Frank Giering was born and raised in Magdeburg, Germany, where he gained his first stage experience as a background actor at the former Maxim-Gorki theatre Magdeburg.
He started his studies at the Westfälischen Schauspielschule Bochum but later changed to the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen in Potsdam Babelsberg. However, he felt uncomfortable with the education methods, and some exercises pushed him to his physical and mental limits. He failed to meet his teachers' demands to "fill up the space of the theatre" and decided to break off his studies.
Giering's last public theatre performance before leaving the HFF Potsdam in summer 1994 was a turning point. He gained the attention of an assistant director, which led to a casting for the television film Der Verräter (1995). In this film, he played an unstable young man searching for acceptance and affection who got into the claws of a neo-Nazi gang.
In front of the film camera, Giering was able to live out his own belief of acting, which was the opposite of the requirements at school. He loved to reduce and express feelings solely by glances and a minimum of gestures and facial expression. With his first role, he gained the attention of the Austrian director Michael Haneke, who cast him for two of his productions.
Giering's breakthrough followed in 1999 with his performance as Floyd in the film Gigantic (1999) by Sebastian Schipper. He became popular overnight, and for a short time, he was announced as one of the promising up-and-coming actors of Germany. Comparisons were drawn with James Dean, due to an aura of "lostness" and loneliness that both actors surrounded.
However, Giering felt overstrained to live up to this expectation. He described himself as extremely shy and uncertain, full of feelings of inferiority and melancholia. Only in front of the camera did he feel really free and secure. He suffered from fear of loss and anxiety about the future, which also led to the break of several relationships.
His alcohol consumption, which he used to compensate his uncertainties and the emptiness between the films, raised more and more as a problem. In 2001, he decided to attend a half-yearly rehab. In the following years, he struggled with his demons in a public way, also to give impulses and courage for people in the same situation.
Giering attended twice at the film festival Berlinale, starring in the films Baader (2002) and Die Nacht singt ihre Lieder (2004). Both films were met with negative reviews, leading to controversial discussions.
After the negative experience with Die Nacht singt ihre Lieder, Giering mainly gave up the cinema business and focused on television productions. He played the role of "Kommissar Henry Weber" in the TV series Der Kriminalist (2006) until his sudden death in June 2010.
In many obituaries, it was read that Giering undersold himself and burned out by less important featured parts. However, it was also mentioned that he was able to act with such intensity and depth, offering much more of himself than usual and allowing the audience to get close to him.
