Aylin Tezel

Aylin Tezel (born 29 November 1983) is a German actress, writer and director whose career has spanned over a decade of versatile performances across film and television. Raised in Bünde, West Germany, she grew up in the Bielefeld district of Sennestadt as the middle child of a Turkish‑born doctor and a German nurse, beginning dance lessons at six and later attending the Hans Ehrenberg academic high school. Although she studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, she left during her second year to pursue on‑screen opportunities, making her film debut in the arthouse feature Innocence (2008) and quickly gaining attention with a central role in Oliver Kienle’s award‑winning Stronger Than Blood (2010). Her breakthrough arrived with the critically acclaimed Almanya – Welcome to Germany (2011), which premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and helped the film secure the Deutscher Filmpreis, propelling Tezel into the national spotlight. She followed this success with a standout performance in Yasemin Şamdereli’s Almanya and a memorable turn as Cinderella in Uwe Janson’s TV film Aschenputtel, as well as an early recurring role as young cop Nora Dalay in the beloved series Tatort.

Since then Tezel has demonstrated a remarkable range, starring in Breaking Horizons (2012) where she earned the Best Actress Award at the 30th Torino Film Festival, and appearing in Marco Kreuzpaintner’s Coming In (2014) and the German bestseller adaptation Macho Man (2015). She expanded into English‑language projects with the CBC spy thriller X Company (2017), delivering a Polish‑accented performance as resistance fighter Zosia, and later portrayed stewardess Gökce opposite Joseph Gordon‑Levitt in Amazon Studios’ thriller 7500 (2020). In addition to acting, Tezel directed the short Phoenix (2020) and made her feature‑length directorial debut with the romantic drama Falling Into Place (2023), which secured the FIPRESCI Prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and affirmed her emerging reputation as a multifaceted filmmaker.