Matthias Schoenaerts made his film debut in the 1992 Belgian period drama film ‘Daens.’ The film received positive reviews and earned an ‘Academy Award’ nomination for ‘Best Foreign Film.’ Schoenaerts made his television debut in the Flemish-Belgian TV series ‘Flikken’ in 2001. In 2003, he starred as ‘Chouki’ in the Tom Barman-directed ‘Any Way the Wind Blows.’ The film went on to achieve a cult status.
In 2006, he was seen in the war drama film ‘Black Book’ (Dutch: ‘Zwartboek’) directed by Paul Verhoeven. The film received rave reviews from critics and earned several awards, including the ‘Young Cinema Award,’ ‘Golden Film Award,’ and ‘Platinum Film Award.’ The film was later voted to be the best Dutch film ever.
After starring in films like ‘Left Blank’ (2008), ‘My Queen Karo’ (2009), and ‘Pulsar’ (2010), Schoenaerts got his breakthrough role in the 2011 Belgian crime film ‘Bullhead,’ directed by Michaël R. Roskam. His role as ‘Jacky Vanmarsenille’ received a lot of praise and won him several awards, including the ‘Magritte Award’ and the ‘Flanders Film Award.’ The following year, he bagged the ‘César Award’ for his performance in the romantic drama film ‘Rust and Bone.’ He went on to appear in films like ‘Blood Ties’ (2013), ‘The Loft’ (2014), ‘The Danish Girl’ (2015) for which he won the ‘Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Award,’ ‘Racer and the Jailbird’ (2017), ‘Close Enemies’ (2018), and ‘The Laundromat’ (2019).
He was last seen in the 2020 crime drama film ‘Brother by Blood’ where he played the role of ‘Peter Flood.’ The film received a mixed response from critics. He will be next seen in the upcoming epic biblical drama film ‘The Way of the Wind’ directed by Terrence Malick. He is also set to star in the upcoming television series titled ‘Django.‘