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.
