Louis Hofmann is a German actor known for his roles in the films Tom Sawyer (2011), Red Sparrow (2018), and the series Dark (2017).
In the photo: Louis Hofmann
Childhood. First roles
Louis Hofmann was born on June 3, 1997, in the German town of Bensberg, not far from Cologne. At the age of 9, he first got on the television. His mother’s friend worked on one of the German TV channels and helped her get Louis the evening Servicezeit TV show, in which once a month the kid expressed his opinion of theme amusement parks or types of children’s leisure activities under the heading “Die Ausflieger”.
This lasted for about two years, and by the age of 11, Louis had a desire to become a real actor. On television, he often met with movie stars, talked with them, and he was delighted with the invariably wide smile on their faces. In the end, the boy persuaded his mother to take him to an acting agency.
Louis Hofmann in childhood
In 2010, Louis appeared in one of the episodes of the series Danni Lowinski and in the episode of the series Alarm für Cobra 11. At 13, he played the lead role in the German adaptation of Tom Sawyer, and then in its sequel The Adventures of Huck Finn, after which he was noticed by directors.
Louis Hofmann in the film Tom Sawyer
Louis has not got a theater education. His acting skills are pure talent: he works out his complex characters directly in front of the camera.
“I have many ambitions,” says Hofmann, and viewers do not dare to doubt it.
After graduating from high school, Hofmann moved to Berlin to get higher education. Despite the constant shootings and traveling, Louis found time for lectures and exams.
Louis Hofmann in GiiRL Music Video
Acting career
The role of Wolfgang in Marc Brummund’s film Sanctuary (2015) is considered by Louis as his first serious, “adult” role, which brought Louis the Bavarian Film Awards prize: the teenager was recognized as the Best Newcomer Actor of the year.
Louis Hofmann in the film Sanctuary
In the story, the stepfather, being jealous of the character of Louis to his mother, sends the young man to the Freistatt school for difficult teenagers. But it is difficult to call this institution a “school”: supervisors practice a special system of moral and physical punishments. Wolfgang does not want to obey and makes other students understand that they are not meat that can be mocked with impunity.
It was my first work, where I needed to work out the character’s disposition very accurately before shooting. I always tried to make my characters as plausible as possible.
Hofmann got the first role in a foreign film in the same year. The actor played a German prisoner of war in the Danish-German film Land of Mine. This time, Louis’s work did not remain unnoticed too: he received the Bodil Award for the Best Supporting Actor in the main film award in Denmark, and also won a special film award in his homeland.
Louis Hofmann in the movie Land of Mine
In 2016, Hofmann starred in the film Center of My World, a dramatic film based on the best seller by Andreas Steinhofel. This work brought the actor who played the gay teenager another award: the European Shooting Stars Award at Berlinale 2017.
Louis Hofmann in the film Center of My World
Before 2017, the talented Louis was mostly known in Europe, but after the release of the television series Dark, the whole world started talking about Hofmann. The story of the supernatural thriller, released on the Netflix platform on December 1, 2017, takes place in the small German town of Windeburg. The leading characters are four families, pulling a load of gloomy secrets through three generations.
Dark ‒ Trailer (Season 1)
In the series, Louis performed one of the central characters. His character is Jonas Cahnwald, a schoolboy whose father committed suicide. The young man, who survived a severe shock, finds himself drawn into the mysterious story of the disappearance of a child in the forest, and at the same time, Jonas learns terrible secrets about his own life and family.
Louis Hofmann in the series Dark
The series was a huge success among viewers from different countries. Many people compared the Dark with the series Twin Peaks and Stranger Things. The attention of the critics was particularly attracted by the overall style of the series, the complexity, and the pace of the narrative.
Louis’s career went up rapidly: soon he got an important role in the drama series You are Wanted with Matthias Schweighofer, and also appeared in the comedy Lommbock with Moritz Bleibtreu, one of the most popular German actors.
Louis Hofmann in the comedy Lommbock
He did not have to wait long for offers from Hollywood. In 2018, Francis Lawrence’s thriller Red Sparrow was released, in which the young actor got a small but vivid part. On the set, Louis was lucky to meet the American actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, and Jeremy Irons.
In the biographical picture The White Crow (2018) directed by Ralph Fiennes, which reveals the life story of the ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in the West, Louis played as Teja Kremke, an 18-year-old dancer from East Berlin who was brought together with the legendary artist by fate. It is believed that it was Kremke who became Nureyev’s first lover and persuaded him to move to Europe.
Shot from the film The White Crow
Louis Hofmann personal life
Very little is known about the personal life of the young actor. His Instagram account mainly contains only working moments: shots from shootings and official events. If the young actor is in a relationship, then he still manages to hide it well.
After filming in the movie Center of My World, rumors about the actor’s homosexual orientation spread. In particular, he was credited with a relationship with Jannik Schumann, a colleague in this film. However, no confirmation or denial of these conjectures followed.
In March 2020, information about Luis's girlfriend appeared in the media. It is reported that his beloved was Stella Markert, a model and aspiring producer, whom he met back in 2017.
Louis Hoffman and Stella Markert
Louis Hofmann now
The second season of the series Dark was released on June 21, 2019. Louis’s character got much more screen time and became one of the key characters in unraveling this complicated and tragic time travel story.
Louis Hofmann in the second season of the television series Dark
In August 2019, the German film Prélude was released, in which Louis played a lead role. The film tells about the piano student David, who is going through the torments of first love. Hofmann himself described this picture as “a mixture of the films Whiplash and Black Swan”. In an interview, the actor admitted that only after this film he realized what character parts he is drawn to: to a dramatic, suffering character overwhelmed by life circumstances.
Louis Hofmann in the film Prélude
In the same year, the drama Deutschstunde was released. It was the story of which takes place in the postwar years in Germany. Louis Hofmann will appear before viewers as one of the leading characters. In 2020, viewers saw the cartoon Die Heinzels - in which Louis voiced one of the characters.
Young German actor Louis Hofmann
The actor prefers German cinema to Hollywood cinema: “I like what has happened with the cinema in Germany in recent years. We are no longer afraid of doing something “wrong”. This can be seen in the film Toni Erdmann: on its example, you can see unique German storytelling. ”
“But in general, ”Louis admits,“ I would like to become part of the world cinema and leave a mark in its history.”
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Linda Shelton
What a nice guy Louis is! I watched a film about ballet with him, I`m impressed :)
2021-05-14 20:49:49
Ryan Wright
It seems that Louis Hofmann is such a young actor, and there are already quite a few films and series in his piggy bank.
2021-04-25 19:09:52
Terry Peterson
«Dark» is a strong and really dark, mysterious series. I will follow Hofmann`s further work.
2021-04-15 15:01:21
Carrie Martin
I saw the film «Center of My World» with Hofmann. It is important to really talk about such topics.
2021-03-28 10:16:54
Esther Murphy
Of the «new» actors, Louis Hofmann is one of my favorites, although he still has little work
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Linda Shelton
2021-05-14 20:49:49
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Ryan Wright
2021-04-25 19:09:52
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Terry Peterson
2021-04-15 15:01:21
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Carrie Martin
2021-03-28 10:16:54
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Esther Murphy
2021-03-14 10:14:20
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