Aslı Bayram

Aslı Bayram — Biography

Actress and writer Aslı Bayram, a German of Turkish descent, was crowned Miss Germany in 2005 and then moved into international acting. She is described as the first Miss Germany with Turkish roots, and represented Germany that year at the Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok. Today she combines acting, writing and crime-prevention work for the Hessen state justice ministry.

She began studying law in Frankfurt and took acting lessons with Eric Morris in Los Angeles and Anne Mertin in Vienna. Her first international film was Jump! with Patrick Swayze; in 2007 she appeared in Luxembourg in a solo play as Anne Frank, which went on to Prague, Frankfurt, Canada and the United States. The Swiss production 180° and the Bosnian film Sevdah za Karima brought her festival attention, and she took the female lead in the Star TV series Sırat. Her lead role in Body Complete won her best actress awards at two festivals, and in Shanghai Gypsy she spoke Italian and Romani. One Chance, Woman in Gold and Septembers of Shiraz followed.

In 2009 she published the book Grenzgängerin, which in 2010 set a Guinness record for the largest public reading relay. She campaigns publicly against racism and xenophobia, and since 2010 has been Hessen's ambassador for crime prevention.