Seyneb Saleh is a German actress. She has many stage credits as well as numerous appearances in TV series and films. In 2026 she has a leading role as Julika Ritter in the Netflix / Gaumont spy thriller series Unfamiliar. she has won two German Acting Awards ().
Early life and education Seyneb Saleh was born in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. Her mother is a German pharmacist, and her father is Iraqi. She was mainly raised in Solingen, Germany, but also spent some time in Morocco.
She studied acting from 2008 to 2012 at the Berlin University of the Arts in Berlin and received a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes in 2010.
Career After graduating Saleh performed in over 26 theater productions at the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Schauspielhaus Graz, the Volkstheater Wien, the Schauspiel Hannover, and the Deutsches Theater Berlin. She was engaged at the Schauspielhaus Graz until 2015, moving with theatre director Anna Badora to the Vienna Volkstheater. Among her performances there were roles in Yael Ronen's Niemandsland; Narrenschiff; and, in 2018, Die zehn Gebote.
In addition to her theater engagements, she has regularly worked for film, TV and streaming platforms. Saleh was introduced to a wider international audience in 2018 in Duncan Jones' neo-noir science fiction film Mute, in which she played the female lead character Naadirah alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd & Justin Theroux. She also had roles in the TV series Dogs of Berlin (2018); Deutschland 86 (as an Arabic speaker); the ZDF series Jenseits der Spree (2021); the award-winning German anthology series Uncivilized (2024); the German adaptation of the French cult series Call my Agent - Berlin (2025) as well as in feature films such as Toubab (2021); Was von der Liebe bleibt (2022); and Sabbatical (2023).
In 2022 her leading role in the multilingual German-Israeli Sky spy thriller series Munich Games further gained her much praise from international critics.
She plays a prominent character, BND intelligence analyst Julika Ritter, in the Netflix / Gaumont spy thriller series Unfamiliar, which is set in Berlin.
Recognition and awards In 2022 Saleh won her first German Acting Award () as Best Supporting Role for her performance in Toubab and a second one followed for her performance in the episode 9/11 of the German anthology series Uncivilized as Best Episodic Role in 2025.
At the 2024 , she was nominated for Best Actress, for her performance in Was von der Liebe bleibt.
Deutscher Schauspielpreis Year Nominated work Category Result Ref. 2022 Toubab Best Supporting Actress 2023 Munich Games Best Duo 2025 Uncivilized Best Episodic Role
Filmography Year Title Role Director Network Notes 2010 Sibil Rudolf Thome cinematic release 2012 Özlem cinematic release 2014 For Nothing Blanche Stephan Geene cinematic release Mira Christoph Hochhäusler cinematic release 2017 Neda Neda Afagh Irandoost short film 2018 Deutschland 86 Aya Florian Cossen, Arne Feldhusen Amazon Prime / Sundance TV 2 episodes Dogs of Berlin Rafika Masaad Christian Alvart Netflix 6/10 episodes Mute Naadirah Duncan Jones Netflix 2019 Golden Twenties Tamara Sofie Kluge cinematic release Herzjagen Anika Elisabeth Scharang ORF TV movie2020 Over Christmas Karina Tobi Baumann Netflix 3/3 episodes 2021 Jenseits der Spree Kay Freund Marcus Ulbricht, Neelesha Barthel ZDF 4 episodes Dengler - Kreuzberg Blues Ezra Malik Daniel Rübesam ZDF TV movie Toubab Yara Florian Dietrich cinematic release 2022 Munich Games Maria Köhler Philipp Kadelbach Sky 6/6 episodes2023 Between Us Yasemine Kanwal Sethi cinematic release2024 30 Tage Lust Marie Pia Hellenthal, Bartosz Grudziecki SWR 1/6 episodeUncivilized Sahra Alwani Bilal Bahadır ZDF 1/1 episode Sabbatical Tara Judith Angerbauer cinematic release 2025 Call my Agent - Berlin Nicole Meister Johann Buchholz, Boris Kunz, Laura Lackmann Disney+ / Hulu 8/10 episodes 2026 Unfamiliar Julika Ritter Lennart Ruff, Philipp Leinemann Netflix 6/6 episodes
Theater (selected) Theater productions Year Title Author Role Director 2012 Clavigo Goethe Marie Alexandra Liedtke FaustIn and OutElfriede Jellinek Faustin Philip Jenkins 2013 Orphans Dennis Kelly Helen Lina Hölscher No Man's Land Yael Ronen & the ensemble Leyla Yael Ronen 2014 - 2018 The Misunderstanding Albert Camus Maria, the Mother Nikolaus Habjan 2015 Vieux Carré Tennessee Williams Jane Sparks Sebastian Schug The Changeling Christine Lavant Wrga, Zitha Nikolaus Habjan 2016 Brighton Beach Memoirs Neil Simon Nora Sarantos Zervoulakos Ship of Fools Katherine Anne Porter Lizzi Spöckenkieker Dušan David Pařízek 2017 Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare Juliet Sebastian Schug 2017 - 2018 Dekalog: The Ten Commandments Krzysztof Kieślowski Anka / Majka / Ola / Zofia Stephan Kimmig 2019 Platonowa Anton Tschechow Sofia Stephan Kimmig Iphigenia Euripides Iphigenia Anne Lenk 2020 The Marriage of Figaro Beaumarchais Suzanne András Dömötör 2021 - 2023 Pictures of Your True Love Wolfgang Herrndorf Isa Markus Bothe 2022 - 2025 Minna von Barnhelm Lessing Franziska Anne Lenk
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