Selected filmography

*' (2006) *'' Runaway Horse'' (''Ein fliehendes Pferd'', 2007) *''A Hero's Welcome'' (''Nacht vor Augen'', 2008) *''The Sea Wolf'' (''Der Seewolf'', TV, 2008) *''Balkan Traffic – Übermorgen Nirgendwo'' (2008) *''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

– Bluthochzeit'' (TV, 2009) *''A Summer in Long Island'' (''Ein Sommer in Long Island'', TV, 2009) *''Happiness Divided'' (''Das geteilte Glück'', TV, 2010) *''

'' (2011) *'' Almanya – Welcome to Germany'' (''Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland'', 2011) *''Löwenzahn – Das Kinoabenteuer'' (2011) *''

The Good Neighbour (The) Good Neighbour or (The) Good Neighbor may refer to: * ''Good Neighbor'' (2001 film), a 2001 American film * ''Good Neighbor'' (2020 film), a 2020 South Korean film * ''The Good Neighbour'' (newspaper) * ''The Good Neighbour'' (film), 2011 ...

'' (''Unter Nachbarn'', 2011) *''The Dark Nest'' (''Das dunkle Nest'', TV, 2011) *' (2011) *''Nein, Aus, Pfui! Ein Baby an der Leine'' (2012) *''Der Tote im Watt'' (TV, 2013) *''Tatort – Feuerteufel'' (TV, 2013) *' (TV, 2013) *''

Stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

'' (2014) *' (TV, 2018) *''Marnow Murders'' (''Die Toten von Marnow'', TV, 2021)

Awards

Bavarian Film Award The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the states of Germany, state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the Deutscher Filmp ...

2007 for Best Upcoming Actress, ''Runaway Horse'' * Deutscher Schauspielerpreis (German Actors' Award) 2012 for the most inspiring actress in a leading role, ''Happiness Divided''

References

External links

*
Official Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt-Schaller, Petra 1980 births Living people Actors from Magdeburg People from Bezirk Magdeburg German film actresses 21st-century German actresses German television actresses University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni