Jiří Mádl: He studied screenwriting in New York, and today he spends up to twelve hours a day on set

Actor and director Jiří Mádl has been on the Czech film scene for more than two decades. He came to the attention of the audience as a teenager in the movie Snowboarders, but his career has never developed by chance. Mádl invested time, energy and education in it from the beginning - and for this reason he went to study in the USA.

Studies in America and months of anonymity

In 2011, he enrolled in a screenwriting course at the New York Film Academy. As he revealed in the Hype-Cast podcast, he was able to save enough money to be able to fully focus on school, making contacts and – as he himself admitted – also on parties.

He managed to find an affordable apartment in Manhattan and did not initially reveal to the other students that he was a well-known face in the Czech Republic. This short anonymity brought him the freedom he had not experienced at home, as the idol of many female fans.

Long hours on the set

Today, the former film "boy from the snowboard" is a respected director and father of two-year-old František. Mádl says that he only recently found out that the normal working hours are eight hours - an unusual number for the film industry. After all, he spends at least twelve hours a day on the set, without any complaints.

As a director, he relies on perfect preparation and cooperation with people he trusts. This is precisely how he builds respect, which according to him is essential in the film environment.

Friendship with Vojta Kotek and rumors about relationships

The public has long perceived Mádl and the actor Vojtěch Kotek as an inseparable pair. The two made several films together and cast each other in their directorial ventures. Nevertheless, they see each other rather irregularly - the friendship between them is based on respect, not on daily contact.

There have also been speculations about their similar taste in women. Both are said to have dated make-up artist Adriana Trpkovič in the past, and the media also connected them with actress Tereza Ramba. But Mádl denied the romance with Ramba and emphasized that they are only close friends.

Privacy under control

Currently, the actor is said to be in a relationship with photographer Kateřina. But he does not talk about the relationship publicly and protects his privacy from media attention.