Laura Tonke

Born

1974-04-14

Birthplace

West Berlin, West Germany

Biography

Laura Maori Tonke (born April 14, 1974, in West Berlin) is a German actress. Laura Tonke is the daughter of film set decorator Michael Tonke. She studied theater studies in Berlin until 1996. At the age of 17, she made her on-screen debut in Michael Klier's feature film *Ostkreuz*. Numerous roles in feature films and television movies followed. Additionally, she is booked as a model for lifestyle and fashion magazines. Since the spring of 2007, she has performed on stage in productions by the theater collective Gob Squad at Berlin's Volksbühne (and the Volksbühne im Prater), as well as at other theaters. In 2000, Tonke was awarded the Lilli Palmer Memorial Camera for Best Young Actress. In 2003, she was nominated for the German Film Award for her portrayal of Gudrun Ensslin in Christopher Roth's feature film *Baader*. In the tragicomedy *Hedi Schneider steckt fest* (Hedi Schneider Is Stuck) by Sonja Heiss—which premiered at the 2015 Berlinale—she plays the title character, a woman plagued by sudden anxiety attacks. Her performance garnered enthusiastic reviews; *Der Spiegel*, for instance, wrote: "She inhabits the role of Hedi Schneider [...] so convincingly and perfectly—as if it had been written specifically for her." At the 2016 German Film Awards ceremony, Tonke received a double honor. She won in both the Best Actress category for her role in *Hedi Schneider steckt fest* and the Best Supporting Actress category for the film *Mängelexemplar* (2016). Laura Tonke lives in Berlin and has a son.