Ingrid Bisu (born September 15, 1987) is a Romanian-German actress and producer. She's best known for her appearance in the drama Toni Erdmann (2016), which was nominated[1] at The Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d'Or [2] and also for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globe Awards[3] and the Academy Awards[4] in 2017.
Bisu was born on September 15, 1987, in Bucharest, Romania to Romanian/ German parents. Bisu grew up in the German community in Romania, attending the German Kindergarten, Highschool and College in Bucharest.
At 16 years old in 2003, Ingrid did her first photoshoot for a famous teenage magazine called "Cool Girl", for their New Year's Eve edition photoshoot. She had her first audition for Orange S.A. Mobile international commercial. They auditioned girls in Israel, England and Romania, but Ingrid got the part. The commercial ended up being broadcast in Israel and Romania.
Bisu had a part in a Romanian national TV series, Casatorie de Proba"(Marriage of Probation)[5] playing the part of "Flori" - a young and bright teenager.[6] As a result, she appeared in magazines[7] and television interviews.[8][9] Bisu had a role in the movie BloodRayne (film) where she plays alongside Sir Ben Kingsley.[10] and had other smaller roles in sitcoms such as "La Bloc"(In The Building) and "Arestat la domiciliu"(Arrested at home) with Pro TV.
In 2006 she takes the lead role of "Alice" in the drama television movie "O Lume A Durerii"(A World of Pain),[11] part of a project meant to show the struggles of teenage women in Romania at the time. That project got her the attention of director Cristian Mungiu, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007[12] for his movie 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days who distributed her as "Viviana" for his Tales from the Golden Age movies. A two part series, with a comedic take on the Communist Period in Romania. This series was nominated 6 times at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ingrid enrolls in the Hyperion Academy of Dramatic Arts in Bucharest, where she gets the highest score on her admission exam, starring in theater plays with lead roles such as "Nina" in The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Hedda Gabler in the play by Henrik Ibsen and "Mona" in The Star Without a Name by Mihail Sebastian. Balancing out school with her movie and television career, she took on the role of "Naomi" in the drama series, 17, Poveste despre destin (2008) on Prima TV, a NC-17 rated for violence and language show about young adults and the repercussions of drugs, violence and other abuse. During university she also stars as "Bianca" in the comedy series Nimeni nu-i perfect (Nobody's Perfect),[13] a Romanian sitcom similar to Saved by the Bell.
After movies such as the horror film Slaughter (2009 film) and the Christmas comedy Ho Ho Ho (film) she got the part of Mona/Amie 2 in the movie What War May Bring, directed by Claude Lelouch winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[14] and also Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Claude Lelouch wanted Ingrid to play the part of a German being seduced in the war, but since she didn’t have the specific look of blond hair, blue eyes, he created a part on the spot as the "friend of the German" so she could be a part of his movie. Her next role is in the film Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man directed by Constantin Popescu, where she plays real life based character, "Matilda Jubleanu". The movie tells the story of the people that went against the communist regime and hid in the mountains and the repercussions that had on the families left behind.[15] Here she has a torture scene, where the character is being burned alive for not giving information on the whereabouts of her family.
After her morning show ends, Ingrid goes back to her first love, movies, and in 2012 she is featured in Romanian films such as Sunt o babă comunistă in directed by Stere Gulea and "Roxanne" directed by Vali Hotea,[22] both films with multiple nominations.[23] She gets a supporting role in the American horror movie Dracula: The Dark Prince in 2013 starring Jon Voight, where she plays Minerva, the bold leader of the prisoners being caught and brought back to Dracula's castle.[24] Her next project is the science fiction film The Zero Theorem directed by Terry Gilliam, with Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz, where she plays Christoph's colleague. In 2014 (end of 2013) she was chosen to play "Brittany White" the host of a 5-hour live comedy web series, being broadcast in the United States, called "The Super Yolo Show".[25] The show, created by an American company to be filmed in Romania and broadcast live in the US is mostly improv and is a satire of today's social media culture and the way it affects people's day-to-day lives.
Begin of 2014, Ingrid auditions for the Oscar nominated film Toni Erdmann directed by Maren Ade, one of Germany's youngest up and coming directors, and lands the part of "Anca", the young and bright assistant of the lead character "Ines" played by Sandra Huller.