Helena Zengel
Actor
June 10, 2008 (18 years)
Helena Zengel is a German actress. She is best known for her roles in the films System Crasher (2019) and News of the World (2020).
After System Crasher won a number of international awards, Zengel was cast by Universal Pictures to play a leading role in the American Western film News of the World directed by the British film director Paul Greengrass, which was her first international film. In this adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name by Canadian-American writer Paulette Jiles, which starred Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kidd, Zengel stars as a 10-year-old German orphan named Johanna Leonberger who was raised by the Kiowa; most of her performance is in the Kiowa language. For her performance, Zengel received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Zengel also dubbed herself in the Italian, German, French and Spanish versions; the dubbing is limited to the lines she spoke in English.
After System Crasher won a number of international awards, Zengel was cast by Universal Pictures to play a leading role in the American Western film News of the World directed by the British film director Paul Greengrass, which was her first international film. In this adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name by Canadian-American writer Paulette Jiles, which starred Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kidd, Zengel stars as a 10-year-old German orphan named Johanna Leonberger who was raised by the Kiowa; most of her performance is in the Kiowa language. For her performance, Zengel received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Zengel also dubbed herself in the Italian, German, French and Spanish versions; the dubbing is limited to the lines she spoke in English.
Filmography
| 2026 | Bloody Tennis · as Heidi |
| 2025 | The Legend of Ochi · as Yuri |
| 2024 | Transamazonia · as Rebecca Byrne |
| 2023 | The Therapy · as Josy Larenz |
| 2023 | Intimate · as Nyla |
| 2022 | The U.S. and the Holocaust · as Cast |
| 2021 | A Christmas Number One · as Nina Cutter |
| 2020 | News of the World · as Johanna Leonberger |
| 2019 | System Crasher · as Benni |
| 2017 | Der gute Bulle · as Fabienne |
| 2017 | Dark Blue Girl · as Luca |
| 2016 | Looping · as Lilly |
| 2016 | Die Spezialisten - Im Namen der Opfer · as Lilly Weyer |
| 2006 | Spreewaldkrimi · as Johanna (age 5) |
| 2004 | Inga Lindström · as Milla |
| 2021 | 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards · as Self - Presenter |
| 2021 | 2021 Golden Globe Awards · as Self - Nominee |
| 2020 | |
| 2015 | Wer weiß denn sowas? · as Self |
| 1999 | Kulturjournal · as Self |
| 1998 | Ein Herz für Kinder · as Self |
| 1992 | ARD-Morgenmagazin · as Self |
| 1992 | Riverboat · as Self |
| 1979 | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations · as Self |
| 1979 | NDR Talk Show · as Self |