Famke Janssen

Satisfyingly makes a fine transition from model to actress, Famke Janssen has truly risen as one of the most prominent figures representing Netherlands who is outstandingly capable to well-maintain her hold in Hollywood film industry amidst the American female movie stars. Began modeling at a young age, she was born Famke Beumer Janssen, the only brunette in a family of blondes, on November 5, 1965 in Amsterdam and grew up in the city with her two sisters, Antoinette and Marjolein, before moved to United States by 1984 to undergo some modeling stints for Chanel in New York City. Also used her time to study creative writing and literature at Columbia University while taking acting lessons under the guidance of Harold Guskin, the girl gradually became deeply attracted to acting which finally led her to a decision of pursuing a career in the field instead of continuing her glowing path in modeling.

Unable to suppress the desire of becoming a full-time actress, Famke then left Columbia and headed for Los Angeles where she proceeded to polish her acting skills, this time with Roy London, a noted drama coach who had helped such luminaries as Patrick Swayze and Michelle Pfeiffer. A film debut in "Fathers & Sons" (1992) landed not long after followed by a few appearances on small screen, like in TV series "Melrose Place" also "The Untouchables" by 1994, but the spotlight did not yet cast its light upon her until she was billed to play villainous Xenia Onatopp in the 1995 installment of James Bond feature, "GoldenEye." Being in this hugely popular film franchise which also amazingly collected almost $349 million during its international run, the beauty unmistakably soared to be the new center of world's attention as consequence, furthermore received a nod for Best Fight category she shared with Pierce Brosnan at MTV Movie Awards a year later.

As her profile rose increasingly due to this tremendous attainment, Famke subsequently found no difficulty at all to move on in Hollywood as offers of roles kept coming continuously for the rest of the era. Audience even saw her starring in eight pictures by 1998 only, including those of "Deep Rising", "Rounders", "Celebrity", and "The Faculty" among others. The success delightfully extended to the year 2000 when her next film, "X-Men", scored big in the box-office with nearly 296 million U.S. dollar garnered around the world while she herself managed to draw rave reviews from critics for her stunning performance in Jon Favreau's vehicle of "Love & Sex." This great outcome in turn made the public really regarded the fine talent she possesses within and therefore completely released her from the Bond-girl oblivion many actresses failed to escape after starring in the franchise.

Walked smoothly next with a handful of high-profile movies, like "Don't Say a Word" (2001), "I Spy" (2002), "X-Men 2" (2003), "mEulogy%"(2004), plus "Hide and Seek" (2005), 2006 apparently still proved to be a prolific period for Famke as she not only joined Ian Holm and Blair Brown to film "The Treatment" but also reprised her role as Jean Grey in the highly anticipated "X-Men: The Last Stand", which proved to be one of the most profitable flicks of the year, thanks to its worldwide total of over $459 million. The remarkable success subsequently brought her more acting stints to undergo for at least the following two years, such as those in "The Ten" (2007), "Turn the River" (2007), "100 Feet" (2008), "The Wackness" (2008), and "Taken" (2008).

Concerning her love life, Famke once married to filmmaker Tod "Kip" Williams in 1995 and the couple even worked together in "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" (1998). Sadly, the knot did not last long as they concluded to separate in 1999 to then have a divorce in 2000. Following this, there were heavy reports on her romance with Ben Affleck in 2001 yet she denied all, insisting that she never dated him despite being spotted kissing the actor passionately earlier that year.