Mala Emde

Mala Emde is a German actress born on 22 April 1996. She is known for her work across feature films, television movies, and television series. Throughout her career, she has performed in numerous screen and stage productions, earning industry recognition for her acting roles.

Emde was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to Thomas Emde and Cathrin Ehrlich, and she has one elder sister. From 2009 to 2012, she attended the Tanz, Theater & Musik studio in Frankfurt am Main. While at the studio, she made her stage premiere playing Aschenputtel in Janusz Głowacki's Die Aschenkinder. She also appeared on stage as Tartalia in Friedrich Schiller's Turandot.

Emde began working in television in 2008, appearing in the series Post Mortem – Tod im OP and the television film Der große Tom. In the following years, she expanded her screen credits through television series roles in Tatort – Architektur eines Todes in 2009, Krimi.de – Der Zeuge/Eigentor in 2011, Tatort – Schmuggler in 2012, Krimi.de – Ehrensache in 2013, and Wenckes Verbrecher – Beiß nicht gleich in jeden Apfel in 2013. During this period, she also acted in television films including Mittlere Reife in 2012, Sommer in Rom in 2013, and Das Paradies in uns in 2013.

Between 2014 and 2016, Emde appeared in the short films Grey Hat and Rose, as well as episodes of series such as Heldt – Letzte Runde, SOKO Köln – Väter und Söhne, SOKO 5113 – Opfer, Notruf Hafenkante – Hund und Katze, Tatort – Borowski und das verlorene Mädchen, and SOKO München – Zombie. She also took on roles in television movies including My Daughter Anne Frank in 2015, Nussknacker und Mausekönig in 2015, Neben der Spur – Todeswunsch in 2016, Luther and I in 2017, and Brecht in 2019.

In feature films, Emde appeared in Offline: Are You Ready for the Next Level? in 2016 and Wir töten Stella in 2017. Her subsequent film credits include 303 in 2018, Lara in 2019, And Tomorrow the Entire World in 2020, Skin Deep in 2022, Blind at Heart in 2023, and Köln 75 in 2025. Her work in television expanded to roles in the docudrama Lehman. Gier frisst Herz in 2018 and the series Charité in 2019, The Defeated in 2020, and Oh Hell in 2022.

Emde's performances have earned several awards. In 2015, she received the Young Talent Award at the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for her portrayal of Anne Frank in My Daughter Anne Frank. She won the Young Actor Award at the Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2018 for her role in 303, and was awarded the Bisato d'Oro in 2020 for And Tomorrow the Entire World. In May 2026, Emde announced a friendship marriage to her partner Trixi Strobel.