In Cairo she met the actress Zarah Leander, who mediated a screen-test for her in Hamburg in 1952 at Herzog Filmverleih. Although director Robert A. Stemmle was not satisfied with the test, she soon landed her first film role. Director Géza von Cziffra sought a talented dancer to replace the ill Maria Litto in his revue film Tanzende Sterne (Dancing Stars, 1952). He watched the screen-test and gave her the lead part opposite Georg Thomalla. She changed her name from Germaine Haeck into Germaine Damar and the press concluded for some time that she was a French dancer.