Jiri Madl's life took an unexpected turn at the age of 16 when an elbow injury prevented him from pursuing a professional career in ice hockey. Despite this setback, he drew upon his high school play and drama class experiences to audition for and ultimately win the leading role in Karel Janák's comedy Snowboarders. This successful venture earned him the Czech Lion for the most successful film of 2004, as well as the distinction of being the youngest person ever named to the Personalities of the Czech Republic list by the Czech "MF DNES" Magazine.
Following Snowboarders, Madl took on three more comedic roles: Taming Crocodiles (2006),Rafters (2006),and Rock Con Artists (2006),a black comedy about young musicians in Prague, which he co-starred in with his "cinematic father" Karel Janák. He then felt the need to move away from comedies and was cast in Tomás Vorel's The Can (2007),a film about students and the graffiti community.
Madl's first English-language performance came in the 2008 film Bathory, directed by the legendary Slovak director and European Film Academy member Juraj Jakubisko. Shortly after, he starred in Night Owls (2008),directed by Oscar nominee and Berlin International Film Festival award-winner Michaela Pavlatova. His role in this film earned him the Crystal Globe for Best Actor at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, making him the youngest recipient ever of this award.
Since then, Madl has been working continuously on a wide range of projects, including the 2011 international television co-production Borgia, directed by Oscar-winning Oliver Hirschbiegel. He has also starred in Bohdan Slama's Four Suns (2012),Juraj Nvota's Konfident (2012),and Miloslav Smídmajer's comic revisit to the 1980s I'll Wake Up Yesterday.
Madl has also been passionate about learning foreign languages, having studied at several institutions, including the British Council for English, the Instituto Italiano di Cultura for Italian, and the Goethe Institute in Berlin for German.
Now 27, Madl has written and directed his first feature film, To See the Sea.
