Learn German with the films and television of actor Tobias Moretti.

Learn German with Films of Tobias Moretti

Austrian actor Tobias Moretti is truly a jack of all trades. He began his career as an actor on the stage but he has mastered performing on both the big and small screens (that is, cinema and television). He can portray “the bad guy” impressively, sending chills down your spine. But Moretti can also bring a smile to your face in a clever comedy. So this month, let’s learn German with the film and television roles of Tobias Moretti!



Get to Know Tobias Moretti

Tobias Moretti was born Tobias Bloéb on July 11, 1959, in the southwestern Austrian town of Gries am Brenner in Tyrol. He is the oldest of four sons.

As a young man, Moretti began pursuing the arts. First in music as he studied composition at Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts. But he instead moved to Munich, studying at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts. The school’s other famous alumni include, among others, Maximilian Brückner, Sebastian Koch, and Franka Potente (although she never completed her studies).

He then spent much of the mid- to late-1980s on stage at Munich’s Kammerspiele. During this time, Moretti was recognized as the best young actor by the Deutscher Staatspreis and best actor of the year by the Bayerische Akademie der Künste.

As Moretti eventually transitioned to film and television, he never fully gave up acting on the stage. But it was his long-time role on police drama Kommissar Rex that served as a breakout performance.

Moretti has been married to his wife, an oboist, since 1997 and the couple has three children.

Learn German with the television show Bad Banks, starring actor Tobias Moretti.

Bad Banks

Jana Liekam (portrayed by Paula Beer) is a young woman working in investment banking at Deutsche Global Invest and she has big ambitions. After she is wrongly fired, she is quickly pulled into a scheme controlled by the head of her former company. Jana’s given her dream job in Frankfurt but everything comes with a price.

And on Bad Banks, everyone has their own designs on power and money. The show is full of deceit and thrills. But the biggest question is whether ambition destroys all it touches.

The cast is full of notable names. Moretti portrays Quirin Sydow, the chief financial officer of Deutsche Global Invest. Albrecht Schuch stars as Jana’s coworker Adam.

Bad Banks is one of many German-language television shows you can stream now on Hulu.

Learn German with the film das ewige Leben, starring actor Tobias Moretti.

Das ewige Leben

In the 2015 comedic crime thriller Das ewige Leben (or Life Eternal in English), former cop Brenner returns home to Graz, Austria. But despite what they say, you can’t always go home again. Brenner ends up in the hospital with a coma. When he wakes up, he dedicates himself to figuring out who put him in the hospital in the first place. But everyone tells Brenner it is he who is responsible. Could it be true?

Tobias Moretti stars in the film as Aschenbrenner, the head of the state police.

Learn German with the film das finstere Tal, starring actor Tobias Moretti.

Das finstere Tal

Das finstere Tal is the 2014 film version of author Thomas Willmann’s 2010 novel of the same name. Directed by Andreas Prochaska, the western drama is set in the Austrian Alps. Sam Riley portrays Greider, a solo traveler who finds himself in a small Alpine village where he isn’t very welcome.

Tobias Moretti stars as Old Hans Brenner, a wealthy man who seems to control the village, in the action-packed drama.

Practice practice practice! Discover other great German-language films! See previously featured actors, actresses, directors, and filmmakers.

Top photo by Christian Hartmann, courtesy Agentur Lambsdorff. This post contains affiliate links

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