Natalie Ackermann comes from the Rhineland. Her father, Rudolf Ackermann, is German, and her mother is from Barranquilla, Colombia.[1][2] Born in Düsseldorf, she grew up bilingually in the Meerbusch district of Büderich, with German and Spanish as her native languages. As a teenager, she moved to Spain with her brother; later, they both lived with their mother in Barranquilla on the Colombian Caribbean coast.[1] There, she won the title of “Señorita Atlántico” in a regional beauty pageant in 2000.[1]

In 2006, she was elected Miss Germany Universe; previously, she had won the Miss North Rhine-Westphalia pageant and qualified for the Miss Germany competition. After being elected Miss North Rhine-Westphalia, Ackermann, who originally wanted to become a doctor, dropped out of her medical studies at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf in 2006 to pursue a career as a model and an acting career. She represented Germany at the Miss Universe pageant in Los Angeles, but did not make it into the final of the top 10 participants.[2] She came in 21st place. In 2007, she represented Germany at the Miss Intercontinental pageant in the Bahamas and reached third place. However, job offers as a model and actress in Germany failed to materialize.[3]

She then went to South America, where she worked as a presenter for the television station Azteca TV. She hosted, among other things, the television show “Al Extremo” and the television program “Juntas ni difuntas,” in which she interviewed politicians, athletes, and actors.[1]

Ackermann is also an actress. She took acting lessons in Bogotá. Her acting career began with a supporting role in the successful Colombian telenovela Betty, la fea (Betty, the Ugly One), which was also adapted for German television under the title Verliebt in Berlin (In Love in Berlin). In the soap opera Nuevo rico, nuevo pobre (2007/2008), she played the role of Fabia Schultz. She portrayed a deceitful lover of Austrian-Colombian origin who is plotting a scheme.[2] She had a small role in the Colombian film Este huele mal.[4] In 2009, she played the lead role in the Mexican film Más allá del deber (“Behind the Guilt”). In 2010, she made her Hollywood debut as forensic scientist Dr. Nichols in the horror film The Tenant.