Igor Jeftić Regrets Acting Career in Abendzeitung Interview on Die Rosenheim-Cops

On Friday, August 15, 2026, German entertainment outlets widely picked up an Abendzeitung München interview with Igor Jeftić, the actor who has played Chief Inspector Sven Hansen on ZDF’s long-running crime series “Die Rosenheim-Cops” since 2009. In the conversation, the 54-year-old said he regrets becoming an actor, questioned whether television storytelling carries real social value, and described the series’ early-morning shoot schedule as a daily ordeal he will never adjust to.

Editor’s note: This article draws on the Abendzeitung München interview and republication by German outlets including TV Spielfilm, Focus, Moviepilot, and BUNTE on August 15, 2026.

From Berlin stages to Oberbayern’s top cop

Born in Serbia, Jeftić built his career in Germany through theatre and television before landing the role that would define his public profile. He appeared in early roles on series such as “Liebling, ich habe die Kinder geschrumpft” and worked in Berlin before 2009, when he joined “Die Rosenheim-Cops” as Kommissar Sven Hansen.

The ZDF franchise — set in and around Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria — has been a staple of German Sunday-evening television for decades. Jeftić’s Hansen, alongside colleagues including Kommissarin roles played by Maximilian Brückner and others across the years, became one of the show’s central faces. Fans have followed the investigations, Bavarian scenery, and light procedural tone through more than two dozen seasons.

Detail	Information
Actor	Igor Jeftić, 54
Role	Chief Inspector Sven Hansen
Series	“Die Rosenheim-Cops” (ZDF)
Tenure	Since 2009
Next season	Season 26, scheduled for fall 2026

For viewers in Germany — and for Jeftić himself — the series has offered steady work and broad recognition. The August 15 coverage showed that stability has not quieted a deeper set of questions about what acting is meant to accomplish.

“I sometimes doubt the point of acting”

Jeftić told Abendzeitung that his doubts are not born of boredom on set or a loss of enjoyment in the craft. He said he still takes pleasure in the work itself. What troubles him is a broader purpose question: whether acting and television drama contribute enough to society beyond distraction.

“I sometimes doubt the point of acting very much,” he told the Munich daily. He argued that films and series should push audiences to reflect on their own choices and behavior — yet he feels that deeper message often fails to land. “Apart from the fact that it’s fun: why do we tell so many stories if nobody learns from them? Just for entertainment? That sometimes seems simply too little to me.”

That line of thinking led to a blunt personal assessment. When asked whether he regrets his career path, Jeftić answered affirmatively — not because he dislikes performing, but because he wishes he had chosen work with what he called a more direct influence on the world. He did not specify an alternative profession in the published excerpts, but the framing was clear: storytelling on television, even on a successful flagship show, does not always feel like enough impact for him.

German outlets republishing the interview on August 15 emphasized how unusual the candor was from an actor so closely tied to a comfort-viewing crime format. “Die Rosenheim-Cops” is built for reliable weekly viewing, not existential debate — yet Jeftić’s comments invited exactly that kind of reflection about what popular TV is for.

The grind behind the Bavarian crime scenes

Beyond philosophy, Jeftić spoke practically about what makes “Die Rosenheim-Cops” demanding year after year. Production schedules for the series require very early call times, often well before sunrise, day after day.

“A cruelty is getting up so early, every day, well before sunrise,” he told Abendzeitung. “I will never get used to that.” He sighed over the routine in the interview, treating the dawn starts as a permanent tax on the job rather than something experience would soften.

He also noted a structural downside of long-term series work: overlapping shoot windows on “Die Rosenheim-Cops” have repeatedly clashed with other projects, limiting how available he can be elsewhere. “A disadvantage is naturally that you’re only conditionally available for other projects because the shooting times overlap — that has happened often,” he said.

For a performer weighing legacy and impact, those constraints add another layer: a single beloved role can anchor a career while also narrowing it.

Season 26 is still on — no exit planned

Despite the regrets and the early alarms, Jeftić is not walking away from Sven Hansen. German coverage on August 15 was explicit that he intends to continue with the franchise. Season 26 is slated to begin airing in fall 2026, and Jeftić is already back in production for it.

That continuity matters for ZDF and for viewers who have watched Hansen for nearly two decades. Jeftić’s interview reads less like a resignation letter than like a mid-career reckoning aired in public — one that separates job satisfaction from life meaning, and separates loyalty to a series from second thoughts about the profession itself.

For now, Kommissar Hansen will keep investigating in Oberbayern. Behind the camera, his lead actor will keep asking whether telling crime stories on Sunday night is the fullest use of a working life — even as he shows up before dawn to film them.

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Discussion

Jeftić’s interview sits at the intersection of craft, comfort television, and the question of what audiences actually take from stories they already enjoy.

1. Should popular crime series be judged mainly as entertainment, or as vehicles for moral reflection?

Jeftić wants television to change how people act, not only how they spend an evening. Is that a fair expectation for a long-running ZDF procedural — or an unfair burden on a format built for familiarity?

2. How much should actors’ personal regrets about their careers matter to viewers?

He is staying on “Die Rosenheim-Cops” while openly wishing he had chosen a more world-shaping path. Does that honesty deepen respect for the work, or complicate the pleasure of watching it?

If you have followed “Die Rosenheim-Cops” for years — does Jeftić’s candor change how you see the show, or simply how you see the person behind Sven Hansen?

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