Famke Janssen
Famke Janssen is a Dutch actress renowned for her portrayal of the telepathic mutant Jean Grey in the X-Men film series, which has significantly shaped her career. Born on November 5, 1964, in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, Janssen initially pursued studies in economics before transitioning into a successful modeling career in the early 1990s, appearing on magazine covers such as Elle and Mirabella. After relocating to New York, she studied literature and creative writing at Columbia University and began taking acting classes, leading to her breakout role as the Russian spy Xenia Onatopp in the James Bond film GoldenEye in 1995.
Janssen has since appeared in various films, including her iconic role in X-Men (2000) and its sequels, as well as action thrillers like Taken (2008) and its sequels. Beyond acting, she has directed and produced films, notably Bringing Up Bobby (2011). Janssen is also recognized for her advocacy work, serving as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and advocating against sexism and ageism in Hollywood. Throughout her career, she has garnered acclaim for her ability to portray complex and powerful characters, contributing to her lasting impact in the film industry.
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Famke Janssen
Actor
- Born: November 5, 1964
- Place of Birth: Amstelveen, Netherlands.
Contribution: Famke Janssen is a Dutch actor best known for her performance as telepathic mutant Jean Grey in the X-Men film franchise.
Background
Famke Janssen was born in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, on November 5, 1964. She grew up with an older sister, Antoinette Beumer, who became a director, and a younger sister, Margolein Beumer, who also became an actor. When she was a child, Janssen and her family traveled extensively in Europe and also visited Africa.
Janssen studied economics at the University of Amsterdam but quickly decided that she was not suited to a career in that field. After leaving school, she began a career in modeling that lasted until her retirement in the early 1990s. Janssen was very successful as a model and was featured on the covers of magazines such as Elle and Mirabella. The job also provided Janssen with opportunities to work in the United States, and after retiring from modeling she moved to New York to study literature and creative writing at Columbia University.
Career
While in New York, Janssen took acting classes and worked to perfect her craft. After she began auditioning for parts, she moved to Los Angeles, where she took on small roles in television shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Melrose Place. Janssen's breakthrough role came in the 1995 James Bond filmGoldenEye, in which she plays Russian spy Xenia Onatopp. Janssen received international recognition for this role, and her performance earned her numerous job offers. However, she turned down many of roles she was offered in order to avoid being typecast and instead focused on supporting roles that she found more interesting.
In 1998 Janssen played a book editor in Celebrity, directed by Woody Allen, and a Russian gambler in Rounders. That year Janssen also had a role in Turn the River, for which she had to learn to play pool. During this period she earned praise for her ability to mimic regional accents, such as the Boston accent she acquired for her role in Monument Ave. (1998). In 2000 Janssen took on her first starring role, appearing alongside Jon Favreau in the romantic comedy Love & Sex.
Later that year, Janssen made her first appearance in the role for which she would become best known, that of telepath Jean Grey, a prominent member of the mutant superhero team known as the X-Men. She decided to accept the role in X-Men (2000) because she admired the work of the film's director, Bryan Singer, who had previously directed the film The Usual Suspects (1995). Janssen reprised the role of Jean Grey in the sequels X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) as well as in the 2013 spin-off The Wolverine. While she would later have a cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), she criticized the filmmakers behind the franchise for not giving her the chance to appear in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), citing bias against older female actors.
Following her successful appearances in the blockbuster X-Men films, Janssen went on to appear in a number of films, including the action thrillers Taken (2008) and Taken 2 (2012) with Liam Neeson. She obtained a recurring role in the television series Nip/Tuck, appearing in several episodes in 2004 and 2005 and returning to the role in 2010. In 2011, Janssen directed the film Bringing Up Bobby, which she also wrote and produced. The film stars Milla Jovovich as a con artist from the Ukraine who tries to give her son a better life in Oklahoma.
In 2013 Janssen costarred in the first season of the series Hemlock Grove, a supernatural thriller based on a novel by Brian McGreevy. The series, an original production of the streaming media service Netflix, focuses on the friendship between Peter, who is accused of being a werewolf, and Roman, the son of a wealthy family that controls an industrial town in Pennsylvania. Janssen plays Roman's mother, Olivia Godfrey. In June of 2013, Netflix announced that Hemlock Grove had been renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2014. A third and final seasonal followed in 2015.
Janssen continued to appear in a variety of television and film projects over the years, though none reached the exposure of her James Bond and X-Men roles. In 2015 she joined Neeson again in Taken 3, and also began a recurring role on the legal drama How to Get Away with Murder, which would premiere its final season in 2019. In 2016 she landed another recurring role, on the well-received crime series The Blacklist. This led to her starring in the same the role in the spinoff series The Blacklist: Redemption (2017), which lasted only one season. Janssen's lead or supporting film roles tended to be in crime or action movies, most of which made little critical or commercial impact. These included Bayou Caviar (2018) with Cuba Gooding Jr., The Poison Rose (2019) alongside John Travolta and Morgan Freeman, and the Nicholas Cage–led Primal (2019). She then appeared in a variety of othe films, including Redeeming Love (2022) and Locked In (2023).
Impact
Over the course of her career, Janssen became known for taking edgy, dark roles and playing powerful and emotionally complex characters. Her roles in GoldenEye and the X-Men franchise brought her international recognition as well as several award nominations. In addition to acting, Janssen devoted herself to a number of causes, serving for a time as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and as a water ambassador for Green Cross International. She also became a vocal critic of sexism and ageism in Hollywood.
Personal Life
Janssen was previously married to filmmaker Tod Williams.
Bibliography
"Famke Janssen." IMDb, 2019, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000463/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2024.
Hale, Mike. "Start Now, and You'll Know Tonight." New York Times. New York Times Co., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Lewis, Roz. "Famke Janssen's Travelling Life." Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 28 May 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Malanowski, Jamie. "A Scene Stealer's Big Score." New York Times. New York Times Co., 20 Aug. 2000. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Richesin, Nicki. "Famke Janssen and Bringing Up Bobby." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Sheridan, Patricia. "Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast with . . . Famke Janssen." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Post-Gazette.com, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.