Nicolas Wackerbarth, born in Munich in 1973, studied acting at the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich. After his studies, he appeared on stage at the Schauspiel Frankfurt and became an ensemble member of the Bühnen der Stadt Köln. Wackerbarth then studied directing at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin and at the same time starred in various film and TV productions, e.g. in the feature films  "Frau2 sucht HappyEnd" ("Female2 Seeks Happy End", 2001) and "Mitfahrer" ("Traffic Affairs", 2004).

He made his directorial debut with the short film "Lovesick" (2003), followed by "Anfänger!" (2004). In 2007, his short film "Halbe Stunden" ("Half Hours") premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. His graduate thesis film "Unten Mitte Kinn" (2011) received a special mention at the Filmfest München and his second feature film "Halbschatten" ("Everyday Objects") had its world premiere at the Berlinale's Forum section in 2013. In the following years, Nicolas Wackerbarth appeared in supporting roles in Benjamin Heisenberg's "Über-Ich und Du" ("Superegos", 2014), in Maren Ade's "Toni Erdmann" (2016) and in Angela Schanelec's "Der traumhafte Weg" ("The Dreamed Path", 2016). At the Berlinale 2017, he presented his next film as a director: "Casting" is about the tragic-comic quarrels that accompany the search for a lead actress for a TV film and received the Filmkunstpreis award at the Festival des deutschen Films in Ludwigshafen. The film had its theatrical release in German cinemas in November 2017.

In addition to his work as actor and director, Nicolas Wackerbarth is co-editor of the film journal "Revolver".