August Diehl was first seen in the 1998 Hans-Christian Schmid-directed German drama-thriller film ‘23’ where he portrayed ‘Karl Koch.’ The film was generally well-received by the critics although some questioned its accuracy in relation to the actual events. Diehl also won the ‘German Film Award’ and the ‘Bavarian Film Award’ for his performance in the film. He next starred in films like ‘Die Braut’ (1999), ‘Kalt ist der Abendhauch’ (2000), ‘Der Atemkünstler’ (2000), ‘Love the Hard Way’ (2001), ‘Tattoo’ (2002), ‘Anatomy 2’ (2003), ‘Distant Lights’ (2003), ‘Love in Thoughts’ (2004), ‘The Ninth Day’ (2004), ‘Mouth to Mouth’ (2005), ‘Slumming’ (2006), ‘The Counterfeiters’ (2007), and ‘Buddenbrooks’ (2008). In 2009, he portrayed ‘Major Hellstrom’ in the Quentin Tarantino-directed war film ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ The film was widely praised by critics and was a major box office success, grossing over $321.5 million on a budget of $70 million. He next starred as ‘Mike Krause’ in the 2010 American action thriller film ‘Salt’ directed by Phillip Noyce. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $293.5 million on a budget of $130 million.
He continued to star in films like ‘Confession of a Child of the Century’ (2012), ‘Layla Fourie’ (2013), ‘Night Train to Lisbon’ (2013), ‘En mai, fais ce qu'il te plait’ (2015), ‘Dark Inclusion’ (2016), ‘Allied’ (2016), ‘The Young Karl Marx’ (2017), ‘Kursk’ (2018), ‘A Hidden Life’ (2019), ‘The Last Vermeer’ (2019), and ‘The King's Man’ (2021). He was last seen in the 2021 German/British period drama spy thriller film ‘Munich – The Edge of War’ directed by Christian Schwochow. The film saw its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and received mostly positive reviews from critics, scoring an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Diehl will be next seen in the upcoming film ‘Woland.’
