Shooting Stars 2023

Biography

German actress Leonie Benesch saw a stand-out year in 2021 leading BBC/PBS’s AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in the role of Abigail Fix alongside David Tennant. She will next be seen starring in several highly anticipated projects: the film THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE by Ilker Çatak and Frank Schätzing’s Sci-Fi thriller series THE SWARM, a TV adaptation of the bestselling novel. Benesch formally trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She received widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of Greta in the hit German show BABYLON BERLIN by Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries, for which she won the German Acting Award. Her breakout role in Michael Haneke's Golden Globe and Palme d'Or winner The White Ribbon was praised by critics as "a discovery” and her performance earned her the American Young Artist Award and the Bunte New Faces Award. Her television credits include Princess Cecile in Netflix’s THE CROWN directed by Stephen Daldry, the series SPY CITY opposite Dominic Cooper and the mini-series TURNCOAT by Florian Gallenberger. Her film credits include PERSIAN LESSONS by Vadim Perelman, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2020, 8 SECONDS by Ömer Faruk Sorak and Philip Koch's PICCO.