Biography
Brandon was born in the German town of "Geislingen an der Steige" on February 18th 1971. Scholasticly Brandon excelled from an early age, completing his primary education in just three years rather than the normal four. He completed his secondary school education with majors in Business, Economics, Mathematics and honors for literature. Going on to become the the youngest accredited university student in Germany when he joined the University of Stuttgart in 1989.
Brandon got his first taste for drama with a role in a school play at 7 years of age, and spent two years with the Theatre Group during his secondary school education. In 1992 he began modeling after two agencies saw him in the preliminary stages of a "Mr. Germany" competition, and would appear in a number of fashion shows, before making his print debut in an ad for the "Berliner Bank". After appearing as an extra on German TV in 1994, Rhea rapidly found himself working as an MC for fashion shows, special events, fairs and for a local radio station.
He was given his first "action" role in 2000, and began to work at the dramatic side with private acting lessons in 2001. In 2003, Brandon threw caution to the wind and flew to Hong Kong at his own expense for a casting for the Michelle Yeoh movie "Silver Hawk", which saw him taking the role of a hunter who fights Michelle in the opening of the film. Deciding to stay for another few months, Rhea appeared in "Infernal Affairs 2" and fight Taiwanese actor/singer Vaness Wu in "Star Runner". Rhea has continued to live and work in Hong Kong & China appearing in numerous Television commercials for such clients as DBS, HSBC, monster.com and many more, while also taking Voice & Speech training at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. His most recent role was in director Ronny Yu's "Fearless", a martial arts epic which saw Brandon playing against type as an arrogant German fighter who challenges the leading character Hua Yuan-jia played by Jet Li during the films finale. In preparation to meet the demands of the films action scenes, Brandon trained with one of Germany's leading fencing masters, prior to working with fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and his action team.
Brandon's martial arts training began with Judo lessons at the age of 14, and he has since studied Ju Jitsu, Bo Jitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing & Muay Thai. After discovering Leung Ting's Wing Tsun Kung Fu, Brandon immersed himself in the art and achieved his first Master level in 2003 in Hong Kong, and was made an instructor in 2004. Rhea is now the only non-Asian accredited instructor of Leung Ting Wing Tsun Kung Fu in Hong Kong & China.
Has received additional training with members of the German Special forces, learning stick & knife fighting, as well as gun training and Police tactics, which served him well during time spent working as a bodyguard in Germany.
Brandon has also studied a diverse range of other sports and physical arts including Classical Ballet, and competed in Professional Ballroom & Latin Dancing Contests, well rounded in most sports including soccer, basketball & Volleyball, and being an excellent skier. Brandon also has more than 15 years experience as a Trumpeter, winning the first prize with his youth brass orchestra in the 1987 "Youth & Music" World championships in Vienna.
Language skills include fluency in German, English; French some Italian and Basic Mandarin.
Currently working in the film & television industry in Hong Kong & China, Rhea continues to hone his craft while building his reputation in the industry in addition to developing a number of projects of his own.
