Benno Fürmann, born January 1972, in Berlin, lost both his parents at the age of 15 and grew up with foster parents. During his youth, Fürmann was a rebellious thrill seeker and even did some illegal train surfing until he suffered a severe accident at the age of 17. Fürmann left school after finishing the secondary school degree in 1988. He then worked in several jobs as a waiter, scene shifter, and bouncer and started his acting career with minor parts in "Die zweite Heimat" ("Heimat II") by Edgar Reitz and in the TV movie "Schuld war nur der Bossa Nova".

In 1992, Fürmann went to New York to attend actor’s training at the famous Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute for one year. After his return to Germay, Fürmann at first mainly appeared in minor parts in several TV movies. He made his breakthrough in 1994/95 in a leading role in Peter Timm’s drama "Einfach nur Liebe" ("Simply Love") and as a filling station attendant in the Ruhr area in the RTL sitcom "Und tschüss". Fürmann then appeared in several TV movies, for instance in "Das erste Mal" ("The First Time") oder "Landgang für Ringo" (both 1996).

From 1996 to 1999, Fürmann portrayed an equally sensitive and impulsive investigator alongside Dieter Pfaff in the highly praised crime series "Sperling", developed by Dominik Graf. He then caused a stir with the impressive portrayal of the boxer Bubi Scholz in Roland Suso Richter’s TV movie "Die Bubi Scholz Story" ("The Bubi Scholz Story", 1998), a part that won Fürman the German TV award as "Best actor".

During the following years, Fürmann mainly focused on his movie career. Some of Germany’s most promising directors made use of his acting talent to appear vulnerable and introvert and at the same time smug and rebelliously determined on screen. Thus, Fürmann starred in Lars Becker’s "Kanak Attack" (2000), Tom Tykwer’s "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin" ("The Princess and The Warrior", 2000), and Doris Dörrie’s "Nackt" ("Naked", 2002). Nevertheless, Fürmann probably made his most praised performance in Christian Petzold’s psychological drama "Wolfsburg" (2003). His nuanced portrayal of a man who feels unbearably guilty after causing a lethal hit-and-run accident won Fürmann the Grimme award.

After "Wolfsburg", Fürmann was mainly seen in successful mainstream productions such as "Merry Christmas" (2005), which won an Oscar nomination, the children and youth films "Die Wilden Hühner" ("Wild Chicks", 2006) and "Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe" ("Wild Chicks in Love", 2007), as well as Marc Rothemund’s comedy "Pornorama" (2007).

During the movie season 2008/09, Fürmann was constantly present on the movie screen: He played leading roles in films as diverse as the mountain climber drama "Nordwand" ("North Face"), the melodramatic love triangle story "Jerichow", directed by Christian Petzold, and the artful mystery drama "Hinter Kaifeck" ("Kaifeck Murder"), directed by Esther Gronenborn.