Lea van Acken
Biography
Lea van Acken was born on February 22, 1999, in Lübeck, Germany, and grew up in Schleswig-Holstein, where she still lives in a small village. As a child, she was interested in horseback riding and dancing. She first took the stage in 2011 as an extra in a production of Der Ölprinz at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. Without formal acting training, she studied other actors by watching them in films. In 2014, she played the lead role of the deeply religious teenager Maria in the drama Kreuzweg, directed by Dietrich Brüggemann. The film won a Silver Bear at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. She subsequently appeared in Brüggemann's satire about neo-Nazis titled Heil.
Career overview
Lea van Acken was born in Lübeck, Germany, on February 22, 1999, and grew up in Schleswig-Holstein, where she still lives today in a small village. During her childhood, her interests included horseback riding and dancing. She began her acting career in 2011 by taking the stage as an extra in a production of Der Ölprinz at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. Without undergoing formal training as an actress, she developed her skills by studying other actors in films.
In 2014, Van Acken played her first major lead role as the deeply religious teenager Maria in the drama Kreuzweg, also known as Stations of the Cross, which was directed by Dietrich Brüggemann. This film earned a Silver Bear at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. Following this breakthrough, she appeared in Brüggemann's subsequent film, a satire about neo-Nazis titled Heil.
Throughout her career, Van Acken has accumulated 35 known acting credits in the film and television industry. Her background reflects a transition from working as a festival extra to starring in critically recognized dramatic and satirical cinema.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Drop (2026)
- Wovon sollen wir träumen (2026) as Julia
- Liebesbesuch (2026) as Nathalie
- Liebesbesuch (2026) Writer
- Call Me Levi (2025) as Annie Packsher
- Und keiner geht hin (2025) as Matea
- 5 Finger sind 'ne Faust (2025) as Maria
- German Genius (2023) as Lea van Acken
- Two Sides of the Abyss (2023) as Josi
- Hitlerputsch 1923: Das Tagebuch der Paula Schlier (2023) as Paula Schlier
- 4 Days to Eternity (2023) as Idilia Dubb
- The Privilege (2022) as Lena
- Blackout: Tomorrow Is Too Late (2021) as Ulrike
- The Island (2020) as Ella
- Cracks (2020) as Iris
- All My Loving (2019) as Tinka
- Abikalypse (2019) as Hannah
- Abikalypse (2019) as Hannah
- Dark (2017) as Girl from the Future
- Suck Me Shakespeer 3 (2017) as Amrei Keiser
- Bibi & Tina: Perfect Pandemonium (2017) as Aladin
- Windstorm 3 (2017) as Samantha
- Sag mir nichts (2016) as Sasanna
- The Diary of Anne Frank (2016) as Anne Frank
- Ferien (2016) as Lea
- Wer weiß denn sowas? (2015) as Self
- Heil (2015) as Teenager
- Stations of the Cross (2014) as Maria
- Homeland (2011) as Ayla
- Spreewaldkrimi (2006) as Svenja Heinze
- ZIBB (2003) as Self
- Morgenmagazin (1992) as Self
- Bavarian Film Awards (1979) as Self
- Kölner Treff (1976) as Self
- Scene of the Crime (1970) as Verena Hetsch