Sibel Kekilli (born 16 June 1980) is a German actress. She gained public attention after starring in the 2004 film '' Head-On''. She won two Lolas, the most prestigious German film award, for her performances in ''Head-On'' and ''

When We Leave ''When We Leave'' (german: Die Fremde, tr, Ayrılık) is a 2010 German-Turkish drama film, produced, written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Feo Aladag. The film received worldwide acclaim, and represented Aladag's debut as a producer, wri ...

'' (2010). Beginning in 2011, she became more widely known for her role as Shae in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

''.

Early life

Kekilli was born and raised in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

, to a family of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

origin. Her parents came to Germany from Turkey in 1977, and were described by Kekilli as having a rather modern and open attitude. After completing school with excellent grades at age 16, she entered a 30-month-long combined training program to become a certified public administration specialist at the local city administration. After successful completion of the training program, she continued to work as an administrative assistant for another two years at Heilbronn city hall, then moved to

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, where she worked various jobs as a bouncer, cleaner, waitress, nightclub manager, saleswoman, and

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

actress.

Career

In 2001–2002, over a period of six months, Kekilli appeared in a number of pornographic films for various directors including Josef Baumberger and

Harry S. Morgan Michael Schey (born 29 August 1945 – found dead 30 April 2011), known professionally as Harry S. Morgan, was a German director and producer of pornographic movies. He is known for directing classic-style movies. Biography Morgan studied photo ...

. In 2002, while at a shopping mall in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, she was noticed by a casting director, who invited her to audition for a role in a film. She won the leading part in '' Head-On'' (german: link=no, Gegen die Wand) against a field of 350 other hopefuls. The film was released in 2004 and was a major success, receiving several prizes at film festivals. Filming proved strenuous for Kekilli personally, and she underwent an

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

during filming in Turkey. Shortly after the release of ''Head-On'', the German tabloid newspaper ''

Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...

'' made public Kekilli's earlier work in pornography. This led to a public sensation, and Kekilli's parents broke off all contact with her. She received the 2004

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...

prize for "best shooting star" for her role in ''Head-On''. During the televised acceptance speech, she tearfully complained that she was being subject to a "''dreckige Hetzkampagne''" ("dirty smear campaign") and "''Medienvergewaltigung''" ("media rape"). ''Bild-Zeitung'' was later reprimanded by the ''Deutscher Presserat'' (German Press Council) for the manner in which it covered the story. Kekilli starred in the Turkish coup d'état film '' Home Coming'' (''Eve Dönüş'') (2006), playing the wife of a man who was unjustly imprisoned and tortured. The performance won her the Best Actress award at the 2006

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival ( tr, Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festivali), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most impor ...

. Also that year, she played a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

woman on the way to the

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in the 2006 film '' The Last Train'' (german: link=no, Der letzte Zug). In 2009, she played Umay, a young Turkish woman who leaves

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

to return to her family in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, in ''

'' (''Die Fremde''). She was awarded the

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

for Best Actress in 2010 for her role. In 2010, Kekilli was cast as Shae in

's ''

'', an adaptation of

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

's ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...

'' novels. In 2011, one year after first appearing in a supporting role in the long-running crime 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 by ...

'', she became a permanent cast member as new investigator Sarah Brandt, working alongside chief investigator Klaus Borowski. She said that she was glad not to be playing a character of foreign descent, as she feels she has been typecast in the past. In 2017 she left the ''Tatort'' franchise, after 14 feature-length episodes, citing a need for change.

Personal life

Kekilli lives in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Since citizenship in Germany is primarily established by ''

Jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...

'' rather than ''

Jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

'', she originally held Turkish rather than German citizenship, and had to apply to the Turkish government when she sought a marriage license (for a planned marriage that ultimately did not take place). In 2017, Kekilli blocked her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account from being accessed in Turkey, saying that users from that country had sent a multitude of

abusive Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

and threatening messages. She denounced the senders as "bigoted, hypocrites and full of hate".

Political activism

Kekilli supports the organization

Terre des Femmes Terre des Femmes (French, translation: Women's Earth) is a German non-profit-organisation committed to human rights for girls and women. The vision of the organisation is a world in which all people are equal, independent and free, irrespective of ...

in its work against violence against women. In December 2006, at an anti-

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

event run by the Turkish newspaper ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' in

, she stated, in German, the equivalent of "I have experienced for myself that both physical and psychological abuse are regarded as normal in a Muslim family. Sadly, violence is part of the cultural heritage in Islam." In response, the Turkish

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

left the room. In March 2015 at an

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

event at the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

's residence at

Schloss Bellevue Bellevue Palace (german: Schloss Bellevue, ), located in Berlin's Tiergarten district, has been the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994. The schloss is situated on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Col ...

, Kekilli gave a speech on violence against women in the name of honour. The speech drew wide attention and praise in Germany for its empathic message. In May 2015,

Friedrich Naumann Foundation The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (german: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit) (''FNF''), is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party. Established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss, the first pres ...

named Kekilli "Author of Freedom" for the speech.

Filmography

Film

}, tr, link=no, Duvara Karşı) , Sibel Güner , , - , 2004 , ''

Kebab Connection ''Kebab Connection'' is a 2004 German-Turkish comedy film with some slapstick that is set in Hamburg and directed by Anno Saul. Plot Ibo (Denis Moschitto) is a young Turkish-German man who is an aspiring filmmaker. A clash of cultures and pre-p ...

'' , Italienerin , , - , 2006 , '' Winter Journey'' (german: link=no, Winterreise) , Leyla , , - , 2006 , ''

Fay Grim ''Fay Grim'' is a 2006 espionage thriller film written and directed by Hal Hartley. The film is a sequel to Hartley's 1997 film '' Henry Fool'', and revolves around the title character, played by Parker Posey, the sister of Simon Grim (James Urbani ...

'' , Concierge First Istanbul Hotel , , - , 2006 , '' The Last Train'' (german: link=no, Der letzte Zug) , Ruth Zilbermann , , - , 2006 , '' Home Coming'' ( tr, link=no, Eve Dönüş) , Esma , , - , 2009 , ''

Pihalla ''Pihalla'' is a 2009 Finnish film directed by Toni Laine. The release date for the film was 23 October 2009. References External links * * 2009 films 2000s Finnish-language films 2000s German-language films Finnish drama films 2000s E ...

'' , Laura , , - , 2010 , ''

'' (german: link=no, Die Fremde, tr, link=no, Ayrılık) , Umay , , - , 2011 , '' What a Man'' , Nele , , - , 2012 , ''

Die Männer der Emden ''Die Männer der Emden'' ("The Men of the ''Emden''", English title: ''Odyssey of Heroes'') is a 2012 German war adventure film directed and co-written by p. 267 Elm, Michael ''Der Erste Weltkrieg im filmischen Gedächtnis: Kulturelles Trauma ...

'' , Salima Bey , , - , 2019 , ''

Berlin, I Love You ''Berlin, I Love You'' is a 2019 anthology romantic drama film starring an ensemble cast. A joint German and U.S. production, it serves as an installment of the ''Cities of Love'', series created by Emmanuel Benbihy. It was released on Febru ...

'' , Yasil , Segment: "Embassy" , - , 2019 , ''Deutschland ist... Heim'' , , , - , TBD , ''Shutdown'' , Sarah , Post-production , - , TBD , ''Rostocken'' , Sibel , Announced

Television

Awards

* 2004

for Best Actress in '' Head-On'' * 2004

for Best "Shooting Star" in '' Head-On'' * 2006 Golden Orange Prize for Best Actress in '' Home Coming'' * 2010

for Best Actress in ''

'' * 2010 Tribeca Prize for Best Actress in ''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kekilli, Sibel 1980 births Living people Best Actress Golden Orange Award winners Best Actress German Film Award winners German people of Turkish descent German pornographic film actresses 21st-century German actresses People from Heilbronn German television actresses German film actresses Former Muslims turned agnostics or atheists German atheists German former Muslims Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany