Leonie Benesch

• Born — 22 April 1991 • Birthplace — Hamburg, Germany • Occupation — Actress • Education — Guildhall School of Music and Drama

In 2009, Benesch played the role of Eva in the film The White Ribbon, which won the Golden Palm. Film critics singled out her performance as "a discovery". She received the American "Young Artist Award" for her work, as well as a "New Faces Award". In 2010, she performed in Philip Koch's drama Picco and in Sophie Heldman's film Colors in the Dark (Satte Farben vor Schwarz), where she worked alongside Senta Berger and Bruno Ganz. In 2017, Benesch performed in Babylon Berlin as Greta Overbeck, winning the "German Acting Prize". Benesch also performed in The Crown as the sister of Prince Philip, Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark. In 2020, she was cast in the BBC miniseries Around the World in 80 Days, alongside David Tennant as Phileas Fogg and Ibrahim Koma as Passepartout. In 2023, she won the German Film Award for her leading role as an idealistic teacher (Carla Nowak) in the German drama The Teachers’ Lounge, cowritten and directed by İlker Çatak, in the category Best Female Leading Role. She was also nominated for the European Film Award, while a year later, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best International Film. Commenting on the success of the film in an interview, Benesch told GoldDerby, "the film was finished for nine months and nobody wanted to buy it. All the distributors said they didn’t see any international potential. It’s too small, it’s too much text, it’s too German. When we had our premiere in Ireland there was a buzz and we got sold out across the globe. It was a complete surprise!"

Benesch grew up in Tübingen as the oldest of four children, and attended the Freie Waldorfschule and the Rudolf-Steiner-Schule in Bielefeld-Schildesche. She also attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2012 — Cologne P.D. — Nadia Winkowski — Episode: "Zeugin in Angst" • Der Kriminalist — Clarissa von Tannenhof — Episode: "Blaues Blut" • 2013 — Tatort — Julia — Episode: "Freunde bis in den Tod" • 2017 — Howards End — Frieda Mosenbach — 1 episode • 2017, 2019 — The Crown — Princess Cecilie — 3 episodes • 2017–2020 — Babylon Berlin — Greta Overbeck — Series regular • 2018 — Counterpart — Sofia — 2 episodes • Morden im Norden — Gaby Zinke — Episode: "Jäger und Sammler" • 2019 — Holiday Secrets — Lara — Series regular • 2019 — The Master Butcher — Eva — Series regular • 2020 — Spy City — Eliza Hahn — Series regular • 2021 — Around the World in 80 Days — Abigail "Fix" Fortescue — Main role • 2023 — The Swarm — Charlie Wagner — Main role • 2024 — Vienna Blood — Helena Rieger — 2 episodes • 2026 — Prisoner — Nina Dragus — 6 episodes