Franziska Weisz was born in Vienna in 1980. She received a master's degree in development aid and environmental politics, but then turned to acting, making her screen debut in Ulrich Seidl's "Hundstage" ("Dog Days"). This was followed by appearances in Michael Haneke's "Die Klavierspielerin" ("The Piano Teacher") and "C(r)ook", directed by Pepe Danquart. At the same time, Franziska Weisz also worked in popular TV programs like "Tatort" and "Soko Kitzbühl". Her first starring role came with "Hotel", and in 2005 Weisz was named a "Shooting Star" at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Two years later, Weisz returned to the Berlinale with two memorable films: She starred alongside Ken Duken in "Distanz" ("Distance"), which was the opening film for the "Perspektive Deutsches Kino" section, and also appeared in Michael Glawogger's gloomy drama "Vaterspiel" ("Kill Daddy Good Night").

Playing the female lead in Benjamin Heisenberg's character-driven thriller "Der Räuber" ("The Robber"), Franziska Weisz again proved her penchant for unusual and ambitious roles: Based on true events, she portrays the romantic partner of a serial bank robber. In 2010, Heisenberg"s film premiered in the competition of the Berlin IFF. Weisz then joined the cast of "Habermann", starring alongside Hannah Herzsprung, Ben Becker and Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht. The film by director Juraj Herz depicts the fate of the German minorities in Prague during WWII and afterwards.

The following year, she acted in a variety of ambitious film and TV productions. She was cast in memorable supporting roles in Urs Egger's socio-critical thriller "Restrisiko" which revolved around the issue of nuclear power, Peter Keglevic's political thriller "Der Chinese" based on Henning Mankell's eponymous novel, and Pia Strietmann's family drama "Tage die bleiben" ("A Family of Three") playing alongside Götz Schubert and Max Riemelt.

In 2015, Weisz succeeded Petra Schmidt-Schaller as the "Tatort" commissioner alongside Wotan Wilke Möhring. She also took on a variety of other roles. For example, she was seen on television as the head of the family in Peter Keglevic's Heimatfilm trilogy: "Die Fremde und das Dorf" (AT/DE 2014), "Ein Geheimnis im Dorf – Schwester und Bruder" (AT/DE 2016), and "Treibjagd im Dorf" (AT/DE 2017). Additionally, she appeared as a police psychologist in the thriller "Amokspiel" (2018) and as the supportive sister of an MS patient in "Balanceakt" (2019). For her role in the eight-part series "Tage, die es nicht gab" (AT 2022), a blend of social study, crime, and psychodrama reminiscent of the successful US series "Big Little Lies", Weisz was nominated for Most Popular Actress at the 2023 Romy Awards. 

In cinema, she played the mothers of the young protagonists in the anti-Semitism drama "Hannas schlafende Hunde" ("Hanna's Sleeping Dogs", DE/AT 2016) and the East-West love story "Zwischen uns die Mauer" ("The Wall Between Us", 2019). She portrayed a woman who becomes a victim of domestic violence in "Der Taucher" ("The Diver", 2019) and appeared as Tina's mother in "Bibi & Tina – Einfach Anders" ("Bibi & Tina – Just Different", 2022). 

On January 1, 2024, Franziska Weisz made her final appearance as Commissioner Julia Grosz in the "Tatort" episode "Was bleibt", a role she played 13 times in total. In the same year, she portrayed Magda Goebbels, the wife of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, in the historical drama "Führer und Verführer" ("Führer and Seducer", DE/SK 2024).

Since 2007, Franziska Weisz lives in Berlin. Apart form her acting career, the studied expert on foreign aid issues also campaigns for a more responsible and sustainable use of natural resources in third world countries.