Aylin Tezel (; born 29 November 1983) is a German actress and dancer. She was born in Bünde. Her father is a Turkish-born medical doctor practicing in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, Germany, and her mother is a nurse. She is a middle child, having an older sister and a younger brother. She had her breakthrough with a main role in the film "

Almanya - Welcome to Germany ''Almanya: Welcome to Germany'' (german: Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland) (''Almanya'' is Turkish language, Turkish for Germany) is a 2011 German comedy film directed by Yasemin Şamdereli. The film premiered at the 61st Berlin Internation ...

" which premiered at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

in 2011 and with the main role in the film "Am Himmel der Tag" ( En: "Breaking Horizons") for which she received the Best Actress Award at the

Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

in 2012.

Life and career

Aylin Tezel was born in Bünde and grew up in the Bielefeld district of Sennestadt. There she danced from the age of six and graduated from the Hans Ehrenberg academic high school. She studied acting at the

Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts The Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts (German: ''Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch'', ''HFS''), based in the Niederschöneweide district of Berlin, Germany, was founded in 1951 as the National Theatre School in Berlin with the stat ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

but left the school in her second year. After her film debut in the arthouse feature "Unschuld" (2008) she played a central role in Oliver Kienle's award- winning film "" (First Steps Award 2010). The actress was especially noted for her role in

Yasemin Şamdereli Yasemin Şamdereli (born 15 July 1973 in Dortmund, West Germany) is a German actress, screenwriter and film director. Her film '' Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland'' had its U.S. premiere at the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival in San Francisc ...

's film "

", which premiered at the 61st

and won the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Award) in 2011. The film was a big hit in German cinemas and had cinema releases in many countries. During Christmas 2011, Tezel was seen as

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

in Uwe Janson's TV film "Aschenputtel" and soon afterwards as one of the main recurring characters, young cop Nora Dalay, in Germany's most popular cop series

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed b ...

. Irish director

Shimmy Marcus Shimmy Marcus is an Irish filmmaker. Early life Marcus was born and raised in the Dublin suburb of Terenure, the son of Louis Marcus (filmmaker), Louis Marcus (twice Oscar nominated documentary film-maker). He was educated at Stratford Colleg ...

gave her the main part in his short film "Rhinos" (2011) which premiered at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada and was nominated for an Award at the

Irish Film & Television Awards The IFTA Film & Drama Awards are awards given by the Irish Film & Television Academy for Irish television and film, the awards began in 1999. The ceremonies recognise Irish creative talent working in film, drama, and television, and winners receiv ...

in 2013. In 2012 she was seen in main roles in the feature films "3 Zimmer/Küche/Bad" (engl. "Move") and "Breaking Horizons" (original Title: "Am Himmel der Tag"). Pola Beck's "Breaking Horizons" won the Award for Best Film in German-language feature film competition at the 8th

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, secon ...

and Aylin Tezel received the Best Actress Award at the 30th

.Official Page TFF, 12/12
Aylin Tezel filmed

Marco Kreuzpaintner Marco Johann Kreuzpaintner (born 11 March 1977) is a German film director, executive producer and screenwriter. Career In 1999, he began his career in the role of German dubbing assistant for the Stanley Kubrick film ''Eyes Wide Shut''. In t ...

's feature ''

Coming In ''Coming In'' is a 2014 German romantic comedy film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner. Plot Tom Herzner, a notoriously hip hairdresser, falls in love with a beauty parlor owner named Heidi. The only problem is that Tom is gay and has never had sex w ...

'' which was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in October 2014, playing female lead Heidi who falls for a gay star- hairdresser (

Kostja Ullmann Kostja Ullmann (born May 30, 1984) is a German actor, best known for his leading role in the award-winning coming of age drama ''Sommersturm'' (''Summer Storm'') which gained a lot of praise throughout Europe. Life and career Ullmann was born i ...

). In the feature "Macho Man", the film version of a German bestseller she plays the female lead alongside German actor Christian Ulmen and Danish actor Dar Salim. The film was released in 2015 by Universum Film. She played female lead Sabine in Robert Manson's english-language debut feature film "Lost in the Living". The film was released in cinemas in Ireland and Germany in 2017 and was later picked up by Amazon Prime. Tezel took voice lessons from the late voice coach Julia Wilson-Dickson in London to improve her opportunities for English language roles. In 2017 Aylin Tezel had a recurring role in the Canadian CBC Television spy thriller television series

X Company ''X Company'' is a Canadian/Hungarian spy thriller television series created by '' Flashpoint's'' Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern which premiered on February 18, 2015, on CBC Television. The series takes place during World War II, and foll ...

. She played the Jewish Polish Resistance Fighter Zosia in 6 episodes of the 3rd season alongside Warren Brown and

Evelyne Brochu Evelyne Brochu (born November 17, 1982) is a Canadian actress. In 2013, she became well known for her English-speaking role as Delphine Cormier, a French scientist on the hit Canadian science fiction thriller TV series ''Orphan Black.'' Early l ...

and spoke English with a Polish Accent for the part. In June 2020

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

released the thriller 7500 after it had premiered in competition at

Locarno Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

and was released in cinemas in Germany and Austria.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

plays the main role, a co-pilot who's plane is hijacked. Tezel plays his girlfriend, stewardess Gökce. In February 2021

ZDFneo ZDFneo is a German free-to-air television channel, programmed for an audience aged 25 to 49 to counter the primarily older-skewing main channels of public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. It replaced ZDF's documentary channel ZDFdokukanal on 1 Nove ...

originals released the 6-part miniseries ''Unbroken'' in which Tezel plays the main role, Alex, a tough cop trying to find her child after having been kidnapped. Already after the first week of streaming the TV series was announced to be ZDFneo's most successful tv series on

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

's streaming channel ZDF Mediathek. Tezel also wrote and directed the short film Phoenix (2020) starring Irish Actors

Killian Scott Cillian Damien Murphy (born 6 July 1985) is an Irish actor, better known professionally as Killian Scott. He first came to prominence for his role as Tommy in the RTÉ One series '' Love/Hate''. Early life The youngest of six children, Scott g ...

Bríd Brennan Bríd Brennan (born 1955) is a Northern Irish actress who is known for her theatre work. She originated the role of Agnes in the Brian Friel play ''Dancing at Lughnasa'', for which she won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. ...

and German Actress

Leonie Benesch Leonie Benesch (born 22 April 1991 in Hamburg) is a German actress who has played roles in major productions including ''Babylon Berlin ''and ''The Crown'', as well as ''Around the World in 80 Days''. She is currently based in London. Biography I ...

which premiered at Max Ophüls Festival.

Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * Represented by London Talent & Literary Agenc
Curtis Brown
* Represented by Berlin Talent Agenc
Die Agenten

review
Breaking Horizons at Reykjavik International Film Festival
interview
Tezel about her series "Unbroken" in Drama Quarterly February 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tezel, Aylin German film actresses 1983 births Living people People from Herford (district) German people of Turkish descent German television actresses 21st-century German actresses