Priit Pius (born 4 February 1989) is an Estonian stage, television, and film actor whose career began in the 2010s.

Early life and education

Priit Pius was born in Tallinn to Jüri and Nelli Pius (''née'' Paap). His twin brother is actor

Märt Pius Märt Pius (born 4 February 1989)vooremaa.ee
''Rahutu hingeg ...

. He has one older brother, as well as two half-siblings from his father's previous marriage. He grew up in and attended schools in Tallinn before the family moved to the small village of Mällikvere in

Jõgeva County Jõgeva County ( et, Jõgeva maakond or ''Jõgevamaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in eastern part of the country and borders Ida-Viru County to the north-east, Lake Peipus to the east, Tartu County to the south, Viljandi C ...

, where he graduated from secondary school in 2008. Afterward, both he and his twin brother Märt enrolled in the Performing Arts Department of the

Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (''Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia'') began as a mixed choir of the Estonia Society Musical Department (EMD) on the eve of World War I. The assembly of the Estonia Society created the Tallinn Higher Musi ...

to study acting, graduating in 2012. Pius' diploma production roles were as Tuomas in

Aleksis Kivi Aleksis Kivi (; born Alexis Stenvall; 10 October 1834 – 31 December 1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, ''Seitsemän veljestä'' ("Seven Brothers") in 1870. He is also known for his 1864 p ...

's ''

Seven Brothers 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

'', Gerry Evans in

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...

's ''

Dancing at Lughnasa ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal in Ulster in the north of Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Eva ...

'', and as

Tom Canty Thomas "Tom" Canty is a fictitious character from Mark Twain's 1881 novel ''The Prince and the Pauper.'' He was born the same day as Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales in 1537 and grew up in a life of poverty with his abusive, alcoholic father and ...

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, ...

''.

Career

Following his graduation from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, both Pius brothers began engagements at the

Tallinn City Theatre Tallinn City Theatre ( et, Tallinna Linnateater) is a repertory theatre located in the medieval old town of Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn City Theatre was established in 1965 as Estonian SSR State Youth Theatre. In 1992, after the reindependence of ...

in 2012 and are both still currently engaged at the theatre as actors. Among his more memorable roles in theater were in works by such varied authors and playwrights as:

Florian Zeller Florian Zeller (; born 28 June 1979) is a French novelist, playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film director. He won the Prix Interallié for his 2004 novel ''The Fascination of Evil'' and several awards for his plays. He wrote and ...

Eduard Bornhöhe Eduard Bornhöhe (pen name); born Eduard Brunberg (, in Kullaaru, Rakvere Parish, Kreis Wierland – 17 November 1923, in Tallinn), was an Estonian writer. Bornhöhe is generally considered a pioneer of the genre of the Estonian historical nov ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, Duncan Macmillan,

Otfried Preußler Otfried Preußler (sometimes spelled as Otfried Preussler; both ; born Otfried Syrowatka; 20 October 1923 – 18 February 2013) was a German literature, German Children's literature, children's books author. More than 50 million copies of his books ...

Marina Carr Marina Carr is an Irish playwright who has written almost thirty plays, including '' By the Bog of Cats'' (1998). Early life and education Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent the majority of her childhood in Pallas Lake, County O ...

Ferenc Molnár Ferenc Molnár ( , ; born Ferenc Neumann; 12 January 18781 April 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarian-born author, stage-director, dramatist, and poet, widely regarded as Hungary’s most celebrated and controversial playw ...

Richard Greenberg Richard Greenberg (born February 22, 1958) is an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He has had more than 25 plays premiere on and Off-Broadway in New York City ...

, A. H. Tammsaare,

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

, and Peter Barnes. He has also performed on several other theatre stages throughout Estonia. Pius' began appearing in student films and short films in 2010. In 2014, he was cast, along with his brother Märt, as the Käär brothers in the

Elmo Nüganen Elmo Nüganen (born on date 15 February 1962 in Jõhvi) is an Estonian theatre director, film director, and actor. He has been the artistic Director of the Tallinn City Theatre since 1992. He was a graduate of the Estonian Academy of Music a ...

-directed war drama ''

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

'' which was selected as the 2015 Estonian entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

88th Academy Awards The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Du ...

but it was not nominated. In 2015, Pius had a starring role as Eero in the Urmas Eero Liiv-directed thriller ''Must alpinist'' for Kopli Kinokompanii. The film is loosely based on the events of the

Dyatlov Pass incident The Dyatlov Pass incident (russian: , ) was an event in which nine Soviet hikers died in the northern Ural Mountains between February 1 and 2, 1959, in uncertain circumstances. The experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnical Insti ...

of 2 February 1959, where nine ski hikers mysteriously died in the northern

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

after establishing a camp on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl. However, the film differs in many key ways from the original incident. In 2017, he appeared in two films; the Priit Pääsuke-directed drama ''Keti lõpp'' and the

Andres Puustusmaa Andres Puustusmaa (born 19 July 1971) is an Estonian film director, actor, screenwriter, professor, and photographer who began his career in the early 1990s. He has worked extensively in his native Estonia, as well as in Russia. Early life and e ...

-directed comedy ''Rohelised kassid''. In 2018, he appeared in the

Anu Aun Anu Aun (born 14 February 1980 in Pärnu) is an Estonian film director, producer and scenarist. 2005-2007 she worked at television production company OÜ Filmimees. In 2005 she founded (with Priit Pääsuke and Margo Siimon) the production compan ...

directed family-

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

film ''Eia jõulud Tondikakul''. Priit Pius has also appeared as television actor, most notably in the role of Oliver in the 2015

Kanal 2 Kanal 2 is a privately owned Estonian television channel. Its literal name in English is "Channel 2". The channel was established by Ilmar Taska. The channel began broadcasting on 1 October 1993. History The channel started broadcasting on O ...

drama series ''Restart''. In 2018, he began playing the role of Ricky Bamberg in the Kanal 2 television comedy series ''Alo'', also featuring his brother Märt, playing the role of Martin Bamberg. In 2021, Piius directed the six-part television drama series ''Süü''.

Personal life

Priit Pius was in a long-term relationship with actress Maiken Schmidt. They had a son on 22 March 2018 and married in July 2019. On 18 March 2020, they had a daughter. Both Priit and Märt Pius have been diagnosed with

Diabetes mellitus type 1 Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar f ...

and speak openly about living with the condition in order to raise awareness of the illness.menu.err.ee
''Märt Pius diabeedist: sellesse ei saa traagiliselt suhtuda, muidu jääb elu elamata'' 23 April 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pius, Priit 1989 births Living people Estonian male stage actors Estonian male film actors Estonian male television actors Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Male actors from Tallinn People from Põltsamaa Parish 21st-century Estonian male actors