Romanian actor to play Hungarian PM Viktor Orban in film about Angela Merkel

Romanian actor Radu Banzaru was cast to play Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in an upcoming film about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which focuses on the German leader’s decision during the summer of 2015 to open Germany's borders to nearly a million Syrian refugees, according to The Hollywood Reporter. German theater star Imogen Kogge will play Angela Merkel in this movie.

Merkel is directed by Stephan Wagner and is based on the best seller Die Getriebenen (The Driven) by German journalist Robin Alexander.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the action begins in July 2015, when the German Chancellor was at the height of her powers. However, as thousands of Syrian refugees begin to make their way across the continent, Merkel has to make a decision, as she is faced with the greatest crisis of her career. And this crisis will not only pit her against powerful political foes, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who refuses to accept refugees in his country, but also against internal German rivals.

The cast also includes Josef Bierbichler - who plays Horst Seehofer, Timo Dierkes as Sigmar Gabriel, veteran TV actor Walter Sittler - who plays German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Orlando Süss as the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Romanian Radu Banzaru, 51, starred in films such as The Whistleblower (2010) directed by Larysa Kondracki, alongside stars such as Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave, and Toni Erdmann (2016) by Maren Ade, according to Mediafax.

(Photo source: Pixabay.com)**