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Gina Henkel was born in 1980 in Frankfurt am Main. From 1983 to 1993, she trained in ballet. She made her on‑screen debut as early as 1985 with a small appearance in the TV film "Zufall"; ten years later, she took on a bit part in an episode of the crime series "Schwarz greift ein." How these early roles came about is unknown, but they clearly sparked Henkel's passion for acting. From 2001 to 2005, she studied acting at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig. During this time, she performed at the German National Theatre in Weimar and at Theaterhaus Jena.
After graduating in 2005, Henkel joined the ensemble of the Nuremberg State Theatre, where she appeared in productions as varied as "Tartuffe" and "Der Kick." She left the ensemble in 2009 and went on to work as a guest actor at several theatres over the following years, including the Munich Residenztheater (2009), Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater (2012/13), the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam (2015), Schauspiel Stuttgart (2017), the Hanover State Theatre (2018), and the Braunschweig State Theatre (2020). She also took part in numerous independent projects at Sophiensaele, Hebbel am Ufer, Ballhaus Ost, and Theater RMPE. In 2018, she appeared in a video work by visual artist Paul McCarthy at Portikus in Frankfurt.
Starting in 2016, Henkel also appeared regularly in film and television, initially mostly in supporting roles - for example, as a PE teacher in "Hanni & Nanni – Mehr als beste Freunde" (2017) or as the ex‑girlfriend of Alexander Fehling's character in "Gut gegen Nordwind" ("The Space Between the Lines," 2019). She also guest‑starred in series such as "SOKO Wismar" (2016) and "The Mopes" (2021).
Henkel played her first leading role in a feature film in "Wann kommst du meine Wunden küssen?" ("Kiss My Wounds"), the story of three old friends who reunite after many years. In the drama "Krzyk – Losing Control" (2023), which screened in competition at the 2024 Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival, she starred as a woman haunted by guilt after failing to help someone in need.
From 2025 onward, Henkel took on a prominent role in the second season of the streaming series "Maxton Hall – Die Welt zwischen uns" ("Maxton Hall - The World Between Us"), playing the mother of the two young leads (the role was portrayed by Julia‑Maria Köhler in season one, who left due to scheduling conflicts). At the 2026 Berlinale, Henkel appeared in a key role in the coming‑of‑age family drama "Etwas ganz Besonderes" ("Home Stories"), playing the mother of the film's teenage protagonist.