Johanna Wokalek Movies and Career Information

Johanna Wokalek (born March 3, 1975) is a German stage and film actress. A student of Klaus Maria Brandauer, she received critical recognition and three newcomer awards for her performance in the play Rose Bernd. Wokalek is best known for her award-winning appearances in the German films Hierankl, Barfuss, and The Baader Meinhof Complex. She received the Bambi award for her portrayal of the Red Army Faction member Gudrun Ensslin in 2008. She played the lead role in the film Pope Joan in 2009. Wokalek was born in Freiburg, Germany, daughter of a professor of dermatology from Mediaş, Romania. She attended the Friedrich-Gymnasium in Freiburg where she first tried acting in the school's drama group in 1991. After her final exams in 1994 Wokalek intended to allow herself up to three applications at drama schools before choosing a different career. However, her first application to study at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna was accepted right away, and she moved to the Austrian capital in 1995 to begin her four-year study as a student of Klaus Maria Brandauer. Brandauer, well known for his parts in Mephisto, Out of Africa and Never Say Never Again, started teaching at the seminar at