Jannik Schümann (; born 22 July, 1992) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

actor. He received three Jupiter Awards for Best Actor, for his role of Danny in '' Close to the Horizon'' (2020), ''9 Days Awake'' (2021), and the role of Franz Joseph I. in ''Sisi'' (2022). He is also known for his role in '' The Aftermath'' (2019), ''Center of My World'' (2016), ''

The Diplomat ''The Diplomat'' is an international online news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Indo-Pacific region. It is based in Washington, D.C. It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones ...

'' (2016–2023), ''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game ''Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of platforms, ...

'' (2020), ''

Tribes of Europa ''Tribes of Europa'' is a German sci-fi television series created by Philip Koch that premiered on Netflix on 19 February 2021. Synopsis The story is set in 2074, 43 years after a mysterious global technological failure caused nations to slip ...

'' (2021), or ''

Charité at War The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and Fre ...

'' (2019).

Early Life

Schümann was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he grew up with two older brothers in the rural quarter

Kirchwerder Kirchwerder () is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Bergedorf. It is located on the southeast border of Hamburg at the Elbe river. Geography Kirchwerder is a part of the Vierlande and is located at the Elbe river. Therefore it is hi ...

in the

Bergedorf Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994. History The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...

borough. As a child, Schümann took an interest in dancing and playing the piano, which earned him the role of young

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

in the German premiere of the Little Mozart musical at the Neuer Flora theater in Hamburg when he was 9 years old. After the performance, a

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

approached him at a gas station while he was buying a chocolate bar, and handed him her business card. Schümann signed a contract with her and enrolled in acting classes at the New Talent Schauspielschule.

Career

Schümann made his screen debut at the age of 11 when he made an appearance in an episode of the

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

TV series ''The Air Rescue Team''. At the age of 12, he lent his voice to the main character of the German

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

adaptation of '' Oscar and the Lady in Pink'', a novel by

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (born 28 March 1960) is a Franco–Belgian playwright, short story writer and novelist, as well as a film director. His plays have been staged in over fifty countries all over the world. Life Early years Eric-Emmanuel S ...

. When he was 15, he was cast in the two-part film ''Das Glück am anderen Ende der Welt''. Throughout his teenage years, he appeared in TV series, films, theater, radio dramas, and also dubbed characters in cartoon films. Schümann rose to prominence in 2011 at the age of 17 in a supporting role in ''Homevideo'', a

cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...

drama, where he portrayed Henry who cyberbullies a classmate, the main character portrayed by

Jonas Nay Jonas Nay (, born 20 September 1990) is a German actor and musician known for starring as Martin Rauch in ''Deutschland 83'' and its sequels, ''Deutschland 86'' and ''Deutschland 89''. Early life Jonas Nay was born in Lübeck in 1990 days be ...

, into committing suicide. The film received critical acclaim, winning numerous awards including the

Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, t ...

for Best TV film. Schümann's performance earned him the New Faces Award nomination for Best Young Actor. In the following year, he was cast in a supporting role in '' Barbara'' as well as in ''Mittlere Reife'', where he portrayed a young drug dealer, for which he was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Hessischer Fernsehpreis 2012, along with the

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

. In 2013, Schümann starred as the manipulative teenager Alev El Quamar in '' Gaming Instinct'', a drama film adaptation of

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974 in Bonn) is a German writer and former judge. Biography Her first book was ''Adler und Engel'' (translated into English as ''Eagles and Angels'' by Christine Slenczka), which won the ...

's novel of the same name. In 2015, he was cast in the leading role of a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

teenager in ''Call Me Helen''. In 2016, he starred as the love interest of

Louis Hofmann 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 '' La ...

in ''Center of My World'', a gay coming-of-age drama dubbed by ''The Hollywood Reporter'' as "a beguiling teen romance", while described by ''The Guardian'' as "genuinely cute". The film received a 100% rating by film critics on ''Roten Tomatoes'', as well as numerous international awards and nominations. It is an adaptation of

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 ...

’s award-winning eponymous

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

. In 2017, Schümann was cast as the lead in the critically acclaimed

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

drama ''Jugend ohne Gott'', opposite of

Jannis Niewöhner Jannis Niewöhner () (born 30 March 1992) is a German actor known for his role in the ''Timeless'' trilogy of films: ''Ruby Red'', ''Sapphire Blue'', and ''Emerald Green'', based on a book series written by Kerstin Gier Kerstin Gier (born 8 Oct ...

. In the same year, he was cast as Albrecht von Schlacht in the comedy ''High Society''. In 2019, he appeared alongside

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

in the British historical drama ''The Aftermath'', as well as in the second season of drama series ''Charité'', distributed by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. The story is set in the hospital

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

in Berlin during

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Schümann portrays Otto, the main character's brother, a homosexual student of medicine who opposes the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. After serving his military duty, he returns from war to work in the hospital, where he falls in love with Martin. They keep their affair a secret in fear of Martin being sent to a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

over

Paragraph 175 Paragraph 175 (known formally a§175 StGB also known as Section 175 in English) was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision ...

, a German law that made homosexual acts a crime. In 2019, the romantic drama ''Close to the Horizon'' was released, with Schümann in the leading role. He portrayed model and kickboxer Danny Taylor, a survivor of severe

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

who was infected with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

by his father. The film is an adaptation of Jessica Koch's best-selling book about her real life relationship with Danny Taylor. The film follows Jessica, played by

Luna Wedler Luna Wedler (born 26 October 1999) is a Swiss actress. She gained popularity by starring in the 2020 Netflix series ''Biohackers''. Early life Wedler grew up alongside two siblings in Zürich's District 6. She studied contemporary dance betwe ...

, trying to navigate a relationship with a severe

childhood trauma Childhood trauma is often described as serious adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Children may go through a range of experiences that classify as psychological trauma; these might include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and ...

survivor who is HIV positive in a time when there was no effective

antiretroviral medication Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do n ...

to prevent the

HIV infection Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

from developing into an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

diagnosis. Schümann's performance earned him his first Jupiter Award for Best Actor. In the following year, Schümann appeared in ''Monster Hunter'', starring Mila Jovovich, and landed the leading role in ''9 Days Awake'', a drama film about Eric, a

crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...

addict, battling drug addiction since he was 14. Schümann's portrayal of a drug addict earned him his second Jupiter Award for Best Actor. As of 2021, he portrays Franz Joseph I. in the award-winning miniseries ''Sisi''. The role earned Schümann his third Jupiter Award for Best Actor.

Activism and other ventures

On 26 December 2020, Schümann published a photo on Instagram with his partner Felix Kruck, a move interpreted by the international media outlets as his public

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as gay. In 2021, Schümann criticized the coming out narrative and explained that he had never made a secret of his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, stating that he only published the photo of his partner "as a signal of support for the

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community. In February 2021, he was one of 185 actors who signed the #ActOut Manifesto, an initiative by

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

German actors to achieve visibility and diversity in film and theater. On the

International Holocaust Remembrance Day The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of on ...

on January 27th, 2023, he gave a speech in the

German Parliament The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

officially commemorating the LGBTQ victims of the

for the first time in the country's history.

Personal Life

Schümann is studying

English Studies English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which ...

and

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. His father and two brothers are bricklayers. He lives with his partner Felix Kruck in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Filmography

Awards

* 2012: Nomination for the New Faces Award for ''Homevideo'' (Best young actor) * 2012: Hessischer Fernsehpreis special award of the jury for ''Mittlere Reife'' (together with Isabel Bongard,

Sonja Gerhardt Sonja Gerhardt (born 2 April 1989) is a German film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Schmetterlinge im Bauch'' and ''Deutschland 83'', and the upcoming action- horror film '' Paranormal Activity: ...

, Vincent Redetzki, Anton Rubtsov) * 2016: Askania Award (Shooting-Star-Award) *2020: Jupiter Award – Best National Actor *2020: GQ Care Award – Best Look *2021: Jupiter Award – Best National Actor *2022: Jupiter Award – Best National Actor

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Jannik 1992 births Living people German gay actors German LGBT rights activists German male child actors German male film actors German male television actors German male voice actors Male actors from Hamburg 21st-century German male actors