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Jonathan Failla, actor, Berlin
©Teresa Marenzi
  • Actor
Born 1961 in Brooklyn, New York (62 Years)

Basic data

LanguagesEnglishFinnishGermanItalianSpanishSwedish
Dialects(US) - New Jersey English (Native dialect), American (Standard) (Native dialect), British (Standard), Brooklyn-English (Native dialect), New York Accent (Native dialect)
SingingA cappellaBeatboxingChansonClassicGospelHip Hop / RapJazzMusicalOperaRock/PopSchlagerSoul / RnB
Instrumentsbaritone horn
Skills (dance)Contemporary Dance
Skills (sports)American Footballbaseballbasketballbilliardsbodyboardingbowlingcrossfitfencing (stage)horseback ridingjugglinglacrosseqigongsquashtai chi
Immediate working areaBerlin
1st residence (federal state or country)Germany - Saxony-Anhalt
NationalityU.S.-American
LicencesB (car) [eu]

Agency

Germany
Phone+49 30 48495439
Mobile+49 151 23423725

Contact

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E-mail for members only
WhatsAppMembers only

Showreels

Featured

All videos

About Jonathan Failla

Jonathan Failla was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1961. He grew up on Long Island, where he developed an early love for the Atlantic Ocean and good pizza. He first got bit by the acting bug in high school drama club, when Sister Monika told him that his Walter Hollander made a severely depressed friend of hers laugh for the first time in years. That's when he realized that acting has the capacity to work wonders. He studied acting at SUNY Purchase with Joan Potter, a member of the Actor's Studio, who studied with Lee Strasberg and Eva Le Gallienne. On campus, he founded the Purchase Underground Stage and graduated in 1983 as valedictorian with a BFA in Theatre Arts and Film. For several years thereafter, he lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where he worked as a house painter during the day and acted in Off-Off-Broadway theatre productions at night. He then went on to be a set painter in the art departments of various film productions. In December 1988, he applied for a job sponsored by the US Embassy - an exhibition about film in America taking place in East Berlin. During that time period, he met theatre people from East Germany who adopted him into their "free theatre" group Theater Schlagersüß and invited him to direct them in an American play in East Berlin. The production, "Save the Pigs," had its premiere on May 1st, 1989 in the East German capital. A few months later, the Berlin Wall fell. He moved to Prenzlauer Berg in East Berlin where, besides acting and directing theatre in Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden, he single-handedly introduced East Berlin to pizza, by baking them in his squatted East German flat and selling them at all the new pop up bars in the recently freed city. It also assured him of a steady supply of New York style pizza. Many plays and many pizzas later, he met his wife Anja and moved to her home town of Magdeburg, Germany, where they started a family. There, Jonathan Failla founded Asyltheater/Theaterasyl, a theatre group that brought refugees and Magdeburg teenagers together in the theatre experience. During that period, he wrote and they performed three musicals. He speaks fluent German, loves to direct plays in German theaters and is known for his acting in German film and TV. He also works for DW TV in Berlin as a reporter for the business, science and environment news. Watch for him also in another upcoming SKY series "Das Netz," and the upcoming Netflix series, "The Empress."

Known for

Training

Year 
1979/9 to 1983/6SUNY Purchase BFA Theatre Arts and Film (SUNY = State University of New York)

Awards

YearAward
1992Berlin Zeitklänge der Stadt Preis

Movies as actor

Filter
YearTitleGenreDirectorRole
2022Breezy (aka Angel Of Bravery) (WT)
John [SR]
Independent Feature FilmDominik StröhleJohn [SR]
2022Role Play
Driver Berlin Airport [BP]
Feature Film, Prime Video (Amazon)Thomas VincentDriver Berlin Airport [BP]
2021
The Empress

Robert Stephenson [GS]
TV Series, NetflixKatrin GebbeRobert Stephenson [GS]
2021
The Net Austria

Cameron Rea [SSR]
TV Series, ARD [de], Degeto [de], Servus TV [at]Andreas ProchaskaCameron Rea [SSR]
2020You Will Not Have My Hate
Cartwright [SR]
Feature FilmKilian RiedhofCartwright [SR]
2020Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
DC Taxi [SR]
Feature FilmAndreas DresenDC Taxi [SR]
2020
Die Bilderkriegerin - Anja Niedringhaus

Josh Rushing [SR]
Feature FilmRoman KuhnJosh Rushing [SR]
2020Funeral for a Dog
Oscar [GS]
TV Series, Sky [de]David DietlOscar [GS]
2020
The Allegation

Wirt Fischrestaurant [SSR]
TV Series, RTL+ [de], TVNOW [de], VOX [de]Daniel ProchaskaWirt Fischrestaurant [SSR]
2020
Uncharted

Silver-Haired Doorman [BP]
Feature FilmRuben FleischerSilver-Haired Doorman [BP]
2019
The Queen's Gambit

Dick Evans [SRE]
Limited series, NetflixScott FrankDick Evans [SRE]
2019Gunpowder Milkshake
Nathan's Fancy House Thug [BP]
Feature FilmNavot PapushadoNathan's Fancy House Thug [BP]
2019Shooting Paul
Santi Calboni [SR]
Independent Feature FilmPhilippe MartinezSanti Calboni [SR]
2019A Song to Kill For
Santi Calboni [SR]
Independent Feature FilmPhilippe MartinezSanti Calboni [SR]
2019
Mister Mayfair

Santi Calboni [SR]
Independent Feature FilmPhilippe MartinezSanti Calboni [SR]
2017
You Are Wanted

Marc Boland [SSR]
TV Series, Prime Video (Amazon)MultipleMarc Boland [SSR]
2017Dent Boss
Don Bernardo [SR]
Short FilmMicha SteudeDon Bernardo [SR]
2006No More (WT)
Luke [L]
Short FilmAnja MarquardtLuke [L]
2000Zoom - It's Always About Getting Closer
Blumenverkäufer [BP]
Feature FilmOtto Alexander JahrreissBlumenverkäufer [BP]
1999Kunzelmann
Reporter Giuliani [L]
DocumentaryEike SchmitzReporter Giuliani [L]

Movies as voice actor / speaker

YearTitleGenreRoleActor
2006Kung Fu HustleFeature FilmThe Beast (engl.) [SR]Siu-Lung Leung

Theatre engagements

YearProduction nameRoleDirectorTheatre
2010Ghost MachineCounter TenorJanet Cardiff, George Bures MillerHebbel Theater Berlin
2000 - 2002MedeääBoom Operator/Zombie KillerSamuel Schwarz400 ASA
1999SchneewittchenPrinzFrank SchubertStatt Theater Fassungslos
1992 - 199314 HamletsMerlinJeremy WellerSchauspiel Bonn

Speaker engagements

YearTitleProject typeActivityClient
2018Schwarzkopf Color UltimeUS TV SpotSprecherSchwarzkopf
2014FoPInternet- und TV Spot EuropeSprecherComedy Central Europe
2014
Ritter Sport
US TV SpotSprecherRitter Sport
2007
Deutsche Bank
International TV SpotSprecherDeutsche Bank
2006
Braun Series 9
US TV SpotSprecherBraun
1999BrotzeitTV Spot DeutschlandSprecherNutella

Basic data

Height180 cm
Weight130 kg - 286 lb.
Body typecorpulent
Clothing size64
Ethnic appearancelatin america, middle eastern, south european
Hair coloursalt and pepper
Hair lengthshort
Eye colourbrown
NationalityU.S.-American
LanguagesEnglishFinnishGermanItalianSpanishSwedish
Dialects(US) - New Jersey English (Native dialect), American (Standard) (Native dialect), British (Standard), Brooklyn-English (Native dialect), New York Accent (Native dialect)
Voice typebass voice
SingingA cappellaBeatboxingChansonClassicGospelHip Hop / RapJazzMusicalOperaRock/PopSchlagerSoul / RnB
Instrumentsbaritone horn
Skills (dance)Contemporary Dance
Skills (sports)American Footballbaseballbasketballbilliardsbodyboardingbowlingcrossfitfencing (stage)horseback ridingjugglinglacrosseqigongsquashtai chi
Experience abroadCentral Europe: Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland, [GDR German Democratic Republic]
North Africa: Egypt, Morocco
North America: Canada, Mexico, USA
Northern Europe: Finland, Iceland, Sweden
East Africa: Kenya
South Asia: India
Southern Europe: Italy, Spain, Vatican City
Southeastern Europe: Bulgaria, Greece
West Asia: Qatar
Western Europe: England, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom
LicencesB (car) [eu]
Immediate working areaBerlin
1st residence (federal state or country)Germany - Saxony-Anhalt
Accommodation possibilitiesAmsterdam, Athens, Atlanta, Austin, Baden-Baden, Balearic Islands, Bangkok, Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Bern, Boston, Braunschweig, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Florence, Frankfurt (Oder), Halle, Hamburg, Hannover, Harz, Helsinki, Jamaica, Jerusalem, Karlsruhe, Krakow, Leipzig, London, Los Angeles, Magdeburg, Majorca, Malmö, Melbourne, Miami, Montreal, Nairobi, New York, other city, Palma de Mallorca, Philadelphia, Potsdam, Prague, San Francisco, Seattle, Sofia, Stockholm, Stralsund, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Warna, Washington D. C., Wolfsburg, Zurich