Emil von Schönfels was born in Berlin in 2002. He gained his first acting experience at the Deutsches Theater Berlin in 2010. He made his big screen debut with a leading role in the children's film "Sputnik" (DE/BE/CZ 2013), set in the GDR, as an initially aligned boy who then joins a gang of rebellious children. Small appearances followed as a young sniper in George Clooney's World War II film "Monuments Men" (DE/US/GB 2014) and as a paperboy in the Nazi resistance drama "Jeder stirbt für sich allein" ("Alone in Berlin", DE/FR/GB 2016).  

He played a leading role as the mean stepbrother of the title character in "Timm Thaler oder das verkaufte Lachen" ("The Legend of Timm Thaler or The Boy Who Sold His Laughter", 2016). Julia von Heinz cast Schönfels as the eldest son of "Katharina Luther" (2017, TV). He played other TV roles in episodes of "SOKO Leipzig" (2017), "Dogs of Berlin" (2018) and "Babylon Berlin" (2017/2020), among others.  

Emil von Schönfels played a leading role in the feature film adaptation of the novel "Räuberhände" ("Stambul Garden"), as the sheltered son of a bourgeois family who longs to break free and embarks on a journey to Istanbul to help his best friend find his father.  

Besides acting, Emil von Schönfels is one half of the DJ and musician duo "Youngbois".