Louis Hofmann (born 3 June 1997) is a German actor. He first gained attention as the lead in the 2011 German film ' and won the Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a teenage German prisoner of war in the 2015 Danish film '' Land of Mine''. He is also known for playing Jonas in the 2017 German

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

Dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

''.

Life and career

Hofmann was born in the Bensberg district of

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and abo ...

and grew up in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. His first experience in front of the camera was for ''Servicezeit'', an evening magazine programme on WDR Fernsehen television network. He appeared in a section of the programme, ''Die Ausflieger'', which tested family recreational activities. After two and a half years at ''Servicezeit'', he decided to become an actor and applied to an acting agency. He was subsequently represented by Agentur Schwarz. In 2009, Hofmann guest-starred in legal comedy-drama '' Danni Lowinski'' and television series ''The Lost Father''. He also appeared in the television film ''Tod in Istanbul''. In 2010, he performed in '' Wilsberg'' and '' Alarm for Cobra 11''. Hofmann's first cinematic leading role was the titular

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

in director

Hermine Huntgeburth Hermine Huntgeburth (born 13 November 1957) is a German film director producer and university lecturer. She is best known for her 2005 film '' The White Masai''. Background Huntgeburth grew up in a Catholic family of doctors with nine siblings ...

's 2011 German

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the classic Mark Twain novel ''

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (also simply known as ''Tom Sawyer'') is a novel by Mark Twain published on June 9, 1876, about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1830s-1840s in the town of St. Petersbu ...

''. Along with Leon Seidel, who played the role of Huck Finn, he sang on the soundtrack of the film in the song, "Barfuß Gehen" ("Going Barefoot"). The sequel to ''Tom Sawyer'', ' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn''), was released on 20 December 2012 in German cinemas. In 2013, Hofmann played a guest-starring role in an episode of the television series '' Stolberg''. Beginning on 24 October 2013 Hofmann appeared in the comedy ''The Almost Perfect Man'' (German: ''Der fast perfekte Mann''). His role as Wolfgang in the 2015 film ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'' (German: ''Freistatt'') directed by Marc Brummund earned him the 2015 Bavarian Film Prize as Best Newcomer Actor and the 2016 German Actors Award (Deutscher Schauspielerpreis) in the newcomer category. His first international role as a German

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

in the Danish-German co-production '' Land of Mine'' ( Danish: ''Under sandet'') earned him the Best Supporting Actor prize at Denmark's Bodil Awards in 2016. At the 2016

German Film Awards The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

, he received with the Special Prize

Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre SA, or simply Jaeger-LeCoultre (), is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833 and is based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Since 2000, the company has been a fully owned subsidiary ...

Homage to German Cinema presented to honour the work of German actors in international films. In 2016, Hofmann played Phil in '' Center of My World'' (

: ''Die Mitte der Welt''), a

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by Jakob M. Erwa, based on the 1998 bestselling novel '' The Center of the World'' by

Andreas Steinhöfel Andreas Steinhöfel (; born 14 January 1962) is a German author for children and young adult books, and a translator. Biography Andreas Steinhöfel grew up with two brothers in the Middle Hesse small town Biedenkopf, and did his GCE Advanced ...

. He was presented with a European

Shooting Stars Award The Shooting Stars Awards are presented annually by the pan-European network organization European Film Promotion (EFP) to emerging actors from Europe. "Shooting Stars" is an initiative of the EFP for the international promotion and networking of ...

at Berlinale 2017 by the

European Film Promotion European Film Promotion (EFP) is an organisation with a mission of promoting European films internationally. A network of 38 national film promotion institutes which represent films from their respective territories. Under the EFP flag, the member ...

organisation. In 2016, Hofmann was cast as Jonas Kahnwald in ''

'', a science fiction thriller released on

on 1 December 2017. His character is one of the leads and is the main love interest for the character of Martha Nielsen. A second season was released on 21 June 2019. A third and final season was released on 27 June 2020. In 2022, Hofmann was cast as Werner Pfennig in the Netflix series adaptation '' All The Light We Cannot See,'' based on the 2014 novel of the same name. The series is set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was released on 2 November 2023. In March 2023, Hofmann joined the cast of

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

production ''Monstrous Beauty''. He also appeared in Apple TV+ series ''

Masters of the Air ''Masters of the Air'' is a 2024 American war drama miniseries created by John Shiban and John Orloff for Apple TV+. It is based on the 2007 book of the same name by Donald L. Miller and follows the actions of the 100th Bomb Group, a Boeing ...

'', produced by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

and

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

, which was released on 26 January 2024.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Radio

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Louis 1997 births German male child actors Living people German male film actors German male television actors People from Bergisch Gladbach Male actors from Cologne