Nilam Farooq (born 26 September 1989) is a German actress. She has appeared in several television series, films, and commercials. She won the best actress Jupiter Award (2019) and the Bavarian Film Awards (2020) for movies Heilstätten and Contra.
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Biography
Nilam Farooq is the daughter of a Pakistani father and a Polish mother, and she has a younger brother. She was born in Berlin and grew up in the Wilmersdorf district, where she attended the local Goethe-Gymnasium and completed her Abitur. Farooq displayed an early interest in acting and began her acting career at age 14. In addition to German, she is fluent in Polish and English, and has language credentials in Latin and Ancient Greek.
In 2006 Farooq had her first guest and supporting roles as an actress on television and short films. She started appearing in commercials in the late 2000s and since the beginning of the 2010s, took some roles as a voice actress.
From 2013 to 2019 Farooq was regularly seen in the television series Leipzig Homicide as Commissioner Olivia Fareedi.
She has since played roles in various TV films and series, such as in Tatort: Roomservice and Polizeiruf 110: Grenzgänger.
Since 2015 she has had a number of feature-length film roles, including My Blind Date with Life, Sweethearts by Karoline Herfurth, the horror film Heilstätten, and David Dietl's Rate Your Date.
For her portrayal of Betty in Heilstätten, she won the 2019 Jupiter Award for Best Actress.
Filmography
Television
2006: Alle lieben Jimmy – RTL
2007: Adem's Sohn – ARTE
2009: Stolberg – Bei Anruf Mord – ZDF
2009: Bella Block: Vorsehung – ZDF
2009: Danni Lowinski – Selbstbestimmung – Sat.1
2010: The Old Fox – Tödliche Ermittlung – ZDF
2014: Letters from Santiago – Das Erste
2015: Tatort – Roomservice – Das Erste
2015: Polizeiruf 110 – Grenzgänger – Das Erste
2016: NSU German History X: The Victims – Das Erste
2013–2019: Leipzig Homicide – from episode 229 – ZDF
2024: Das Signal – Netflix
Feature-length films
2016: Allein gegen die Zeit – Der Film
2017: Fette Kumpels
2017: My Blind Date with Life
2018: Heilstätten
2018: Verpiss dich Schneewittchen
2019: Rate Your Date
2019: Sweethearts
2020: Contra
2021: The Four of Us
2022: Locked-in Society
2023: Manta, Manta: Legacy
2023: Early Birds
Short films
2007: Stiller Frühling
2007: Türk Rulet
2008: Suzan
2010: Tintenfischwolken
2011: George 90°
2012: Der Passagier
Commercials
2009: Telekom "Grenzen gab es gestern" ("Borders are the thing of the past")
2012: Lebe Viva
2018: Wix.com
Voice acting
2010: Berliner Morgenpost: Kinderkram
2010: Upperdog – Rolle: Yanne
2011: Royal Pains – Rolle: Anna
2013: Quellen des Lebens – Rolle: Laura
Awards
2019: Jupiter Award – Best Actress for "Heilstätten"
2018: nominated for Young Icons Award – Actress/Actor for "My Blind Date with Life"
2020: Bavarian Film Awards – Best Actress for "Contra"