Bjarne Mädel

Bjarne Mädel (born 12 March 1968) is a prominent German actor whose career has spanned stage, television and film, earning him a reputation for both comedic timing and dramatic depth. Raised in Hamburg, he completed his secondary education at the Burggymnasium in Friedberg in der Wetterau before pursuing higher studies in theater and literature at the University of Erlangen, complemented by a semester at the University of Redlands in California. Determined to hone his craft, he enrolled in the prestigious Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, where he earned a diploma in acting between 1992 and 1996. His early professional years were spent on the German stage, first at the Rostock People's Theatre (1996‑1999) and later at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg (2000‑2005), where his performances garnered critical attention and laid the groundwork for his transition to screen. Since his television debut in 2004 with the cult series Stromberg, Mädel has become a household name, most notably through his role as the dead‑pan cleaner Heiko “Schotty” Schotte in the acclaimed series Crime Scene Cleaner (2011‑2018), a performance that earned him consecutive Grimme Prizes in 2012 and 2013. He further expanded his repertoire by portraying the charismatic drug dealer Jakob “Buba” Otto in the globally popular Netflix series How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (2019) and reprising the character in the pre‑quel film Buba (2022). In addition to acting, Mädel stepped behind the camera in 2020, directing the NDR film Sörensen hat Angst while also starring as the titular detective, demonstrating his versatility and commitment to German storytelling.