Just over a decade ago, Jella Haase was recognized as the best young actress at the Bavarian Film Awards. Since beginning her acting career as a teenager, Haase has gone from roles in made-for-TV films and television crime series to starring in major motion pictures and as the title character in a prestigious Netflix series. Not bad, huh? And her career is only just getting started.
This month, let’s get to know actress Jella Haase and learn German with films!
Get to Know Jella Haase
Jella Haase was born on October 27, 1992, in Berlin, Germany. She grew up in the city’s Kreuzberg neighborhood with her parents, a dentist mother and a technician father.
As a child, she became involved in theater but did not attend a school dedicated to the performing arts. In 2009, Haase had her first on-screen role in a television film. Further television work followed and it was only a short time before she was on the big screen.
Lollipop Monster
The 2011 film Lollipop Monster was Jella Haase’s big screen debut and it won her a 2011 Bavarian Film Prize as best young talent. Written and directed by Ziska Riemann, the film follows two 15-year-old girls: Ariane (portrayed by Haase) and Oona (portrayed by Sarah Horváth).
Both girls have a difficult home life and act out in different ways. Ari engages in physical relationships with strange men. Oona acts out dark thoughts through art and self-mutilation. This is after the teen witnesses her father commit suicide following his wife’s affair.
Together the pair provide each other with much-needed support. But eventually, their friendship is challenged.
The film also stars Nicolette Krebitz as Oona’s mother, Kristina.
Lieber Thomas
Lieber Thomas (or Dear Thomas) is the 2021 biographical film about Thomas Brasch, a German writer and film director who died in 2001.
Albrecht Schuch stars as Brasch, who grew up in East Germany. Brasch’s father wants to support the new country but Thomas is more of an artistic type who likes to daydream. The father and son have a challenging relationship. Thomas’ father eventually reports him to the Stasi and he is then imprisoned.
Haase stars as Katharina Thalbach, an East German actress who appeared in The Tin Drum, who was Brasch’s partner.
Kleo
Jella Haase stars as Kleo Straub in the Netflix streaming German-language thriller and comedy Kleo.
In the late 1980s, Straub is an East German Stasi assassin who is falsely imprisoned by her own government after completing an assignment. When Straub is finally released from prison, the world has changed. The Berlin Wall has fallen. East and West Germany have reunited.
But Straub has not forgotten her time in prison. She wants revenge against those who framed her.
Practice practice practice! Discover other great German language actors and actresses previously featured.
Top photo by Mathias Bothor, courtesy of lastrada.doell’s. This post contains affiliate links.
