Leonie Benesch (born April 22, 1991) is a German actress who has played roles in major productions including Babylon Berlin and The Crown, as well as Around the World in 80 Days. She is currently based in London. In 2009, Benesch played the role of Eva in the film The White Ribbon, which won the Golden Palm. Film critics singled out her performance as "a discovery". She received the American "Young Artist Award" for her work, as well as a "New Faces Award". In 2010, she performed in Philip Koch's drama Picco and in Sophie Heldman's film Colors in the Dark (Satte Farben vor Schwarz), where she worked alongside Senta Berger and Bruno Ganz. In 2017, Benesch performed in Babylon Berlin as Greta Overbeck, winning the "German Acting Prize". Benesch also performed in The Crown as the sister of Prince Philip, Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark. In 2020, she was cast in the BBC miniseries Around the World in 80 Days, alongside David Tennant as Phileas Fogg and Ibrahim Koma as Passepartout. Benesch grew up in Tübingen, and attended the Freie Waldorfschule. She also attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She is of French and Transylvanian descent.

Filmography

• 2027ZOMA — Elli Schreiber
• Prisoner — Nina Drâgus
• 2025Berlin Hero — Natalie Hartung
• 2025Late Shift — Floria Lind
• Moresnet — Eva Rolin
• 2024September 5 — Marianne Gebhardt
• The Swarm — Charlie Wagner
• 2023The Teachers' Lounge — Carla Nowak
• Around the World in 80 Days — Abigail 'Fix' Fortescue
• 2020Persian Lessons — Elsa
• 2020Phoenix
• Spy City — Eliza Hahn
• The Turncoat — Hildegard Roth
• Brecht — Young Elisabeth Hauptmann
• Der Club der singenden Metzger — Eva
• Holiday Secrets
• 2019The Master Butcher — Eva
• Vienna Blood — Helena Rieger
• 20181929 - Das Jahr Babylon
• Babylon Berlin — Greta Overbeck
• Counterpart — Sofia
• Howards End — Frieda Mosenbach
• The Crown — Princess Cecilie
• 20158 Seconds — Helen
• 2014Viking Women — Jova
• 2013Das Jerusalem-Syndrom — Maria
• 2013Die Flut ist pünktlich — Mia Halbach
• 2013George — Margot Hanke
• Murder in the North — Gaby Zinke
• 2011Colors in the Dark — Yvonne
• 2011Picco — Kevins Girlfriend
• 2010Eine feste Burg — Katja Klein
• 2009The White Ribbon — Eva
• 2007Beautiful Bitch — Gitti
• Der Kriminalist — Clarissa von Tannenhof
• SOKO Köln — Nadia Winkowski
• Scene of the Crime — Julia
• Heureka
• Mädchen in Uniform

Appearances as themselves (1)

• Leute heute — Self