In 1926, after completing her studies at Kyiv theater school, Sten was invited by Ukrainian film director Viktor Turin to appear in his film Provokator, based on the book by Ukrainian writer Oles Dosvitnyi.
Making a smooth transition to talking pictures, Sten appeared in such German films as Trapeze (1931) and The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov (1931) until she came to the attention of American movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn.