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Sebastian Hülk, born on 10 January 1975 in Bottrop, received lessons in classical violin from 1980 to 1994. In 2000 he started studying acting at the Academy of Film and Television 'Konrad Wolf' in Potsdam-Babelsberg, from where he graduated in 2004. During his studies, he took part in stage productions at the Vaganten Bühne Berlin and at the Studiobühne of the Maxim Gorki Theater. Hülk also made his debut in front of the camera during that time with small guest appearances in the TV series "Berlin, Berlin" (2003) and "Mein Leben & ich" (2003). Following this, he played a leading role in the award-winning war film "Ghetto" (2005), in which he portrayed an SS officer who is an art enthusiast and sadist.
After his studies, Hülk was a permanent ensemble member at the Staatstheater Kassel from 2005 to 2007. In 2005/2006 he was awarded the Young Talent Prize for his performance in the play "Die andere Seite" at the Kasseler Staatstheater. Over the years Hülk has been appearing on stage (as actor or narrator) at numerous theaters, among them the Zurich Opera House, the Hanover State Theatre and the Berlin State Ballet. From 2009, Sebastian Hülk has also been appearing regularly in cinema and television productions, initially in small roles: In Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (DE/US 2009) he was the driver of an SS man, in the epic period drama "Die Päpstin" ("Pope Joan", 2009) he played an envoy of the bishop of Dorstadt.
Hülk had a central role in Michael Haneke's award-winning international success "Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte" ("The White Ribbon", 2009), in which he played a farmer's son whose anger at a baron (Ulrich Tukur) triggers a series of tragic events. Director Matti Geschonneck cast Hülk in the tragicomedy "Boxhagener Platz" ("Berlin, Boxhagener Platz", 2010) in a smaller role as chief lieutenant of the police force in East Berlin in 1968; for the agent thriller "Hanna" (US/GB/DE 2011) he took on the role of a violent skinhead who is after the title heroine.
Over the next few years, Hülk was repeatedly cast for military and Nazi roles, for example as an officer in Steven Spielberg's war epic "War Horse" (2011), as an SS man in the Holocaust drama "Die verlorene Zeit" ("Remembrance", 2011) and in Pepe Danquart's "Lauf, Junge, lauf! ("Run, Boy, Run!" DE/FR 2013) and as Gestapo agent in "The Book Thief" (DE/US 2014). He had larger roles in the two-parter "Die Pilgerin" (2013, TV) as the illegitimate son of a village mayor in the 14th century as well as in the biopic "Amour fou" (2014) as Heinrich von Kleist's close friend Ernst von Pfuel. He also had a number of guest appearances in TV (crime) series; in five episodes of the US series "Homeland" (2015) he was seen as a German secret service agent.
The television drama "Operation Zucker - Jagdgesellschaft", which was broadcast at the beginning of 2016, received much attention from critics and audiences. In it, Hülk played a respected building contractor who leads a perverse double life and sexually abuses young girls in his villa. He then played a likable character in Sherry Hormann's TV thriller "Lotte Jäger und das tote Mädchen" (Screenplay: Rolf Basedow), in which he was the colleague of the titular commissioner; in Christian Petzold's "Polizeiruf 110: Wölfe" he had a leading role as a zoologist with a bizarre murderous secret.
Sebastian Hülk played a leading role in the drama "Auf einmal" ("At Once", 2016), as a small-town resident whose well-ordered life is disrupted by his possible complicity in a death. The film premiered at the Panorama of the Berlinale 2016 and was shown in German cinemas the following October.
Afterwards Hülk was seen again in a series of TV productions, among them the two-parter "Tödliche Geheimnisse" (2017) and the Netflix series "Dark", in which he was a regular.
Once again under Christian Petzold's direction, Hülk had a smaller part in the award-winning feature film drama "Transit" (2018). He played a very memorable supporting role in the US agent thriller "Red Sparrow" (2018) as a sadistic Russian professional killer. Michael Herbig cast him as Sergeant Major in the GDR escape story "Ballon" ("Balloon").
In 2019 two films with Sebastian Hülk were released in cinemas: Jessica Hausner's science fiction drama "Little Joe - Glück ist ein Geschäft" and Florian Koerner von Gustorf's "Was gewesen wäre" ("What Might Have Been"), in which he played a leading role as the main character's first love (Christiane Paul).