Johanna Wokalek (48) is Cris Blum, the new investigator in the Munich edition of the popular crime series “Polizeiruf 110”. The Freiburg native will have her first assignment as chief inspector in the Bavarian capital on Sunday, September 17th in the episode “Little Boxes”. So far, Wokalek has appeared primarily as an actress in major German film and cinema productions. These are her most famous roles to date:
Wokalek celebrated her breakthrough in 2003 thanks to her involvement in the modern local film “Hierankl”. The mother of one son, who lives in Paris, was even awarded the Bavarian Film Prize for Best Actress for her role as the main character Lene. The film received numerous other honors, such as the Adolf Grimme Prize and the German Film Promotion Prize. For Wokalek, her success at the time marked the start of a very promising acting career.
A year after her first milestone, Wokalek played her way into the hearts of an even broader and, above all, younger audience alongside Til Schweiger (59). In the tragicomic romantic film “Barefoot” she played the mentally ill Leila, who develops a special romantic relationship with the rebel Nick Keller (Schweiger). Wokalek was celebrated by numerous critics for her performance and had finally reached the top ranks of German-speaking actresses.
In the German cinema historical epic “The Baader Meinhof Complex”, which retells the story of the left-wing extremist terrorist gang Red Army Faction almost faithfully to the original, Wokalek took on the role of Gudrun Ensslin (1940-1977), who played a key role. Filmmaker Bernd Eichinger (1949-2011) brought together the who’s who of the German acting scene in front of the camera: In addition to Wokalek, Martina Gedeck, Jan Josef Liefers, Moritz Bleibtreu, Bruno Ganz, Tom Schilling and Heino Ferch can also be seen there . The film even received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
A year later, Wokalek appeared in the acclaimed Sönke-Wortmann historical drama “The Pope”, which was produced for the international market. In the film adaptation, she once again took on the leading role and breathed life into the once supposedly real Popess Johanna, who, according to legend, was said to have reigned at the end of the 11th century. The drama also starred Hollywood icon John Goodman (71) and “The Lord of the Rings” star David Wenham (57) alongside Wokalek.
In 2018, Johanna Wokalek and her colleague Ronald Zehrfeld (46) portrayed a Jewish couple during the Nazi regime in the ZDF two-part series “Regional Court – History of a Family”. Wokalek was once again celebrated by many critics for this portrayal. Together with Zehrfeld, she also appropriately won a Grimme Prize for her performance.
