Rainer Bock, born in Kiel in 1954, studied acting at a private drama school and made his debut at the Stadttheater Kiel in 1982. This was followed by engagements at the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater, the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, the Nationaltheater Mannheim and the Staatstheater Stuttgart. From 2001 to 2011, Bock was engaged at the Bavarian State Theatre (Residenztheater) in Munich, where he appeared in Measure, for Measure (directed by Dieter Dorn) and Uncle Vanya (directed by Barbara Frey), among others.
Since 1989, he has appeared in over 120 film and television productions, both in international productions and in German-language cinema. His film credits include The White Ribbon (2009), which earned him a German Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) and David Nawrath's Atlas (2018). He won the 2019 German Acting Award (Deutscher Schauspielpreis) for his leading role in Atlas.
Rainer Bock has also appeared in international television series such as Better Call Saul and Homeland. He lives in Munich and is a member of the German Film Academy. In 2025, he won the Acting Award at the Festival of German Film, and in 2026, he was honoured with the Bavarian Film Award (Bayerischer Filmpreis) for Best Actor for his role in Karla.
Current roles:
- António in Catarina, or The Beauty of Killing Fascists