Jale Arikan was born in Istanbul. At the age of 6 she moved with her parents to Berlin. After her matriculation she studied at a Drama school in Berlin with Hanny Herter. At the age of 17 she worked as a TV announcer for the ‘First German Television’ (ARD). In 1996 she moved to New York where she played numerous roles in both TV and feature films. From 1997 to 2003 she lived and worked in Los Angeles. Since 2004 she has been living in Berlin and working in Istanbul as well as in Munich. She has also featured in many locations such as Morocco and Portugal.