Malaya Stern Takeda
Biography
Malaya Stern Takeda (born June 19, 1997 in Tokyo) is an American - Japanese actress. The daughter of an American mother from California and a Japanese father from Tokyo who was passionate about German studies, Takeda grew up in Berlin from 2000 onwards. There, she attended a bilingual school. Although she is fluent in German, she states that English is her native language. Her first name means "free" or "independent" and, like her middle name, "Stern," was chosen by her father. From 2015 to 2016, Takeda attended the private acting school Michael Tschechow Studio Berlin. This was followed by acting studies at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in her hometown from 2017 to 2021. While still studying acting, Takeda took on stage roles, and from 2018 onwards she had her first roles in student films. During her training at the HfS Ernst Busch, she appeared, among others, in the bat-Studiotheater in the title role of Penthesilea (2018, directed by Theresa Thomasberger), in the SchaubĂŒhne as Natella Abaschwili in The Caucasian Chalk Circle (2019â2020, directed by Peter Kleinert), in the VolksbĂŒhne as Lars in Men's Fantasies (2020, directed by Theresa Thomasberger) and at the DĂŒsseldorfer Schauspielhaus as Gabi in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (2020, directed by David Bösch ). Takeda first attracted the attention of theater critics at the end of 2021 during a solo recital alongside Aram Tafreshian at the Lausitz Festival in Cottbus . At the State Theater there , she interpreted the title role in the 90-minute Shakespeare drama Richard III as man, woman, and child, using contemporary feminist texts. The performance had emerged the previous year from Takeda's 8-minute graduate recital at the Ernst Busch University of Music, where Tafreshian was also her lecturer. She is currently a permanent member of the ensemble at the Nationaltheater Mannheim . In 2022, Takeda took on the lead role alongside Aram Tafreshian in Sarah Miro Fischer's student short film Spit , which received an invitation to compete at the Max OphĂŒls Prize film festival . For her portrayal of Livia, who is attracted to violent fantasies, she and Tafreshian received a nomination for the Max OphĂŒls Prize for "Best Young Actress". The short film Girl Who Cried Wolf was also invited to the festival, for which she was also a member of the ensemble. In the same year, she played one of the four main roles as ZoĂ© in the TV series Love Addicts .
Known For & Full Filmography15 Titles
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m âą as Catherine
In a climate change-ravaged world, a utopian society optimizes life, including parenthood assessments. A successful couple faces scrutiny by an evaluator over seven days to determine their fitness for childbearing.
Drama Series - 2025, 16 episodes âą as Lilith
Marie and Luis meet at a costume party and immediately fall for each other. What begins as a dream of true love increasingly turns into a nightmare. Because Luis is addicted to sex. And Marie is addicted to Luis.
Drama Series - 2025, 16 episodes âą as Toni Falk
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Drama Series - 2022, 16 episodes ⹠as Zoé
Dennis canât manage to separate himself from his possessive girlfriend. Nele chases away even the most perfect guys with her fairy tale fantasies. Mo freezes up when he is about to make an emotional connection. Katrin refrains from love, but makes up for it with throwaway sex.
Drama Series - 2024, 16 episodes âą as Lea
Bursting amniotic bags, babies in a pelvic position, premature contractions: for midwives Nalan, Anna and Greta, a state of emergency is the order of the day.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m âą as Clarissa Rheinbold
Kasimir uses a hollow couch to infiltrate houses. Once inside, he secretly films the ownersâ lives. A few days later the couch is picked up again, with Kasimir inside: âDelivery Errorâ. He delivers the tapes to the brain surgeon Dr. Liebermann, who is trying to learn how to feel human emotions. While Kasimir provides him with more footage of further break-ins to prove his love, the doctor, unimpressed, prepares an awake surgery in his cellar for a young musician. Broken by unreÂquited love, Kasimir begins to deviate from Liebermannâs dogma: never intervene in what happens in front of the camera. An unforgivable breach of trust for Liebermann and so he deÂcides to determine Kasimirâs fate.
Movie - 2022, 2h 15m âą as Lisa
When they learn of an outbreak of a dangerous virus shortly before their long-awaited return to Earth, a teenager and his mother struggle to decide whether to land or return to space aboard their confined spaceship.
Movie - 2022, 2h 15m âą Main Cast Role
During a global pandemic, Laszlo isolates himself in his apartment. He avoids any kind of human contact. Until one evening the new neighbor Zoe rings at his doorbell with unforeseen consequences for both of them.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m âą as Frau Hinrichsen
Katharina, Ricky, Victoria and Malou live in an assisted living group. There they have built up an anarchic utopia as an alternative to everything they reject: Parents, school, rules. With social worker Ballack as a half-hearted guardian, things go well until their âlive and let liveâ agreement starts to falter.
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m âą as Yumi
A British-Japanese woman reconnects with her origins through grief, ghosts, and good food.
Movie - 2024, 2h 15m âą as Henry Mahn
In the second part of the crime series about star lawyer Anna Conti and public prosecutor Henry Mahn, the two women are once again fighting for law and justice on different sides. After Conti has found her way back into professional life with her last case, she now takes on the defense of a dazzling client: Frank Stolpe has led a double life for years and has now committed a bank robbery for which he appears to have no motive. Curious and fascinated at the same time, Conti tries to find out all the facets of this mysterious man with the help of her assistant Carlo. What can she believe about him? Henry Mahn, on the other hand, sees him as a pathological swindler who uses his manipulative skills to plunge others into misfortune.
Movie - 2023, 2h 15m âą as Henry Mahn
After a media storm that turns her life upside down, a famous Hamburg lawyer takes on the defense of a young musician accused of infanticide.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m âą as Henry Mahn
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 2020, 2h 15m âą as Harmony
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 2021, 2h 15m âą as Nathalie
During lockdown, five friends who have moved to different cities after graduating from their high school play guessing games via Zoom. An unexpected twist puts the clique's friendship to the test.