Max Schimmelpfennig was born in Berlin in 1996 and studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, graduating in 2020. He enjoyed his first major successes through his recurring role in the Netflix series Dark, in which he played a key character across both seasons (2018–2019) of the internationally acclaimed science fiction drama. Further roles followed quickly: the Netflix feature film Das Privileg, the ARD/Disney+ series Sam – Ein Sachse, the ZDFneo series Loving her and Ava DuVernay’s international feature film Origin (2022), which was shot with X-Filme Creative Pool.

His most recent work includes a role in Joachim Lang’s SWR biopic John Cranko, the ZDF series Crystal Wall and the ZDF series Freibad. In 2025, he appeared in the NDR production Nürnberg 45 – Im Angesicht des Bösen and the ZDF series My Ex; in 2026 he will take on a role in the RTL+ series Goethe & Schiller.

He is also very prolific as an audiobook narrator, notably through a long-standing collaboration on the Woodwalkers series and numerous Audible productions.