A former protégée of R. Werner Fassbinder, Eva Mattes was one of Germany's premiere film actresses during the 1980s. The daughter of movie actress Margret Symo, Mattes made her film debut in O.K. (1970) but her first notable role was in Fassbinder's Wildwechsel (Jailbait) (1971). She seemed to prefer appearing in politically charged films.