Internationally speaking, esteemed German actor André Eisermann is best known for playing the title role in Peter Sehr's Kaspar Hauser. His portrayal garnered Eisermann awards from several major film festivals, including the Actor's Prize at the Locarno Film Festival and the German Film Prize. Eisermann is the son of travelling performers (including his contortionist grandmother and strongman grandfather) and, though born in Worms, Germany, spent most of his youth on the road with his family. As a young man, he studied acting at Munich's Otto Falckenberg Schule Für Schauspiel. After graduation, he gained professional experience on stage. Eisermann made his first film appearance in Durst (1993). Though he continues to appear sporadically in film, including voicing the character Quasimodo in the German-language version of Disney's animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and playing the lead in Joseph Vilsmaier's haunting Schlafe's Bruder/Brother of Sleep (1995), Eisermann has devoted most his time to the theater. He joined one of Germany's most prestigious theaters, Hamburg's Thalia Theater, in 1994.