Heike Hanold-Lynch

Acting

Heike Hanold-Lynch

Born 1962-07-11 · Berlin, Germany

Hanold-Lynch verließ mit 16 Jahren ihr Elternhaus und finanzierte sich selbst das Abitur. Ihr Germanistik- und Psychologiestudium an der Freien Universität Berlinbrach sie bald ab, um nach New York zu gehen. Dort besuchte sie die Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre von Sanford Meisner. Sie studierte gemeinsam mit Philip Seymour Hoffman mehrere Jahre bei dem Method-Lehrer Tony Greco. An der Columbia University, Graduate Film Division arbeitete sie mit Leonore de Koven in Directing Actors in Film, wirkte in Studentenfilmen mit, nahm weiteren Schauspielunterricht und stand als Gründungsmitglied einer Theatergruppe auf der Bühne, unter anderem in John Patrick Shanleys Stücken Danny and the Deep Blue Sea als Roberta und in Savage in Limbo in der Rolle der April White. Hanold-Lynch war verheiratet mit James E. Lynch, dessen Namen sie nach der Trennung behielt. 1994 kehrte sie nach Berlin zurück. Von 1999 bis 2010 arbeitete sie durchgängig als Schauspiel-Coach vorbereitend und am Set für unterschiedlichste Film- und Fernsehproduktionen, beginnend mit der Serie St. Angela. Als Dozentin konzipierte und präsentierte sie 2001 den Live-Workshop „Kamera läuft!“ im Rahmen des SAT.1 Actors’ Day auf dem Filmfest München, bei dem sie junge Leute aus dem Publikum live vor laufender Kamera coachte. 2009 entschied sie sich für einen künstlerischen Neuanfang als Schauspielerin. Parallel dazu systematisierte sie eigene Techniken der Rollenerarbeitung und ist seit 2010 als freier Coach und als Dozentin für Internationale Castings am iSFF (Institut für Schauspiel, Film- und Fernsehberufe Berlin) tätig. Stephen Daldry legte Hanold-Lynch beim Casting für Der Vorleser nahe, ihre eigene Schauspielkarriere voranzutreiben und Drehbuchautor David Hare schrieb ihr eine Rolle ins Drehbuch. Die Begegnung bewirkte, dass sich Hanold-Lynch beruflich neu ausrichtete. Seither hat sie Nebenrollen in weiteren großen internationalen Kinoproduktionen gespielt, u. a. an der Seite von Liam Neeson in Unknown Identity, an der Seite von Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas, zuletzt als Tochter von Tilda Swinton und Schwester von Adrien Brody in Wes Andersons Grand Budapest Hotel. Auch in Deutschland stellt sie seit 2009 in Kino- und Fernsehproduktionen ihre Wandlungsfähigkeit unter Beweis. Franziska Augstein schrieb in der Süddeutschen Zeitung über ihre Figur der Else Weidt in Ein blinder Held – Die Liebe des Otto Weidt: „Dieser Film ist großes Kino (...) Großartig ist Heike Hanold-Lynch, die als Weidts verbittert-verbiesterte, eifersüchtige und nicht besonders attraktive Ehefrau auftritt.“ Neben Edgar Selge in der Titelrolle spielt sie in dem Film, welcher auf Erlebnissen Inge Deutschkrons während der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus basiert, eine unpolitische Frau, die die große Liebe ihres Mannes vor den Nazis versteckt. Neben anderen Filmprojekten besetzte Friedemann Fromm sie in der ersten Staffel der mit dem Deutschen Fernsehpreis ausgezeichneten ErfolgsserieWeissensee als Stasi-Mitarbeiterin Erika Bergner. Für Andres Veiel war sie als Mentorin Gudrun Ensslins in Wer wenn nicht wir zu sehen und für Marc-Andreas Bochert in einer Hauptrolle als Richterin an der Seite von Christoph Bach in Dyslexie. 2014 stand sie u. a. für Oskar Roehlers 80er-Jahre-Film Tod den Hippies, es lebe der Punk vor der Kamera. Heike Hanold-Lynch lebt in Berlin.

Acting credits

The Grand Budapest Hotel poster
8.0

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

2014

The Reader poster
7.5

The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

The Reader

2008

Cloud Atlas poster
6.9

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Cloud Atlas

2012

Unknown poster
6.7

A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.

Unknown

2011

From Hilde, with Love poster
7.0

In Berlin 1942, Hilde is a member of an anti-Nazi group. She falls in love with another member, Hans. The two spend a summer together until they get caught by the Gestapo and Hilde is imprisoned, eight months pregnant.

From Hilde, with Love

2024

Berlin Hero poster
6.6

Micha unwittingly becomes a German hero when a journalist portrays him as the mastermind behind the mass exodus from East Germany.

Berlin Hero

2025

Visioner poster
5.4

Following the death of his wife and an accident that caused memory loss, parapsychologist Philip Devlin travels to Berlin to visit an old acquaintance. There, he finds Dr. Wiemer murdered. The alleged perpetrator claims that Wiemer had abducted her child—whose father was an extraterrestrial. Together with researchers and a police officer, Devlin investigates the case and uncovers a conspiracy reaching all the way to the CIA and secret UFO projects. In the process, he ultimately discovers the truth about his own accident.

Visioner

1998

Bye Bye Germany poster
6.5

David Berman and his friends, all Holocaust survivors, have only one purpose: to go to America as soon as possible. For this they need money. Close to his aim, David is not only deprived of his savings but also overtaken by his shady past.

Bye Bye Germany

2017

Homesick poster
6.1

Ambitious cello student Jessica receives an invitation to an international contest. A great opportunity, but at the same time it means enormous pressure. Stress begins to gnaw on Jessica's everyday life and soon reality and imagination blur.

Homesick

2015

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Wald

2017

Residual Risk poster
5.4

Nuclear security expert Katja Wernecke (Ulrike Folkerts) helps cover up a fire in the German nuclear reactor she works in, before the government takes a decision on extending the usage license for it. But the press uncovers it. PR man Steffen Stratmann (Matthias Koerbelin) is brought in to improve the companies image - but before he can implement his plan a nuclear meltdown occurs. 2m people have to be evacuated. Wernecke re-enters the hot zone to investigate the cause...

Residual Risk

2011

Gentleman poster
4.3

Frank Seltsam goes for fast cars, beautiful women and expensive drugs. As recently things go down the drain, his frustration explodes in an orgy of blood, champagne and heroin.

Gentleman

1995

If Not Us, Who? poster
5.6

In the early 60s, Bernward Vesper and fellow university student Gudrun Ensslin begin a passionate love in the stifling atmosphere of provincial West Germany. Dedicated to the power of the written word, Bernward and Gudrun found a publishing house whose first publication is, paradoxically to many, a controversial past work of Bernward's ostracized father, an infamous Nazi author. Bernward defends his father's writing ability, even if he is haunted by his father's suspicious past.

If Not Us, Who?

2011

Maysoon poster
NR

Almost 10 years after the Arab spring, the young Egyptian archaeologist Maysoon is living in Berlin with her German boyfriend Tobi and their two children. When she experiences some turbulences in her personal life and an unexpected threat to her political status, Maysoon fears that she may lose everything once again: family, love, and freedom. Maysoon fights for her independence as a woman and as a citizen, fueled by love and idealism.

Maysoon

2026

Familie Fröhlich – Schlimmer geht immer poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Familie Fröhlich – Schlimmer geht immer

2010

No artwork available
9.0

Successful radio presenter Charlotte Becker is a Christmas grouch. To escape the hateful hustle and bustle, she plans a vacation in the sunny south. When her train stops due to a breakdown on the open track, she makes her own way through the deep provinces with Fritz Mauser, a sales representative and Christmas fan who is extremely disagreeable to her. Stumbling from one unfortunate situation to the next, the two quarrellers finally find themselves in a sparse village guesthouse. A few bottles of red wine lighten the mood...

Weihnachtsfieber

1997

Einfach Rosa - Verliebt, verlobt, verboten poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Einfach Rosa - Verliebt, verlobt, verboten

2016

Punk Berlin 1982 poster
5.0

1980: 19 year old Robert, fed up with Hippy phoniness and bourgeoise narrow mindedness alike, flees the German provinces for West Berlin. A tour de force through the glorious dirt of West Berlin ensues. Full of sex, drugs, love and PUNK.

Punk Berlin 1982

2015

Scham poster
NR

Aaron had a traumatic childhood. He was constantly beaten by his mother Susanne, who repeatedly used both physical and psychological violence against him. At the age of seven, he was sexually abused by a stranger. He then began having sex with other children of the same age. Today, as a young adult, he is still traumatized and deeply ashamed. When he visits his mother again after four years of silence, he is ready to break his silence.

Scham

2026

I Phone You poster
5.1

Ling, in his 20s, lives in Chongqing, the largest city in China. There she meets Yu, a Chinese business traveler who lives in Berlin. As a farewell, he has given her an iPhone. They start a tender relationship by phone. When Ling flies to Berlin to see Yu, another man, Marco, is waiting for her. He is Yu's German bodyguard. He should take care that Ling flies back again.

I Phone You

2011

Shores of Hope poster
6.0

In this vivid historical drama set in 1980s East Germany, two dockworkers and best friends who dream of escaping the repressive regime are forced to choose their loyalties when the state police promise them safe passage out of the country — if they inform on their co-workers and union leader.

Shores of Hope

2012

Tiger Eyes See Better poster
6.5

Judith leads a busy life with her daughter Lissi and her job as statistician.

Tiger Eyes See Better

2003

Back for Good poster
4.3

Three women, one family: Monika the mother, Angie the older sister and Kiki the baby of the family. Angie is a reality-TV star who is doggedly clinging onto her fading career. Fresh out of rehab, she suddenly finds herself without any money, friends or a place to live and is condemned to returning to her mother in her hated dump of a hometown. Angie's teenage sister Kiki is also finding life tough-going. Due to her epilepsy, her mother Monika insists that she wears a freaky protective helmet. The consequence: Kiki is ostracised and bullied, her life has long since become the hell from which her mother is trying to protect her.

Back for Good

2017

No artwork available
NR

Helen tries to do everything right, but the customers are not interested in the middle-aged woman in the sausage grill. As the straps cut deeper and deeper, Helen has to break out and from then on she does everything wrong, or right?

Beat On The Brat

2022