German actress Sunnyi Melles has been acting for close to three decades and grew up in a creative family. Her father was a music professor and her mother was an actress. Melles began performing in theatre as a young girl, which brought her to act in the 1978 adaptation of "Steppenwolf" opposite iconic Sweidish actor Max von Sydow. As a young actress, Melles began appearing in various comedies and television shows. Her first breakthrough role was in the Academy Award nominated World War II drama "'38." The plot followed Melles as an actress in love with a Jewish writer in pre-World War II Austria. The following year she starred in the comedy "Paradise" and took the lead role as an unhappily married wife. Though Melles' television and film career started shining brightly, she continued acting in stage productions. She collaborated multiple times with the prolific director Dieter Dorn and starred in many of his productions, including the William Shakespeare play "Troilus and Cressida." Melles received two awards for best young actress and theater artist in 1984. As Melles became a mature actress, she found roles on family television series and films. She played the mother of a rebellious twenty-something in the coming of age film "Snow White."