Birgit Minichmayr, born April 3, 1977, in Linz, Austria, attended actor"s training at Vienna"s Max-Reinhardt-Seminar after finishing school. After her graduation, she immediately got an engagement at Vienna"s famous Burgtheater where she made her stage debut in 1999 in the role of a prostitute in Schnitzler"s "Reigen" ("La Ronde"). One year later, she received the theatre award Nestroy prize as "Best young talent"; in 2004, she won the Nestroy prize as "Best actress" for her performance in the role of Medea in the Burgtheater production of "Das goldene Vlies".

Minichmayr was a cast member of Burgtheater until 2004. After a leading role in Frank Castorf"s production of "Gier nach Gold" at Ruhrfestspiele, she became a cast member of Volksbühne Berlin in the 2004/05 season. From 2007 on, Minichmayr who lives alternately in Berlin and in Vienna, was again seen in productions of classic plays like "King Lear" or "Macbeth" at Vienna"s Burgtheater.

In 2000, Birgit Minichmayr made her debut on the movie screen in the role of Bertolt Brecht"s daughter in Jan Schütte"s film "Abschied – Brechts letzter Sommer" ("The Farewell"). The following year, she played a key supporting role as a stenotypist of the Furtwängler interrogations in "Taking Sides". Still in 2001, she was named the Austrian "Shooting Star" at the Berlinale film festival. During the following years, Minichmayr appeared in several movie and TV production besides her theatre work. In her films, Minichmayer has always made the impression that her choice of roles was informed by artistic reasons and representational challenges.

Her most important works include films as diverse as Jessica Hausner"s artful mystery melodrama "Hotel" (2004), Barbara Albert"s quiet ensemble drama "Fallen" ("Falling", 2006), Tom Tykwer"s bestseller adaptation "Das Parfum" ("Perfume – The Story of a Murderer", 2006) and Doris Dörrie"s highly-praised film "Kirschblüten – Hanami" ("Cherry Blossoms – Hanami", 2008).

In 2009, Minichmayr played leading roles in two films that could not be any more different from each other: Wolfgang Murnberger"s pitch-dark, macabre comedy "Der Knochenmann" ("The Bone Man") and Maren Ade"s award-winning relationship drama "Alle Anderen" ("Everyone Else"). For her performance in Ade"s film, Minichmayr won the award as "Best actress" at the 2009 Berlinale.