Mario Maurer

Mario Maurer
Mario Maurer (มาริโอ้ เมาเร่อ)
Born	Mario Maurer (1988-12-04) 4 December 1988 Bangkok, Thailand
Other names	Nuttavut Maurer, Oh (nickname)
Occupation	Actor, model, singer
Years active	2004–present
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website
http://www.mariomaurer.com/

Mario Maurer (Thai: มาริโอ้ เมาเร่อ, Thai pronunciation: [maːríʔôː mawrɤ̂ː], German pronunciation: [ˈmaːʁio ˈmaʊ̯ʁɐ]; born December 4, 1988) is a Thai-German model and actor. Starting off a career as a model at age 16, he later became best known for his lead role in the 2007 film, The Love of Siam and the 2010 sleeper hit, First Love. He also the lead star of Thailand's highest grossing film of all time, Pee Mak. He is also part of a group called 4+1 Channel 3 Superstar with Nadech Kugimiya, Prin Suparat, Pakorn Chatborirak, and Phupoom Phongpanu.

Biography

Early life

Mario Maurer was born at the Bangkok Christian Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. He is of Chinese and German descent.^[1] His father chose an Italian name for him because he had a faible for Italian motorcycles.^[2] Growing up, his father Roland and his mother Waranya owned several gas stations. Later they owned a business in Nakhon Nayok Province for production and export of roll-on deodorants to countries such as France and Germany.^[3] Maurer has an elder brother five years older than him, who was born in Germany. He attended school at St. Dominic Savio Catholic School in Bangkok and now is studying at Ramkhamhaeng University, majoring in Communication Arts.

Career

When Maurer was 16 years old, he was approached at Siam Square to try out modeling. From there on, he started doing photo shoots, commercials and music videos.^[4] In 2007, he made his feature film debut in a leading role in The Love of Siam, written and directed by Chukiat Sakweerakul.^[5] The role "Tong" brought him many accolades and instant fame far beyond Thailand's borders. Commenting on his new-found fame, "I didn't want to do it, Acting wasn't on my to-do list." He decided to do the movie because he trusted the director "Chukiat" and the movie would give him many opportunities. He'd be making money to help his family. He became famous in this film because of his gay role.^[6]

His other work as a model.

He won the Best Actor award in Starpics Thai Films Awards and also nominated in Bangkok Critics Assembly and Star Entertainment Awards.^[7]

Director Bhandit Rittakol had approached Maurer for Boonchu 9, but he was tied up with other projects.^[8] He has been cast in the 2008 film by Chatchai Naksuriya, Friendship. The film is set around 1983. Maurer starring opposite Apinya Sakuljaroensuk,^[9] as 12th grade student. That same year he appeared in a segment of the four-story anthology 4 Romance (segment "Joob" or Kiss) directed by Rashane Limtrakul^[10] Maurer's projects after 2008 include a comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak, Rahtree Reborn, scheduled for release in April 2009, in which he starred opposite Chermarn Boonyasak.^[11]

Maurer gained popularity after he starred in the 2010 film First Love.

Other work

Maurer (right) with his brother and his mother

His brother Marco, teamed up in a hip-hop duo "PsyCho & Lil’Mario" with Mario. They have released their debut PsyCho & Lil’Mario: Dem Crazy Boyz on October 31, 2007.^[12] He worked as a hypeman in this album. But Maurer later described "It was just for fun. I know myself – I'm not a singer. That's not my dream."^[6]

Maurer participated in endorsements for the first time for Exit Rollon and other popular brands such as The Pizza Company, Sugus, Foremost and now he acted as the presenter for Honda Jazz,^[13] Pepsi, Dutchmill and Sony Ericsson. In July 2011, he was signed to become an endorser for the Philippine clothing brand, Penshoppe ^[14] He also signed a one movie picture contract with Star Cinema, a Philippine film production company. He will be paired with Erich Gonzales in the film that is due to release in 2012 entitled Suddenly It's Magic.^[15][15] On October 28, 2011, Maurer had a Press and Fan Conference in Philippine International Convention Center with thousands of fans in attendance, as a part of his official launch as a Penshoppe endorser.^[16] On October 29, he hit the runway at the Philippine Fashion Week held at SMX Convention Center.^[17][18] On August 3, 2013, Maurer return to the Philippines for promoting his movie Pee Mak and had a fan conference in two venues, SM North EDSA and SM Mall of Asia the following day together with Baifern Pimchanok,^[19] as part of Baifern's official Penshoppe endorser.^[20] As expected, thousands of fans in attendance for continuing support for both stars of the 2010 hit movie First Love.

Personal life

Maurers interest include skateboarding, hip-hop, and cars. Even though he is of Thai Chinese and German descent, he cannot speak German and only understands some Mandarin.^[21] He is Thai native speaker and is also fluent in English. He is a Roman Catholic.^[22] His father Roland died of a heart attack resulting from diabetes on June 27, 2011.^[23] He has a very close relationship with his elder brother who works as a hip-hop artist and actor as well.He has been in a relationship with Sumontip Leuangthai also known as Gubgib for 9 years now. But the couple broke up on January 2013.^[24]

Maurer and Witwisit Hiranyawongkul

Maurer with Witwisit Hiranyawongkul at the Star Entertainment Awards in 2008.

Due to the success of The Love of Siam, the chemistry between Mew, played by Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and Tong, played by Maurer, has been an issue and a trending topic. Hiranyawongkul has told reporters that he and Maurer are just good friends, and credited the film's editing for their seeming chemistry on-screen: "Usually, when having dialogue in the movie, we were facing different cameras." On the set, their eyes usually met the film crews', who helped make sure they acted with the right expressions.^[25]

The two later performed together at a concert after not seeing each other in years, at which Maurer asked him "Mew, do you miss Tong?", and Hiranyawongkul responded "Let me think about that. If Tong didn't invite me, I wouldn't be here".^[26]

They were also seen together during the ending credits of the film Love on that Day, in which Mario was the lead actor but in which Hiranyawongkul had not been a member of the cast.^[27]

On the English and Thai-language TV show English Breakfast, Maurer was asked by one of its hosts if he has been "accused of being gay" due to his role in The Love of Siam. He replied "Yeah, people accused me, saying 'Are you gay'? You're kissing a man." When asked how he deals with that, he replied "If people see me in my eyes or talk to me, they'll know I'm a man. I'm not gay."^[28]

Filmography

Film

Drama

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mario Maurer.

• Official website
• Mario Maurer on Facebook
• Mario Maurer on Twitter
• Mario Maurer on Instagram
• Mario Maurer Google+
• Mario Maurer at the Internet Movie Database