Wolfgang Cerny
Actor · Born August 31, 1984 (42) · Vienna, Austria
Wolfgang grew up in a family of doctors and sportsmen in Vienna, Austria. He was heavily involved in sports, including martial arts, boxing, horse riding, swimming, alpine skiing and surfing. He was in the swim team and is a certified ski-instructor and member of the Red Devils in Kitzbühel. Originally Wolfgang chose to become a doctor like his father and older brother, so he enrolled in the medical university of Vienna and passed the first year's exams. After two years he dropped out to pursue an acting career. Wolfgang went to Los Angeles and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts as well as at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. After graduating Wolfgang was immediately cast as the lead in the German hit series "Storm of Love". He starred as Lukas Zastrow for one season and 220 episodes. Then he joined the ensemble of the theater Kammerspiele and Schauburg in Munich for two years, before his international breakthrough came 2012 with the popular big budget 8 part TV war epos "Snipers" for Russia's Channel One, where his leading performance as the aristocratic German sniper Alexander von Foss earned him much attention. An instant hit, this project paved the way and led to him later becoming an in-demand actor in Russia and the former CIS countries. In 2014 Cerny starred as the elite pilot Boehlke in the WWII drama series "The Hunters". After that he was invited to "Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation" directed by Christopher McQuarrie, as well as to the German projects "Hitlers Volk" (2015) and "Soko Munich" (2015). In 2017 well known director Dimitri Dyachenko chose Cerny to star in Walt Disney Russia's "The Last Warrior" as the knight Alyosha Popovich, one of Russia's most popular fairy tale heroes.This was a huge breakthrough, as it became the most successful movie in Russian history. More and more projects followed. Famous Russian actor Konstantin Khabenskiy cast Wolfgang for his directorial debut in "Sobibor" a true story about the mass breakout of a Nazi death camp, as one of the leading roles next to Christopher Lambert. The historical drama was selected to represent Russia in the Oscars 2019. Wolfgang continued working in the East as well as in Europe. In 2018 the UK spy comedy "Action Team", by Tom Davis and James De Frond, aired on the British channel ITV2, where Cerny was offered to join the main cast as Bogohardt, an Austrian and Russian counter spy. In the Welsh movie "Morfydd" (2018) he impersonated wealthy prince Alexis. In 2019 he was shooting in 5 feature films and two TV series, including the big budget horror blockbuster "Row 19", where he stars as the male lead Alexei, already speaking fluent Russian. "Red Ghost" (2021), a Tarantino-esque thriller, where Cerny starred as the lead Braun, became an instant success, and was sold to more than 120 countries, including the States, Canada, France, Germany, China and Japan. The dark comedy was sold to more than 120 countries and became the 8th most popular Russian movie on IMDB of all time. Wolfgang was awarded best actor at the International Ozerov Film Festival. In an episode of the 11th season of the Austrian crime series "Soko Donau" (2019), he guest starred as Thomas Wielking, a blacksmith and member of a medieval reenactment troupe. In the same year he was invited to the highly successful figure skating show "Ice Age" for the First Channel, alongside Olympic champion Oksana Domnina. Together they performed 13 shows over 13 weeks. In the same year he starred in the biopic "Zoe" (2020). In 2021 he plays the lead in no less than 4 feature films and a series. The Guru, shamanic cult leader in the mystery thriller "Whirlpool", the German ex soldier Helmut in the international blockbuster "Nuremberg" directed by Nikolai Lebedev, a martial arts hero in "Legends of Sambo", which Cerny also produced, and a mislead security guard in "Sokina Station". In the same year Wolfgang's wife Victoria Cerny gives birth to their son Leonard. For the family drama "Tell Her" (2021) upcoming director Alexander Molochnikov chose Cerny to star alongside starlet Svetlana Khochenkova. After that he joined the cast of Netflix "Valhalla" (2021) as Sten Sigurdsson. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cerny together with his family left Russia for Austria. They now live in Vienna.
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Biography from IMDb.
- August 31, 1984 (42)
- Vienna, Austria
- Actor
- 12 on Motif · 38 credits in all
What are Wolfgang Cerny's films like?
Across their 6 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 3
Grounded 1 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 2
Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 5
Steady 0 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 4
A split, not a type: Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 2
Roles they play
- Shadowas Braun in The Red Ghost (2020)
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet4
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Wolfgang Cerny's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 12 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (7).
Subscription and free streaming for Wolfgang Cerny's titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
38 credits, 12 with a Motif page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Parents' House (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2026)
Ravioli Oli (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2026)
Nuremberg(2025)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Constantinople (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2025)
Disappointed (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2025)
Нюрнбергская история (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2025)
В парке Чаир (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2025)
Пять копеек (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)
Family Turmoil (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)
Umalta's Gold (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)
Careful - Love (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)
Inye (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2024)
The Legend of Sambo (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2023)
Zoskin Gas Station (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2023)
Nurnberg (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2023)
Peter I (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2023)
The Healing(2022)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Peter I: The Last Tsar and the First Emperor (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2022)
Vikings: Valhalla(2022)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Row 19(2021)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
The Red Ghost(2020)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Tell Her (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2021)
Zoya (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2021)
Cosmoball(2020)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
The Conquest of Siberia(2019)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
T-34(2018)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
Dinosaur (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2018)
Sobibor(2018)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
The Last Warrior(2017)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Hitler's People: A Portrait of the Third Reich (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2015)
Amongst the Shadows (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2015)
War Correspondent (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2014)
Снайперы: Любовь под прицелом (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2012)
Vienna Crime Squad (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2005)
Storm of Love (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2005)
Emmy und der letzte Zauberspruch (not in the Motif catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 89th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 38 titles, 37 of them dated from 2005 to 2026; peak year 2021.
Biggest box office
The Last Warrior (2017)
Highest rated
Sobibor (2018)
Most popular right now
Row 19 (2021)
Film career
Peak 2021 · at the high point of their film career. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2005Screen debut· Storm of Love
- 2017First film· The Last Warrior
- 2021Career best· Row 19
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on Motif, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Wolfgang Cerny's films land?
Their typical Motif film has a Midcredits score in the 53rd percentile, the median of all 11; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 39th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 12 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the acting 57/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles; fans 70, detractors 32. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their Motif titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Wolfgang Cerny work with?
People who share at least 2 of Wolfgang Cerny's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ekaterina Vilkova shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Ekaterina VilkovaShared titles: Row 19 (2021), The Last Warrior (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Ekaterina Vilkova
- Elena YakovlevaShared titles: Cosmoball (2020), The Last Warrior (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Elena Yakovleva
Producers
- Dzhanik FayzievShared titles: Row 19 (2021), Cosmoball (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Dzhanik Fayziev
