Born on July 11th, 1962 in Berlin, Germany, Hanold-Lynch left her family home age 16 and financed her own education. She soon discontinued her studies at the Free University in Berlin in order to go to New York City. Here she attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre and studied afterwards for several years under method teacher Tony Greco. At Columbia University's Graduate Film Program "Directing Actors in Film," she studied under Leonore de Koven, participated in student films, and, as a founding member of a theatre group performed onstage. Hanold-Lynch was married to James E. Lynch whose name she kept following their separation. In 1994 she returned to Berlin. From 1999 to 2010, she worked constantly as an on-set acting coach for many film and television productions. Stephen Daldry rekindled her passion for acting in 2009, during a casting of "The Reader". Since then, she has acted in numerous international film and television productions.