Sibel Kekilli

Sibel Kekilli
Kekilli in January 2015
Born	(1980-06-16) June 16, 1980 Heilbronn, Germany
Residence	Hamburg, Germany
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2003–present

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 awards, for her performances in Head-On and When We Leave. In 2011, she became more widely known for her role as Shae in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Early life

Kekilli was born and raised in Heilbronn, to a family of Turkish origin. Her parents came to Germany from Turkey in 1977, and were described by Kekilli as "fairly liberal". 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, she continued to work as administrative assistant for another two years at Heilbronn city hall, then moved to Essen, where she worked various jobs as a bouncer, cleaner, waitress, nightclub manager, saleswoman, and pornographic film actress under the stage name "Dilara".

Career

Kekilli at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival

Kekilli (middle) with John B. Emerson and his family in February 2015

In 2002, while at a shopping mall in Cologne, Kekilli 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: 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 during filming in Turkey.

Shortly after the release of Head-On, Kekilli's work in pornography became widely known. This report, published by the German tabloid newspaper Bild-Zeitung, led to a public sensation, and Kekilli's parents broke off all contact with her. She received the 2004 Bambi prize for "best shooting star" for her role in Head-On. During the televised acceptance speech, she tearfully complained about the "dirty smear campaign" and "media rape" against her. Bild-Zeitung was later reprimanded by the German Press Council (Deutscher Presserat) for the manner in which it covered the story.

Kekilli starred in the Turkish coup d'état film 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. Also that year, she played a Jewish woman on the way to the Auschwitz concentration camp in the 2006 film Der letzte Zug (The Last Train). In 2009, she played Umay, a young Turkish woman who leaves Istanbul to return to her family in Berlin, in When We Leave (Die Fremde). She was awarded the Lola for Best Actress in 2010 for her role. In 2010, Kekilli was cast as Shae in HBO's Game of Thrones, an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels.

In 2011, one year after first appearing in a supporting role in the long-running crime series Tatort, 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.

Personal life

Kekilli lives in Hamburg.

Kekilli supports the organization Terre des Femmes in its work against violence against women. In December 2006, at an anti-domestic violence event run by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet in Berlin, she stated, "I have experienced for myself that both physical and psychological abuse are regarded as normal in a Muslim family. Sadly, violence belongs to the culture of Islam". In response, the Turkish consul general left the room.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Head-On
2004	Kebab Connection
2006	Winterreise
2006	Fay Grim
2006	The Last Train
2006	Eve Dönüş
2009	Pihalla
2010	When We Leave
2011	What a Man
2012	Die Männer der Emden

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010–present	Tatort	Sarah Brandt	10 episodes
2011–2014	Game of Thrones	Shae	20 episodes

Awards

• 2004 Lola for Best Actress in Gegen die Wand
• 2004 Bambi for Best "Shooting Star" in Gegen die Wand
• 2006 Golden Orange Prize for Best Actress in Eve Dönüş
• 2010 Lola for Best Actress in Die Fremde
• 2010 Tribeca Prize for Best Actress in Die Fremde

External links

• Sibel Kekilli at the Internet Movie Database
• Sibel Kekilli at the Internet Adult Film Database
• Sibel Kekilli at the European Girls Adult Film Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ursula Werner	German Film Award for Best Actress 2010 for Die Fremde	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Beste Bereket	Golden Orange Award for Best Actress 2006 for Eve Dönüş	Succeeded by Özgü Namal
Preceded by Hannelore Elsner	German Film Award for Best Actress 2004 for Gegen die Wand	Succeeded by Julia Jentsch