Ulrike Willenbacher holds both German and Swiss nationality, working fluently in German, English, French and Italian.

She trained at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover and built a distinguished theatre career spanning nearly four decades, most notably as a permanent ensemble member at the Münchner Kammerspiele from 1983 to 2001 and subsequently at the Residenztheater München from 2001 to 2021, working with directors including Dieter Dorn. She received the Kurt Meisel Prize in 2002 for her theatre work.

Her film credits include Mareille Klein’s Da kommt noch was, the ORF/ZDF drama series Am Anschlag – Die Macht der Kränkung, Katharina Woll’s Alle wollen geliebt werden and Abel Ferrara’s Siberia.