Jarreth Merz
Jarreth Merz (born May 1, 1970 in Zurich ) is a Swiss film and theater actor and film director . In addition to having Swiss citizenship , Merz is also a citizen of Ghana .
Life
Jarreth Merz was born in Zurich to a Swiss father and a Ghanaian mother. From 1973 to 1980 the family lived in the home of Merz 'mother, in Ghana. After a short stay in Germany , where Merz lived in Hamburg from 1980 to 1981 , the Merz family returned to Switzerland in 1981. After graduating from high school in 1990, he studied acting at the European Film Actor School in Zurich. In 1992 he moved to New York City , where he continued his studies at the Herbert Berghof Studio , while also taking courses at New York University .
In 1996 Merz moved to Germany, where he found a new home in Berlin . His acting career also began in Germany. In 1998 he stood in front of the camera for the first time in the crime film Fake, alongside Martin Umbach and Herbert Feuerstein . In 2001 he played an American soldier in Taking Sides - The Furtwängler Case . Merz has been living in the USA again since 2003, this time in Los Angeles .
In addition to a small guest role in the television series Emergency Room - Die Notaufnahme in 2003, Merz got his best-known role to date in 2004. In Mel Gibson's controversial film adaptation of the Bible, The Passion of the Christ , he portrayed Simon of Cyrene , the man who helps Jesus of Nazareth carry the cross.
In 2005 Merz tried it as a film producer. He founded The Cell Film Production , which was to produce only one film, the 15-minute short film Nightshift . In 2006 he founded Urban Republic Films with his brother Kevin . In 2009, the company produced The Soul of Ashanti , a 60-minute documentary, the story of which is set in Ghana, and in which Jarreth Merz also made his debut as a film director.
Jarreth Merz speaks three languages fluently, German , English and Swiss German ; he has also shot in French , Spanish , Italian and Aramaic .
Filmography (selection)
- 2001: Taking Sides - Der Fall Furtwängler ( Der Fall Furtwängler )
- 2004: The Passion of Christ ( The Passion of the Christ )
- 2015: Homeland (TV series, episode 5x06)
- 2016: The Young Messiah (The Young Messiah)
- 2016: Ben Hur (Ben-Hur)
Web links
- Jarreth Merz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merz, Jarreth |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss-Ghanaian film and theater actor, film producer and film director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1970 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich , Switzerland |