‘The Zone Of Interest’s Christian Friedel Signs With UTA

EXCLUSIVE: Coming off his breakout role in Zone of Interest, Christian Friedel has signed with UTA for representation.

Friedel stars as the lead role in Jonathan Glazer’s critically acclaimed feature The Zone of Interest, based on the book of the same name by Martin Amis. The film made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 to remarkable reviews, where it was awarded the coveted Grand Prix and has since received a number of accolades including two Oscars for best sound and best international feature film.

Friedel was recently cast in a significant role in season 3 of the Emmy-winning global phenomenon anthology series The White Lotus. He is set to star alongside Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Aimee Lou Wood, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey and Leslie Bibb, among others. Production is currently underway in Thailand.

Friedel first theater engagements took him to the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel in Munich, the Munich Kammerspiele, the Schauspiel Hannover and the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, with which he is still connected today. In the title role of Schiller’s Don Carlos, Friedel was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2011, the production was also awarded the German theater prize Der Faust. As Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he has been performing to sold-out houses since 2012 and has made guest appearances at the Shakespeare Festival in the historic Kronborg Castle in Elsinore.

Since 2016 he has also been playing at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, where he has worked with Robert Wilson in the internationally successful production Der Sandmann and most recently for the monologue Dorian, which was acclaimed by audiences and critics, and for which Friedel was nominated for the German theater prize Der Faust for Best Actor. Friedel and his band Woods of Birnam also composed the music for this evening.

His past film credits include in Michael Haneke’s feature film The White Ribbon, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar. Friedel received the Metropolis Prize 2015 for the title role in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s 13 Minutes and was nominated for both the German and the European Film Prize for Best Actor. Jessica Hausner’s historical film Amour Fou in which he plays Heinrich von Kleist, was also honored with an invitation to Cannes. Friedel is a member of the ensemble in the highly-acclaimed television series Babylon Berlin.

Friedel also works as a theater director. He has staged productions at the Deutsches Theater Göttingen and the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, among others.