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Milan Peschel was born in Berlin in 1968. From 1984 to 1986, he trained to become a carpenter for the theatre at Berlin's Deutsche Staatsoper and worked as a stage hand at Volksbühne Berlin till 1991. Peschel then took actor's training at Berlin's Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch from 1991 to 1995 which was followed by engagements at the Hans-Otto-Theater in Potsdam and at Neue Bühne Senftenberg. Since 1997, he was a cast member of Frank Castorf's Volksbühne on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin but was also seen as a guest in several theatre productions in Germany and Austria, for example at Hamburg's Thalia Theater or at Salzburger Festspiele.
Besides his work for the theatre, Milan Peschel also played in several TV and movie productions. He starred in successful TV productions such as Jo Baier's "Stauffenberg" ("Operation Valkyrie", 2003) or Hendrik Handloegten's "Pechmarie" (2005), a "Tatort" series film, but also played the leading part in movies such as "Lenz" (2004) and "Netto" (2005) by Robert Thalheim. In 2006, Peschel won the German film prize as "Best actor" for his performance as a workless father in "Netto".
Following movies were for instance "Hannah" ("Living with Hannah", 2006), "Das wilde Leben" ("8 Miles High", 2007) and Hans Weingartner's media satire "Free Rainer" (2008). In Pepe Planitzer's "AlleAlle" (2008), Peschel once again played a droll and lovable loser, the scaffolder Domühl who lives in an abandoned military base.
In Sebastian Schipper's melancholic relationship drama "Mitte Ende August" ("Sometime in August", 2009), Peschel proved that he is also able to play entirely different characters. In the film that is loosely based on Goethe's novel "Wahlverwandschaften", he played a young man in a happy relationship. But then, he is thrown out of balance when his brother and a friend show up unexpectedly.
Peschel continued to appear in highly different, yet always ambitious cinema releases, including Sven Taddicken's history romp "12 Meter ohne Kopf" ("12 Paces Without a Head"), Matti Geschonneck's "Boxhagener Platz" ("Berlin, Boxhagener Platz") and Oskar Roehler's controversial "Jud Süss - Film ohne Gewissen" ("Jew Suss - Rise and Fall"), in which he embodied actor Werner Krauss. Together with Matthias Schweighöfer, Peschel was awarded the Hessian Film Award 2010 for their roles in the Frankfurt "Tatort" episode "Weil sie böse sind".
After supporting roles in the sports drama "Der ganz große Traum" ("Lessons of a Dream") and the hit comedy "What a Man", Peschel was praised by audiences and critics alike for his lead performance in Andreas Dresen's 2011 drama "Halt auf freier Strecke" ("Stopped on Track"). In the film, Peschel plays a family man who is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour.
In 2012, Peschel portrayed a ruthless slave trader in Hermine Huntgeburth's "Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn" ("The Adventures of Huck Finn", 2012) and a lovesick loser in Matthias Schweighöfer's box office hit "Schlussmacher" ("Break Up Man"). Following cameos in Peter Thorwarth's "Nicht mein Tag" ("Not My Day", 2013) and Schweighöfer's "Vaterfreuden" ("Joy of Fatherhood"), he starred in Anno Saul's comedy "Irre sind männlich". In the ambitious historical tragicomedy "Bornholmer Straße" (TV, 2014) which deals with the last hours before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he starred as a GDR first lieutenant and party official.
In the more easy-going children's movies "Rico, Oskar und die Tieferschatten" ("The Pasta Detectives", 2014) and "Rico, Oskar und das Herzgebreche" ("The Pasta Detectives 2", 2015) he featured as the young heroes' uncanny neighbour, before playing an awkward babysitter of two spoiled brats in "Der Nanny" (2015). Milan Peschel was then cast for Wolfgang Becker's adaptation of the best selling novel "Ich und Kaminski" ("Me & Kaminski", 2015) where he had the memorable part of an art magazine's chief editor.
The year 2016 also went quite well for Peschel: Among other projects, he featured in Johannes Naber's fairytale adaptation "Das kalte Herz" ("Heart of Stone") as the mysterious Glasmännlein, in "Rico, Oskar und der Diebstahlstein" ("The Pasta Detectives 3") again as Fitzke, the neighbor, and in Philipp Stölzl's made-for-TV version of "Winnetou" as the quirky Sam Hawkens.
2017 was another busy year for Peschel with supporting turns in Robert Thalheim's spy comedy "Kundschafter des Friedens" ("Old Agent Men"), Andreas Dresen's children's film "Timm Thaler oder das verkaufte Lachen" ("The Legend of Timm Thaler or The Boy Who Sold His Laughter") and Pepe Danquart's romantic comedy "Auf der anderen Seite ist das Gras viel grüner".
In addition to his screen career, he continued to star in stage productions, for instance at the Deutsche Theater and the Volksbühne in Berlin. He himself directed productions of "Tartuffe" in Copenhagen (2016), "Pünktchen und Anton" in Berlin (2017) and "Mephisto" in Hannover (2018).
In Robert Schwentke's acclaimed WWII drama "Der Hauptmann" ("The Captain"), Milan Peschel played a follower of the titular Wehrmacht captain. The film was released in March 2018, and in the same month, Peschel could also be seen in "Fünf Freunde und das Tal der Dinosaurier". Other 2018 releases starring Milan Peschel included Til Schweiger's comedy "Klassentreffen" ("Class Reunion") and Andreas Dresen's biopic "Gundermann".
The children's film "TKKG" (2019) showed him as a dubious clairvoyant, the children's film "Mein Lotta-Leben - Alles Bingo mit Flamingo!" ("My Life as Lotta", 2019) showed him as a self-appointed guru. In "Querschläger" (2019), an episode of crime series"Tatort", Peschel had a leading role as a customs officer, who becomes blackmailer. For the stage, he directed "Arsenic and Old Lace" (2018) at the Heidelberg Theatre and "Die Letzten" (2019) at the Magdeburg Theatre.
In 2020, several films featuring Milan Peschel premiered in German cinemas: in January, the comedy "Die Hochzeit", a sequel to the popular hit "Klassentreffen 1.0"; in February, the family adventure "Lassie – Eine abenteuerliche Reise" ("Lassie Come Home"); in October, the children's adventure "Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13" ("Jim Button and the Wild 13"); and in November, "Die Schule der magischen Tiere" ("School of Magic Animals") which marked the beginning of a successful film series of the same name. Between 2020 and 2024, Peschel played the quirky Mister Morrison in all four installments - the owner of a magical pet shop who pairs talking animals with children.
For his supporting role in "Je suis Karl" (DE/CZ 2021, dir. Christian Schwochow), in which he portrays a father who loses his wife and children in a terrorist attack, Peschel was once again nominated for the German Film Award in 2021.
That same year, he appeared in the nostalgic music film "Alle für Ella" ("Featuring Ella") and played the older, enigmatic Ernst von Trudewind in the lavishly produced TV series "Das Haus der Träume," set in 1920s Berlin. Also in 2021, Peschel took on a leading role in the ZDFneo comedy series "Doppelhaushälfte," which follows the coexistence of a migrant patchwork family from the city and an East German village family living under one roof. The series was continued in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with Peschel appearing in all seasons.
In 2022, he joined the ensemble of Roman Polanski's satirical film "The Palace," alongside Oliver Masucci, Fanny Ardant, and John Cleese. In 2023, he appeared in an episode of "Pumuckl," a new adaptation of the beloved classic, directed by Marcus H. Rosenmüller.
In June 2025, the atmospheric drama "The Exposure" (CH/GB), inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's "Fräulein Else," premiered at the Munich Film Festival. A month later, the quirky underdog comedy "#SchwarzeSchafe," a sequel of sorts to the 2006 film "Schwarze Schafe," was released in cinemas, with Peschel reprising his role as Peter Harminsky - a perpetually broke and unsuccessful painter.
Alongside his film and television work, Milan Peschel has remained active in the theatre, both as an actor and director. In recent years, he has directed productions at the Schauspielhaus Magdeburg, the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater. In 2024, he also returned to the stage at Berlin's Volksbühne in "Der Schnittchenkauf."
Milan Peschel lives in Berlin.