Daniel Bernhardt

Biography: Daniel Bernhardt was born on the 31st August 1965 and raised in his hometown of Warblaufen, Bern in Switzerland. After finishing high school, he studied architectural design for four years and got his degree in Bern. At the same time he opened a martial arts school and became a very dedicated martial artist. After completing his studies, Daniel moved to Paris and started his career as a model. He worked for designers such as Montana, Mugler, Boss, Ferre, Bogner, Cerruti, Versace, Jaene Barnes and was published in the magazines Vogue, Elle, GQ, Max, Interview, Cosmopolitan and established himself as a international Top Model. Bernhardt moved to New York where he was cast to co-star next to Jean-Claude Van Damme in Bruce Weber's TV spot "Looking for Kicks" for Gianni Versace. Marc Di Salle who launched Van Damme's carrier with Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Death Warrant was looking for a new action star. After years of searching Di Salle discovered Daniel Bernhardt and cast him to star in the sequel Bloodsport II.

Grand Master Hee Il Cho, a ninth degree black belt in Tae-kwon-do and a member of the hall of fame took Bernhardt under his wings and prepared him for Bloodsport II.

Simultaneously Daniel studied acting with Sale Dano and Sandy Marshal and prepared himself for the film.


Daniel's first movie was filmed in 1994, a low-budget sci-fi action movie called Future War, to be released in 1995. Although co-starring Robert Z'dar (Maniac Cop), the movie suffered terribly from its low budget and messy plot and ended up becoming an infamous fan-favorite on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV show - however this failed to disguise Daniel's terrific fighting skills, performing all his own stunts and even acting as fight choreographer for the film.

In the beginning of 1995, Bernhardt shot Bloodsport II in Thailand with co-stars James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China) and Pat Morita (Karate Kid). The film was released theatrically in the United States. Later that year he went to Sri Lanka and shot Bloodsport III with co-star John-Rhys Davis (Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings Trilogy).

In 1996 Bernhardt shot True Vengeance in LA with co-stars Miles O'Keeffe (Tarzan, the Ator series) and Beverly Johnson. Afterwards he went to the Ukraine and shot Black Sea Raid (now known as Special Forces).

Later that year Daniel teamed up with writer-director Sheldon Lettich (Lionheart, Double Impact, Rambo III) and shot Perfect Target in Mexico with co-star Robert England (Nightmare on Elmstreet).

Bernhardt is very dedicated to his acting. Currently he studies acting with Harry Mastrogeorge in Los Angeles.

Daniel soon found a new passion in writing and wrote his first script, a boxing movie, called the Lightning Kid. Currently he's writing the Shaolin Monk. Daniel is also a passionate photographer.

In 1998-99 he was cast in the TV-show Mortal Kombat Conquest, produced by Larry Kasanoff (True Lies, Mortal Kombat) in association with New Line Cinema, a Time Warner Company, Distributed by Warner Brothers Television. Mortal Kombat Conquest aired on WB and TNT and was the new NR. 1 syndicated show on television.

After finishing Mortal Kombat Conquest in 1999, Daniel did publicity for the show and appeared on several TV Talk Shows such as Extra, Donny and Marie, X-Show, TV-Guide Channel, Blitzlicht (Germany) and some local news and radio shows all over the country.

In the beginning of 2000 he was cast in The Librarians, an action film shot in Florida. He co-starred with William Forsythe, Erika Elaniak, Andre Divoff and Burt Reynolds. However, due to distribution complications the movie was delayed by 4 years before finally having been released in November 2004.

Throughout 2001 and into 2002, Daniel kept himself busy, finding time to star in the biological warfare thriller, Global Effect, alongside Midchen Amick (Twin Peaks) and Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy). Like The Librarians, the movie suffered some distribution setbacks, but was thankfully released in September 2003 on DVD in North America.

In 2002 he achieved his largest motion-picture role - in The Matrix Reloaded, sequel to the 1999 original. Whilst not a starring role, Daniel's supporting character has certainly given him the exposure he truly deserves. Playing Agent Johnson, this not only is Daniel's first supporting-role, it's also his first villainous part! Combining his own martial arts prowess with the physics-defying universe of the Matrix, Daniel provides a jaw-dropping performance during the movie's much-famed 'highway-chase' scene!

He became a father to his first daughter on the 15th of May 2003, the night after the premiere of The Matrix Reloaded in cinemas worldwide.

With Daniel's next two movies, Nature Unleashed: Tornado and the Chuck Norris come-back The Cutter, in the can for release in 2005 and his ever-growing fan-base, the future is very bright indeed for Daniel Bernhardt.… Expand