Wolfgang Cerny grew up in a family of doctors and sportsmen in Vienna, Austria. He was heavily involved in sports, including martial arts, boxing, horse riding, swimming, alpine skiing, and surfing. He was in the swim team and is a certified ski-instructor and member of the Red Devils in Kitzbühel.
Cerny chose to pursue an acting career, and after studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, he was immediately cast as the lead in the German hit series "Storm of Love". He then joined the ensemble of the theater Kammerspiele and Schauburg in Munich for two years.
His international breakthrough came in 2012 with the popular big-budget TV war epic "Snipers" for Russia's Channel One, where his leading performance as the aristocratic German sniper Alexander von Foss earned him much attention. This project paved the way for him to become an in-demand actor in Russia and the former CIS countries.
Cerny starred as the elite pilot Boehlke in the WWII drama series "The Hunters" in 2014, and was later invited to "Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation" directed by Christopher McQuarrie, as well as to the German projects "Hitlers Volk" and "Soko Munich".
In 2017, well-known director Dimitri Dyachenko chose Cerny to star in Walt Disney Russia's "The Last Warrior" as the knight Alyosha Popovich, one of Russia's most popular fairy tale heroes. This was a huge breakthrough, as it became the most successful movie in Russian history.
Cerny continued working in the East as well as in Europe, starring in the UK spy comedy "Action Team" and the Welsh movie "Morfydd". In 2019, he was shooting in five feature films and two TV series, including the big-budget horror blockbuster "Row 19", where he starred as the male lead Alexei.
"Red Ghost" (2021),a Tarantino-esque thriller, where Cerny starred as the lead Braun, became an instant success, and was sold to more than 120 countries, including the States, Canada, France, Germany, China, and Japan. The dark comedy was sold to more than 120 countries and became the 8th most popular Russian movie on IMDB of all time.
Wolfgang was awarded best actor at the International Ozerov Film Festival. He guest-starred in an episode of the 11th season of the Austrian crime series "Soko Donau" and was invited to the highly successful figure skating show "Ice Age" for the First Channel.
In the same year, he starred in the biopic "Zoe" (2020). In 2021, he plays the lead in no less than four feature films and a series. The Guru, shamanic cult leader in the mystery thriller "Whirlpool", the German ex-soldier Helmut in the international blockbuster "Nuremberg" directed by Nikolai Lebedev, a martial arts hero in "Legends of Sambo", which Cerny also produced, and a mislead security guard in "Sokina Station".
In the same year, Wolfgang's wife Victoria Cerny gave birth to their son Leonard. He joined the cast of Netflix "Valhalla" (2021) as Sten Sigurdsson.
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cerny together with his family left Russia for Austria. They now live in Vienna.
