# Christiane Seidel

Christiane Julie Louise Seidel (born April 3, 1988) is a German-Danish-American actress, having had roles in Boardwalk Empire (2011-2014), Schmidts Katze (2014), The Hollow (2016), Godless (2017), Fosse/Verdon and Human Capital (2019), 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 (Michael Shannon) in the HBO TV drama series Boardwalk Empire from season 2 to season 5 (2012 – 2015). 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 (Sam Rockwell) 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

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2007 | Far Out (short film) | Gillian |
| 2008 | Around | Foreign NYU Director |
| 2009 | Bordenia (short film) | Nancy O'Neill |
| 2009 | The Invisible Life of Thomas Lynch | Tina |
| 2011 | Tu & Eu (short film) | Julia |
| 2011 | Folkswagon (short film) | Eva |
| 2012 | The Left Hook (short film) | Nancy / Brenda |
| 2014 | Split End (short film) | Katha |
| 2014 | Schmidts Katze | Sybille Ranisch |
| 2016 | The Perfect Nothing (Short film) | Carrie |
| 2016 | The Hollow | Sarah Desoto |
| 2017 | Yellow Fever | (Supporting) |
| 2017 | Hard (short film) | Ellie |
| 2018 | 16mins (Short film) | Lizzie |
| 2019 | The Big Shit (Short film) | Julie |
| 2019 | Human Capital | Godeep's Wife |
| 2020 | Tether (short film) | Delilah Desmond |
| 2020 | The Knot (Short film) | Eve |
| 2022 | Boon | Catherine |
| 2022 | Over/Under | Sheryl West |
| 2022 | God's Time | Sydney |
| 2022 | Paradise Highway | Claire |

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Darla Pinnington | 1 episode |
| 2013 | The Sonnet Project | Mother | 1 episode |
| 2011-2014 | Boardwalk Empire | Sigrid Mueller | Recurring role, 4 seasons |
| 2016 | Jay & Pluto | Jessica | |
| 2016 | Dating Alarm | Annabelle | TV movie |
| 2017 | Royally | Caroline | 1 episode |
| 2017 | Godless | Martha Bischoff | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
| 2019 | Fosse/Verdon | Hannah | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | The Queen's Gambit | Helen Deardorff | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Magnum P.I. | Doctor Sally Cates | Season 5 episode 6: "Dead Ringer" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
| 2018 | Brightside Tavern Film Festival | Best Actress in a Horror/Thriller | 16 mins | Nominated | |