Actor Ferdinand Hofer
“What I Learned in College has Helped me with My Acting.”
Actor and TUM Alumnus Ferdinand Hofer is the new detective in the “München-Tatort” series: Since 2013, he has played Assistant Kalli Hammermann, who is now being promoted to Chief Detective. The episode of the TV crime series will celebrate its world premiere at the 2026 Munich Film Festival and will air on television next year (Photo: Luis Zeno Kuhn).
FROM THE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION EXAM TO THE ‘TATORT’ SET
After graduating from high school, Ferdinand Hofer decided to attend TUM in Munich to study business administration. He had previously attended lectures there with a friend and was drawn to the unique combination offered at TUM of a rigorous business administration program with strong ties to engineering and the natural sciences.
Together with Carlo Ljubek, TUM Alumnus Ferdinand Hofer forms the new detective duo for the Munich-based “Tatort” series, which premiered at the 2026 Munich Film Festival (Photo: BR/Bavaria Fiction GmbH/Linda Gschwentner/FILMFEST MÜNCHEN).
TUM realized that I have meaningful commitments outside of university and supported this entrepreneurial spirit.
MUTUAL GAIN
Ferdinand Hofer enjoyed both fields: his studies and acting. For him, his roles as a student on the one hand and as an actor on the other were a good combination because they always provided a varied and contrasting routine. “I was always looking forward to one or the other and never fell into a slump, since at least one of the two areas was always going well.” Despite their differences, the two fields complemented each other well: “I learned from my studies for my acting, and vice versa.”
The TUM Business Administration Program in particular requires a very high degree of discipline, personal responsibility, independent learning, and a structured approach. “As an actor, these skills help me a lot in preparing for my roles; I used to approach things more chaotically in the past.” Thanks to the business knowledge he gained during his studies, he can now understand a whole range of decisions in filmmaking—and the economic contexts behind them—in a completely different way. And conversely, through his work as an actor, he has gained a deep understanding of people. “As an actor, I put myself in the shoes of different characters; in everyday life as well as in my studies, I consciously apply this to understanding what kind of person is standing in front of me and how I should best talk to them.”
ON DEALING WITH CRITICISM
Ferdinand Hofer has repeatedly found that film critics do not always share this kind of thoughtful empathy toward others, but in recent years he has learned to deal with it and not let personal criticism get to him too much. His studies, his work on projects, and his exposure to other fields have also been a great help in this regard. “As an actor, I’m not selling a product I’ve worked on for a while, but rather myself as a person,” he explains. That’s why he himself is also exposed to public criticism, which often fails to distinguish between his work as an actor and his private life: “You can always criticize the role, but not the person behind it.” Constructive criticism, on the other hand, he gladly takes to heart, because professional advice is the only way to grow.
In his profession as an actor, he certainly wants to continue learning, but he’d had enough of it at the university. “I didn’t want to learn anymore, I just wanted to do something,” says Ferdinand Hofer, even though he felt a little wistful when he graduated. “My time at the university was really cool, and I probably won’t find the same flexibility in managing my time and the support from TUM at every employer.”
For now, he remains loyal to the Munich “Tatort,” even though he still enjoys playing characters in other genres or in feature films. In 2026, longtime “Tatort” detectives Ivo Batic (played by Miroslav Nemec) and Franz Leitmayr (Udo Wachtveitl) will be stepping down, and Kalli Hammermann will take over. Ferdinand Hofer is looking forward to this: further developing the character and now solving new cases as a detective.
And if he ever gets tired of acting, he says confidently, that won’t be a problem: “With my studies at TUM, I’ve built a solid second career alongside acting, giving me a certain degree of freedom and independence.”
Ferdinand Hofer and Carlo Ljubek at the NDF premiere of *TATORT MÜNCHEN* in the Audimax at the HFF during the 43rd FILMFEST MÜNCHEN on June 26, 2026 (Photo: Bojan Ritan/Filmfest München).
Ferdinand Hofer (Picture: Luis Zeno Kuhn)
Ferdinand Hofer
Bachelor Management & Technology (TUM-BWL) 2015, Master 2019
Ferdinand Hofer studied Technology and Management-Oriented Business Administration (TUM-BWL) at TUM, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2015 and his master’s degree in 2019 in the same field, with a focus on finance and accounting and mechanical engineering. In 2018, he spent a semester as an Erasmus student at the Politecnico di Milano in Milan. Since his high school days at Gymnasium Miesbach, Ferdinand Hofer has explored his many interests through internships in a wide variety of fields—from landscaping and carpentry to the finance and media sectors.
His great passion, however, is acting, which he has pursued full-time since graduating. He landed his first role in 2006 in the film “Schwere Jungs” by Marcus H. Rosenmüller, his first major role in 2012 in “Dampfnudelblues,” and in other films in the Eberhofer crime series. Since 2013, he has been a member of the “Tatort” ensemble in Munich and will soon be appearing as a detective when he and Carlo Ljubek take over from the long-standing detective duo Leitmayr and Batic.
Ferdinand Hofer is also a trained paramedic and ski instructor; he plays tennis and beach volleyball, as well as the guitar, accordion, and trombone.
