In just five years, Franz Rogowski has grown from a respected indie film actor in Germany to an international name-on-the-poster leading man. He doesn’t fit the conventional movie-star profile, and that’s part of what makes his rise so intriguing. He’s not a jacked-up male model who could be poured directly into a superhero suit; he’s of average height, with a compact body, a soft voice, searching eyes, partial hearing loss, and both a facial scar and a lisp (from a childhood cleft operation). He’s appealed to some of the most vital filmmakers of world cinema, including Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life), Christian Petzold (Undine, Transit), Michael Haneke (Happy End), and Andrea Arnold (Bird, which was still filming when this interview was conducted and is due in theaters next year).
