Sophie von Kessel was born October 12, 1968, in Mexico City as the daughter of a diplomat and grew up in South America, in the USA, Finland, and Austria. She attended actor’s training at Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and at the Juilliard school in New York. Von Kessel also attended a workshop by theatre actress Uta Hagen.

From 1997 to 2001, von Kessel was a cast member at Munich’s Kammerspiele and performed in plays such as "Die Möwe", "Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti", and "Torquato Tasso". In 1999, she won the Bavarian promotional award for young artists.

Sophie von Kessel has been a successful film and theatre actress from the beginning of her career on. She starred in several episodes of the "Tatort" crime series and in the ARD series "Schloss Hohenstein", her TV debut. Von Kessel has also proven her talent in TV movies such as " Amerika", "Die Musterknaben 2" ("Cologne´s Finest 2"), "Der letzte Zeuge", and "Tarragona". Besides her movie work, von Kessel managed to continue her theatre career. Recently, she starred in Yasmina Reza’s "Drei Mal Leben" at Munich’s Cuvilliés theatre.

In 2006, von Kessel starred in two movies, the comedies "Rennschwein Rudi Rüssel 2" ("Rudy - The Return of the Racing Pig") and "Herr Bello". Sophie von Kessel is living with the actor Stefan Hunstein and their two children in Munich.