Who is Lars Eidinger?

Lars Eidinger is a German actor and multidisciplinary artist from Berlin, widely respected for his intense stage work and distinctive screen presence in European and international productions. He built his reputation at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, where he became a defining performer in modern stagings of classics like Hamlet and Richard III.[1][2]

Transitioning from theatre to film, Eidinger gained early international attention through the award‑winning relationship drama Everyone Else, then expanded his reach with roles in Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper and various German and British television projects.[1][3]

Career Highlights and Signature Roles

Eidinger’s screen career spans German films such as Everyone Else and Dying (Sterben), festival titles like My Little Sister, and international work including Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Claire Denis’s High Life and Noah Baumbach’s White Noise.[1][2][3] His characters often occupy morally ambiguous territory, balancing vulnerability with an unsettling edge.

On television, he is best known in Europe for the noir series Babylon Berlin and has appeared in global projects like Sense8, SS‑GB and the adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See.[1][3] These roles have reinforced his image as a chameleon able to move between arthouse cinema, ambitious TV dramas and experimental theatre.

Lars Eidinger is trending globally because his long‑cultivated arthouse and theatre credentials are now intersecting with major English‑language projects, including a headline‑making casting as a key villain in a forthcoming Superman sequel.[4][5] This role places him within a mainstream comic‑book franchise, dramatically expanding his audience beyond European cinephiles and theatre‑goers.

His rise reflects a broader industry move to cast seasoned European character actors in blockbuster franchises to deepen the psychological complexity of antagonists. For Eidinger, it marks a new phase where his experimental, risk‑taking performance style can influence how big‑budget superhero films portray their villains, potentially redefining him from cult favourite to household name.