Max Riemelt is a German actor. His German audiences know him for roles in The Wave and Freier Fall. He is best known to international audiences as Wolfgang Bogdanow in Sense8. This Max Riemelt bio will let the actor tell his story in his own words.

Max Riemelt Bio: Age, Family

Max Rimelet was born on January 7, 1984 (Max Riemelt age: 39) in East Berlin, East Germany. His parents  Gunnar and Judith Riemelt are graphic artists. Max Riemelt began acting at a young age in school plays. He decided early on that theater wasn’t for him, preferring film and television. “I started out when I was 13,” Riemelt told uInterview, “kind of unconscious about what I was doing or what for. It was just feeling right. I always follow my intuition, still do it in terms of choosing projects or people I want to work with, and just developed through the people I worked with. I was lucky enough to work with people who had a clear vision and always wanted the best for me, so I’ve had good experiences and through that a lot of hope.”

He wasn’t always sure if he wanted to pursue acting as a long-term career path due to the financial risk that awaits those that choose the profession. “The decision to become an actor came kind of late because I wasn’t sure, especially in Germany it’s so difficult to make a living out of it,” he told uInterview. “Maybe 5% can pay their rent on that kind of job so I was still struggling with that idea. When I was 19 I made a movie called Neuland where I was the lead, and it was the first character I could play that really made me feel safe enough, that I could do that as a profession. I didn’t learn anything. I have nothing when it comes to school… It worked out pretty well for me.”

Max Riemelt Bio: German Career

Max Riemelt’s first film appearance was in Eine Familie zum Küssen. He began to receive attention in his native Germany with his role in the comedy film Mädchen, Mädchen. This was the first of many films he would work on with director Dennis Gansel. Others include The Wave.

He has also starred in popular films like Freier Fall, Möderischer Frieden and Die Zigarrenkiste to name a few.

In 2004 he won the Best Actor award from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his part in the film Napola. In 2006 he won the Young Actor award from both the Bavarian Film Awards and the Marrakech International Film Festival for his part in Der Rote Kakadu. He also snatched the Audience Best Actor Award in 2014 from the Out on Film Festival for Freier Fall.

Max Riemelt Bio: International Career

Max Riemelt’s breakthrough international role was in the Netflix original Sense8. He played one of eight lead characters, Wolfgang Bogdanow, who one day finds that he is psychically linked with seven other strangers around the world. The show did well critically and found success in multiple countries before ending in 2018.

While perhaps not as close as their fictional counterparts, the cast of Sense8 grew into a tight-knit work family. When asked how he connected to costars Riemelt replied, “yea through the circumstance that you travel a lot, that you have to go through extreme situations…Everyone has different issues and different problems, like me for example I have a daughter back home. For me, it’s very difficult to be gone for so long. Also when it comes to scenes where we have to be nude or extremely sexual it’s also an issue for many of us, but we go through this together and the more we are experiencing together, the more bonding and getting to know each other. It’s really transcending throughout the whole show.”

Reimelt also starred in Berlin Syndrome. He plays a young man in the drama, who after having a one-night stand with a  woman backpacking across Europe, refuses to let her leave his apartment.

Riemelt’s most recent television work was in the Netflix series Sleeping Dog, which was released in 2023 and ended after one season.

Max Riemelt Bio: Personal Life, Dating, Partner

The actor has kept private about his personal life and has no known social media accounts. He told uInterview that he has a young daughter who lives with him in Berlin.

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