Leyla Roy was born in Paris in 1992 to French-Austrian parents and grew up in Vienna. She attended theater classes and acting workshops as a child and teenager; in 2002 she appeared on stage in a small role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and in 2005 she played a co-starring role in a production of Godard's "The Contempt." From 2012 to 2014, Roy studied acting at L'école du jeu in Paris, followed by training at the Schauspielschule Charlottenburg in Berlin (2015-2018). During these years, she appeared in music videos and commercials.

Roy also made her feature film debut while still a student: in 2015, Dominik Galizia cast her in a small role as a 'woman goddess' in his experimental rape-and-revenge drama "Figaro's Wolves," which premiered at the Berlin Fantasy Filmfest in September 2017. After that, she starred in a few short films. Leyla Roy had her first leading role again under the direction of Dominik Galizia: In the low-budget production "Heikos Welt" she played the mysterious dart tournament rival of the title character, who then becomes his ally.