Christiane Seidel


Christiane Julie Louise Seidel is a German-Danish-American actress, having had roles in Boardwalk Empire, Schmidts Katze, The Hollow, Godless, Fosse/Verdon and Human Capital, and Paradise Highway in 2022.

Early life

Seidel was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, to a Danish mother and a German father, who was serving in the navy. She also grew up in Denmark and Germany. Her first experience of acting came in a school nativity play. She followed her interest in acting by attending theatre camps, performing The Rocky Horror Picture Show in German, and attended for a semester at film school in Cape Town, South Africa. Seidel studied Media Management in Europe, before returning to the US to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, to pursue her acting career.

Career

Seidel's US television debut was as a Guest Star on NBC Universal's police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's season 12 premiere episode in 2010. She starred as FBI Agent Sarah DeSoto in the noir-feature film, The Hollow in 2015, and as Sybille Ranisch in Schmidts Katze in 2014.
Seidel starred as Sigrid Mueller, the Norwegian wife to rogue Treasury Agent Nelson Van Alden in the HBO TV drama series Boardwalk Empire from season 2 to season 5. As of 2015, Seidel is a member of the Scandinavian American Theater Company, a theater company which has introduced several Scandinavian plays to the United States. In 2017, Seidel played Martha, a mysterious, free-spirited German stranger, in the Netflix mini-series Godless, starring alongside Michelle Dockery and Jeff Daniels.
In 2019, Seidel played the role of Hannah, mistress of Bob Fosse in FX television series Fosse/Verdon.
In 2020, she played Helen Deardorff in the Scott Frank directed The Queen's Gambit alongside Anya Taylor-Joy.
In 2022, Seidel stars in the Anna Gutto directed thriller movie Paradise Highway, in a cast which included Juliette Binoche and Morgan Freeman.

Personal life

Seidel was pregnant during the filming of Godless in 2017 and is mother of twin boys.

Filmography

YearTitleRole
2007Far Out Gillian
2008AroundForeign NYU Director
2009Bordenia Nancy O'Neill
2009The Invisible Life of Thomas LynchTina
2011Tu & Eu Julia
2011Folkswagon Eva
2012The Left Hook Nancy / Brenda
2014Split End Katha
2014Schmidts KatzeSybille Ranisch
2016The Perfect Nothing Carrie
2016The HollowSarah Desoto
2017Yellow Fever
2017Hard Ellie
201816mins Lizzie
2019The Big Shit Julie
2019Human CapitalGodeep's Wife
2020Tether Delilah Desmond
2020The Knot Eve
2022BoonCatherine
2022Over/UnderSheryl West
2022Paradise HighwayClaire
2023God's TimeSydney