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Austrian actor Karl Markovics began signing for onscreen work in the early '90s -- typically in projects in his native country -- and became immediately known for performances and characterizations of marked intensity in such continental productions as Helmut Dietl's Late Show (1999, a supporting turn) and Houchang Allahyari's Geboren in Absurdistan (2001). Markovics received lead billing in the latter -- a black comedy about a member of the Australian government who sternly opposes immigration and becomes implicated in a horrid mix-up involving the swap of his newborn baby with a Turkish infant at the local hospital. The actor achieved some international crossover success that same year, with a small role in Stefan Ruzowitzky's farce All the Queen's Men (2001), but really only came to the forefront of public attention with his lead in the arthouse hit The Counterfeiters (2007). In the latter -- a bleak WWII-era drama -- Markovics played an artist willingly tapped by the Nazis to use his penmanship for dark and nefarious means.