Gallery
All Pictures (15)Biography
Nora von Waldstätten (née Baronesse Nora Marie Theres Beatrice Elisabeth Waldstätten) was born in Vienna in 1981. From 2003 to 2007, she studied acting at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. During that time, she already appeared in several film and television productions, including Maria Sigurdardóttirs "Jargo" and Christoph Hochhäusler's "Falscher Bekenner", which were both released in 2004.
In 2005, she played the niece of coroner Boerne (Jan Josef Liefers) in an episode of the popular crime series "Tatort", thereby introducing herself to a wider audience. After graduating from acting school, she got the lead role in the British production "The Other Possibility" (2007), directed by Ashley Horner. In it, she plays a music journalist from Berlin who suffers from leukemia and travels to England in search of her father.
In February 2007, she appeared in the staging of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Dekalog" at the BAT Studiotheater der Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch" in Berlin, and afterwards played in Elfriede Jelinek's "Über Tiere" at the Deutsche Theater. Her film work includes Irene von Alberti's "Tangerine" and the made-for-TV drama "Meine fremde Tochter", in which she starred alongside Götz George. Waldstätten also got rave reviews for her portrayal of a devious, homicidal teenager in "Herz aus Eis", another "Tatort" film, which was directed by Ed Herzog.
After lead roles in the arthouse features "Parkour" and Schwerkraft" ("Gravity") – both released in 2010 –, she had a memorable turn as the wife and accomplice of infamous terrorist Ilich Ramiréz Sánchez, also known as Carlos, in Olivier Assayas' acclaimed drama "Carlos – Der Schakal" ("Carlos", F/D 2010). Following a string of prolific TV roles, she starred in the Austrian production "Oktober November" ("October November"), which was released in 2014.
She next appeared as a villainous antagonist in the children's film "Fünf Freunde 3" and played the lover and later wife of publisher Rudolf Augstein in the made-for-TV drama "Die Spiegel-Affäre" (2014). Nora von Waldstätten next took on the role of a police detective for the Austrian TV production "Die Toten vom Bodensee", which spawned a sequel in 2015. The same year, she starred opposite Josef Hader in the black-humored thriller "Das ewige Leben" ("Life eternal", AT/DE 2015), portrayed the daughter of terminally ill billionaire in the miniseries "Altes Geld" (AT 2015) and played a hippie girl with a penchant for hallucinogenic drugs in the theatrical release "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes" ("The Dark Side of the Moon", 2015).
She played a key role as a bossy fashion designer in Olivier Assayas' mystery thriller "Personal Shopper" (FR/DE/BE 2016). In the TV movie "Mata Hari - Tanz mit dem Tod" (2017) she played Elsbeth Schragmüller, head of the German espionage department against France during World War I and superior of the legendary spy Mata Hari. Waldstätten then appeared in a comedic role as a strict employee of the State Office of Criminal Investigations in the Eberhofer crime comedy "Grießnockerlaffäre" ("The Dumpling Affair", 2017); she reprised this role in the next Eberhofer film "Sauerkrautkoma" (2018).
Waldstätten then took on a leading role in the second season of the European crime series "The Team" (2018) and played the heavily pregnant girlfriend of a government official in the end-time series "8 Tage" ("8 Days", 2019). She had a smaller part as a nun in Paolo Sorrentino's acclaimed Netflix series "The New Pope" (2020).
Nora Waldstätten is also still part of the investigative team of the crime series "Die Toten vom Bodensee".