Alissa Wilms was born in Berlin in 1995. Already taking acting lessons as a child, she was cast as the sister of David Kross' titular character in "Der Vorleser" ("The Reader", 2008) by Stephen Daldry. Portraying the daughter of a lower middle-class family, she then was one of the leads in Jessica Krummacher's drama "Totem" (2011). Following supporting roles in "Schwestern" ("Sisters", 2013) and the period piece "Amour fou" (2014), Wilms starred in Monika Treut's coming-of-age tale "Von Mädchen und Pferden" ("Of Girls and Horses", 2014), playing a lonely teenager who enters a unique relationship with a girl of the same age while vacating on a horse ranch. She next played a modern witch in the made-for-TV fantasy film "Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt".

In addition to her acting career, Alissa Wilms has been studying physics in Berlin since 2012.