Jurij Drevenšek was born in Maribor Slovenia (Yugoslavia). In his childhood, it seemed that he was most likely going to become a musician, but he later found out he wanted to pursue his acting interests. He graduated from acting at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film, and Television at the University of Ljubljana. Soon after his graduation, he received his first professional acknowledgment as an actor by being trusted with the leading role of Moritz in Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening. Since then he has created over forty theatre roles in different Slovenian theatres, among them many leading ones such as the role of Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Jörgen Tesman in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (both roles played at the Slovene National Theatre), Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Max in Martin Sherman's Bent, Meursault in Albert Camus's The Stranger and Jack in Eugene Ionesco's Jack, or the Submission.
He is also well acquainted with the film industry and has appeared in numerous feature and short films, catching the attention of the Slovenian film public already with his first leading role in the feature film Kruha in iger (Bread and Circuses) where he portrayed Simon. Since then, he has appeared in numerous Slovenian films and received two Vesna Awards for Best Supporting Actor, the Slovenian equivalent of the Oscar. He has taken on significant roles in recent Slovenian feature films such as Polsestra (Half-Sister), Poslednji heroj (Shooting Blanks), Tartini's Key, Idila (Idyll), and The Curse of Valburga, just to name a few.
More recently, he has begun working internationally. He appeared in the American feature film Nomad, directed by Taron Lexton, and in the latest film by Dragan Bjelogrlić, Čuvari formule (Guardians of the Formula). He has also appeared in the German-Austrian series Euer Ehren (Your Honor) for ARD and ORF, directed by David Nawrath, as well as in Master and Margarita, directed by Michael Lockshin, the Swedish series Hamilton, directed by Erik Leijonborg, and the Cinemax series Strike Back, directed by Bill Eagles. Additionally, he starred in the television film Immerstill for ORF, directed by Eva Spreitzhofer, with more projects yet to be announced.
He has also been active in the domestic television field. In 2021 he appeared in the TV crime series named Cases of Inspector Vrenko as Detective Breznik, the inspector’s right hand, and while still at the Academy he got to play the lead role of Branko in the sit-com Brat bratu. Between 2018 and 2022 he hosted the Bob leta awards satirical ceremony broadcasted by the national television.
In 2012, he was chosen as one of the participants at Berlinale Talents.
He has been honoured with several other awards for his work in theatre and in films, such as the Borštnik Award (Slovenian equivalent for the Tony Award), Tantadruj Award, the Dnevnik newspaper Award, etc.
He used to be a member of Ljubljana City Theatre ensemble and the Slovene National Theatre in Maribor, but now he works as a freelance artist who wishes to engage in new and bold projects that interest him and that really try to push his acting boundaries and offer him a chance to explore new and exciting areas.
He is based in Ljubljana and in his free time he likes to lose his temper by supporting his favourite football club NK Maribor. Every now and then he imagines being a world-class guitar player.
In 2018, he was also one of the founders of the newly-established Screen Actors Guild of Slovenia, and served as its president from 2022 to 2024.
- NATIONALITY: Slovene
- PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Ljubljana, Slovenia
- HEIGHT: 186cm (6.1 ft)
- AGE RANGE: 30-40
- HAIR COLOUR: dark brown
- EYE COLOUR: dark brown
- LANGUAGES: Slovenian (native), English, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, German
- INSTRUMENTS: guitar, bass guitar, piano
- SKILLS: football, swimming, snowboarding, volleybal, horseback riding, scuba diving - AOWD licence
- DRIVING LICENCE: car, moped
- MEMBERSHIP: ZDUS (Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists) and Screen Actors Guild of Slovenia - Društvo DSI
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