Famke Janssen Biography

Name:Famke Beumer Janssen 

Date of Birth:5 November 1964

Place of Birth:Amstelveen, Netherlands

Famke Beumer Janssen  is a Dutch actress and former fashion model.  Famke  Janssen  is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye (1995) and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series (2000-06).

Early Life and Education

Janssen was born in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Famke  Janssen first name, Famke, means "little girl" in West Frisian, the native language of the Dutch province Friesland. Famke  Janssen has two sisters, director Antoinette Beumer and actress Marjolein Beumer. In addition to her native Dutch, Janssen speaks English and French. Famke  Janssen  also learned German, but has not kept up with it. Following her high school graduation, Janssen studied economics for a year at the University of Amsterdam, which she later called "the stupidest idea I ever had."In the early 1990s, she enrolled at Columbia University to study creative writing and literature.

Career

FashionIn 1984, Janssen moved to the United States to begin her professional career as a fashion model. Famke  Janssen signed with Elite Model Management and worked for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Victoria's Secret. Famke  Janssen starred in a 1988 commercial for the perfume Exclamation by Coty, Inc.While with the Elite agency, her measurements were listed as 92-61-92 cm (36-24-36 in) and a dress size EU 36 (US 6). Janssen is noted for being taller than average at 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1/2 in),and her looks have been compared to Hedy Lamarr and other 1940s films stars.

Film

After retiring from modelling in the early 1990s, Janssen had guest roles on several television series, including a starring role in the 1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Perfect Mate", as empathic metamorph Kamala, opposite Patrick Stewart, with whom she later starred in the X-Men film series. That same year, Janssen was offered the role of Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but turned it down to pursue film roles. Famke  Janssen first film role was alongside Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 film Fathers & Sons.

Janssen on United Nations Day in 2008In 1995, Janssen appeared in Pierce Brosnan's first James Bond film, GoldenEye, as femme fatale Xenia Onatopp. Famke  Janssen also appeared in Lord of Illusions with Scott Bakula, who later portrayed Capt. Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise. In an attempt to fight against typecasting after her Bond girl performance, Janssen began seeking out more intriguing support roles, appearing in John Irvin's City of Industry, Woody Allen's Celebrity, Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man, and Ted Demme's Monument Ave. Denis Leary, her co-star in Monument Ave., was impressed by how easily she blended in, initially not recognizing her as she was already in character. In the late 1990s, she also appeared in The Faculty, Rounders, Deep Rising, and House on Haunted Hill.

In 2000, Janssen played superheroine Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix in X-Men. Famke  Janssen reprised the role in X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. In addition, Janssen had a prominent role in the second season of the popular TV series Nip/Tuck, as the seductive and manipulative life coach Ava Moore, which earned her Hollywood Life's Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award Famke  Janssen reprised her role in the final two episodes of the series.

In 2007, she starred in Turn the River, for which she was awarded the Special Recognition Best Actress Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The following year, she starred in Luc Besson's Taken. Janssen also continued to work in television, appearing in TV pilots for NBC's cop drama Winters and Showtime's The Farm, a The L Word spin-off set in a women's prison. Both pilots were rejected by their respective networks. Janssen also provided the Dutch-language narration for the Studio Tram Tour at all Disney theme parks.

In 2011, Janssen made her directorial début with the drama Bringing Up Bobby. Famke  Janssen also wrote the screenplay to the film, which stars Milla Jovovich, Bill Pullman, and Marcia Cross.

Personal Life 

Janssen's Boston Terrier Licorice Janssen was married to writer and director Tod Williams, son of architect Tod Williams, from 1995 to 2000.

Janssen appeared with her dog Licorice, a brindle Boston Terrier, in a 2007 PETA campaign to raise awareness for animal rights. The campaign used the slogan "Be an Angel for Animals." On 28 January 2008, she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at a United Nations anti-corruption conference held in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Filmography/Television

1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation Kamala TV series 

1992 Fathers & Sons Kyle Christian  

1994 Untouchables, TheThe Untouchables Cleo TV series 

1994 Melrose Place Diane Adamson TV series 

1994 Model by Day Lady X TV film 

1994 Relentless IV: Ashes to Ashes Dr. Sara Lee Jaffee  

1995 GoldenEye Xenia Onatopp Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (Shared with Pierce Brosnan) 

1995 Lord of Illusions Dorothea Swann  

1996 Dead Girl Treasure  

1997 City of Industry Rachel Montana  

1998 Monument Ave. Katy  

1998 Gingerbread Man, TheThe Gingerbread Man Leeanne Magruder  

1998 Deep Rising Trillian St. James  

1998 RPM Claudia Haggs  

1998 Rounders Petra  

1998 Celebrity Bonnie  

1998 Adventures of Sebastian Cole, TheThe Adventures of Sebastian Cole Fiona  

1998 Faculty, TheThe Faculty Miss Elizabeth Burke  

1999 House on Haunted Hill Evelyn Stockard-Price Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Supporting Actress - Horror 

2000 Love & Sex Kate Welles  

2000 Circus Lily Garfield  

2000 X-Men Jean Grey  

2000 Ally McBeal Jamie TV series 

2001 Made Jessica  

2001 Don't Say a Word Aggie Conrad Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Supporting Actress – Science Fiction 

2002 I Spy Special Agent Rachel Wright  

2003 X2 Jean Grey  

2004 Nip/Tuck Ava Moore TV series 

2004 Eulogy Judy Arnolds  

2005 Hide and Seek Dr. Katherine Carson  

2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Jean Grey/Phoenix Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock (Shared with Hugh Jackman) 

2006 Treatment, TheThe Treatment Allegra Marshall  

2007 Ten, TheThe Ten Gretchen Reigert  

2007 Turn the River Kailey Sullivan Hamptons International Film Festival Special Recognition Best Actress Awards

2007 Winters Christie Winters TV pilot 

2008 Wackness, TheThe Wackness Kristen Squires  

2008 Taken Lenore "Lenny"  

2008 100 Feet Marnie Watson  

2008 Puppy Love Maya Short film 

2009 Farm, TheThe Farm Valentina Galindo TV pilot 

2010 Nip/Tuck Ava Moore TV series 

2010 The Chameleon Jennifer Johnson  

2010 Down the Shore Mary  

2011 Bringing Up Bobby  Directorial début 

2012 Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters Muriel.