Matthias Schweighöfer

German film and television actor Matthias Schweighoefer emerged as a late-'90s Teutonic teen idol with a string of high-profile romantic roles, including that of the Frog Prince in the fairy-tale TV-movie "Küss mich, Frosch." The son of two well-known stage and screen actors, baby-faced blond Schweighoefer survived the often glaring spotlight that accompanied his early 2000s next-big-thing status, to firmly establish his A-list credentials with a string of homegrown hits.

Popular with local audiences in romantic comedies like "Soloalbum" and "Rabbit Without Ears," both co-starring Nora Tschirner, he also tackled heavy dramatic roles on stage and screen, and proved himself as credible in period epics as in contemporary comedies. He garnered much acclaim for his performance as a lovesick E.M.T. in the bittersweet romance "Off Beat," and for his portrayal of famed 18th-century poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller in the 2005 German TV movie "Schiller." Schweighoefer hit the international radar with a supporting role in the big-budget World War II thriller "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise, and with another standout soldier turn in the high-flying action-adventure "The Red Baron," as the fearsome World War I fighter pilot.

The "Baron" crashed at the box office, but Schweighoefer's close involvement with the film's production did inspire him to follow a passion to direct with the romantic comedy "What A Man," which he co-wrote and starred in, as a clueless teacher who must learn the ways of wooing women.