Maarten Claeyssens was born on December 24th, 1975, in Ghent, Flanders, Belgium.
He graduated magna cum laude from the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, also known as the Academy of Dramatic Arts, in 1999. Before his graduation, he was already active in professional theatre, performing at the Royal Dutch Theatre in Ghent.
In his final year of training, he was cast in the title role of Nicolas, a film by Erik Lamens, about a troubled young man wandering the streets of Brussels, filming people with a hidden camera.
After graduating, Claeyssens was immediately immersed in professional theatre, performing at the Royal Dutch Theatre, Ghent, and Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Eindhoven. He then became a member of the ensemble of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the internationally acclaimed Dutch theatre company under the guidance of Ivo van Hove.
At Toneelgroep Amsterdam, he worked with renowned directors such as Pierre Audi, Ivo van Hove, and Gerardjan Rijnders, playing in several productions each season, performing supporting and principal roles, and even taking on the lead role of Don José in the rock-based theatre play Carmen.
After three years, Claeyssens decided to leave Toneelgroep Amsterdam to work as a freelancer and began to appear more on screen, playing numerous guest roles in Belgian TV series and making appearances in several films. He is often typecast as troubled or psychologically disturbed characters, such as villains, psychopaths, addicts, or troubled romantic leads.
After several longer supporting roles in television series, including the national hit comedy-drama series 'Sara' and 'David', he found a wider audience in the public eye when he landed a regular part in the national television institution series Thuis, for which he is known for his portrayal of the bipolar Rafael Campo.
His filmography includes a lead role in Hotel Bellevue, a film by Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen, a principal role in Ben X, the feature film by Nic Balthazar that won seven international prices, a supporting role in the feature film Quixote's Island by Didier Volckaert, and the lead in Dreamtime, a short by Tom Van Avermaet, which earned him a 'Wildcard', a cash prize awarded by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, with which he made the Oscar-nominated short Death of a Shadow.
