World News – CA – The Cast of Netflix’s Barbarians is a Who’s Who of Great German Actors

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There is something about the show « Barbarians » that sounds oddly familiar with Guts and Blood; gloomy lighting; the vaguely European forest where it always seems to have stopped raining; the prostitutes; the witches; those damn beheadings and the endless parade of bloody battle scenes – it’s all very « Game of Thrones » -y And that’s probably by design Although it’s rooted in fantasy, the behemoth TV series has inspired quite a few series of historical dramas, including History Channel’s « Vikings » and the BBC’s « The Last Kingdom » »

But an important detail separates « Barbarians » from « Game of Thrones » and the historical dramas it inspired: the actors of « Barbarians » are all very German and their origins give the show a sense of captivating authenticity  » Barbarians « is based on ancient German history, particularly the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, in which disparate Germanic tribes united to prevent the Roman Empire from spreading further north in AD 9 In » Barbarians  » , the true story of this epic battle is told primarily from the perspective of the main character of the series Arminius, a Roman officer of Germanic descent who must ultimately decide his loyalty

If you are not an expert on German cinema, here is a handy guide to the stars of « Barbarians »

Schutz is a well-established German actor who has worked in film and television since the early years. American audiences might recognize him in « A Most Wanted Man », the spy thriller that starred Phillip Seymour Hoffman in one of his last roles In « Barbarians », Schutz plays Segestes, a nobleman of the Cherusci tribe Segestes is also the father of another central character, Thusnelda At the start of the first episode, Segestes tries to sell his stubborn daughter to a man with a tiny ponytail, promising her « that she will obey »

Goursaud is a young Franco-German actress whose career is just starting to heat up. In Germany, she appeared in popular comedies such as « Bullyparade – The Film » which paid tribute to the TV show of same name She also had a small role in « The 15:17 To Paris » by well-meaning but clumsy Clint Eastwood Goursaud plays the role of Thusnelda, the rowdy daughter of Segesta In the opening scene of « Barbarians », Thusmelda happily teaches her younger brother how to fight. The two seem to be close and their relationship is a central part of the first episode of the series

David Schutter’s character in « Barbarians » has the best name of all time: Folkwin Wolfspeer The character is one of the few in the series not to be based on an actual figure, which is probably why his name (and, coincidentally, the name of my future dog) is Folkwin Wolfspeer In « Barbarians » Wolfspeer is a young warrior who, alongside his lover Thusmelda, mocks the Romans and engages in a series of hijinks that will certainly not end well Before being cast as Folkwin Wolfspeer, Schütter appeared in « Charlie’s Angels » in 2019 as Ralph, the security chief of evil tech entrepreneur Alexander Brok. Schütter is the grandson of the actor and influential professor of Friedrich Schütter

The only non-German on this list, Laurence Rupp is a famous Austrian actor. In 2019, he received the Austrian Cinema Award for playing a haunted policeman in the film « Cops » Currently, Rupp is a member of the prestigious Berliner ensemble at Berlin, Germany

As a young Roman Emperor Arminius, Rupp provides the « barbarians » with much of his tension Despite being brought up Roman, Arminius is in fact of Germanic descent When returned to Cherusci to uphold the tributes from Governor Vasu, he reunites with his childhood friends Wolfspeer and Thusnelda, which causes a crisis of conscience in him

Netflix, Arminius, Barbarian, Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Thusnelda