She wore the most luxurious fashions of the 1980s. Her face is the envy of millions. So when Famke Janssen was cast as Xenia Onatopp, the new “Bond Girl” of the 1990s in the James Bond thriller, “GoldenEye” (1995), it was front-page news in The Hollywood Reporter. When the movie premiered, she was interviewed everywhere, and her name was added to wish lists all over Hollywood.
Janssen began modeling at a young age and was immediately successful in her native Holland. When work for Chanel brought her to NYC, she stayed. Still young for a model (not yet 25), she quit to study creative writing and literature at Columbia University and enrolled in an acting workshop. Having appeared in an episode of Fox’s campy night-time soap “Melrose Place”, Janssen landed her first significant role as Jeff Goldblum’s romantic interest in “Fathers and Sons” (both 1992). She followed that up playing the action lead in the TV-movie “Model By Day” (Fox, 1994), a role she is said to want to forget. The multilingual actress co-starred with Scott Bakula in Clive Barker’s “Lord of Illusions” (1995) before hitting screens in her breakthrough role as the villainous Russian killer who crushes men to death with her thighs in “GoldenEye.â€
After that, the raven-haired stunner was careful not to fall into the trap so many other models-turned-actresses had. She avoided accepting too many glamorous, yet unnecessary girlfriend roles in big studio movies, opting instead to tackle a variety of characters that required her to stretch her acting muscles, not just smile pretty for the camera. One of the only actresses to escape Bond-girl oblivion (few of James Bond’s female co-stars have gone on to bigger and better projects), the busy actress appeared in six releases in 1998, announcing that she was more interested in working with quality directors and actors than starring in big-budget features. She essayed characters ranging from a bitter alcoholic in “The Gingerbread Man” to a Russian-born owner of a gambling joint in “Rounders” to a tough, blue-collar Bostonian in “Monument Avenue”. Woody Allen cast her as a sophisticated book editor in “Celebrity”, reuniting her with her “Gingerbread Man” co-star Kenneth Branagh, while Robert Rodriguez tapped her to be a timid high school teacher in “The Faculty”. Her deft performances prompted critics and co-stars to marvel at her chameleonic versatility and uncanny knack for imitating accents.
Janssen slowed down a bit the following year, seen only in the forgettable horror flick “The House on Haunted Hill” before returning with gusto in 2000 and earning rave reviews for her performance in “Love & Sex”, her first starring role in a romantic comedy. The movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was also her first with actor-writer-director Jon Favreau. After that, she again switched gears, this time playing a telepathic mutant holding her own against Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Anna Paquin in the big-screen version of the Marvel comic “X-Men.” She returned to comedy later that year in the Favreau-helmed vehicle, “Made” (2001), again showing great chemistry with Favreau and a effective range in an otherwise small role. In the kidnapping thriller “Don’t Say a Word” (2001) Janssen also imbued the thankless role of Michael Douglas’ bedridden wife with a great sense of vulnerability when their daughter is abducted. She switched gears in 2002 for the big screen version of the 1960s TV hit “I Spy” starring Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy, and even during the most comedic moments with her co-stars Janssen demonstrated an enviable ability to keep her performance rooted in reality and, after several turns downplaying her looks, using her considerable sex appeal to great effect. Next up was a dramatic return to the role of Jean Grey (now with red hair like her comic book counterpart) for the much-anticipated sequel “X2: X-Men United” (2003), setting in motion events that would make her character pivotal to a third outing. Her next move was to the small screen in a recurring role in the 2004 season of FX’s hit drama “Nip/Tuck” as the provocative “life coach” Ava Moore whose relationship with the McNamara’s teen son revealed a seamier relationship with her own offspring.
After supporting roles in “Eulogy†(2004), a low-budget comedy about three generations of a dysfunctional family gathering in Rhode Island to bury their patriarch, and “Hide & Seek†(2005), a low-budget horror about a widower (Robert De Niro) who discovers his daughter’s imaginary friend is really a malicious and violent reality, Janssen revived Jean Grey for the third installment of the series, “X-Men: The Last Stand†(2006), directed by Brett Ratner. This time, the mutants face a peculiar choice after a cure for mutations is found: retain their uniqueness and remain isolated from society or give up their strange powers and become human.
- Born:
on 01/01/1964 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Sister: Lucy Janssen.
- Sister: Natalya Janssen.
Significant Others
- Husband: Tod Williams. together since 1988; separated in 1999; divorced
Milestones
- 1987 Moved to the USA
- 1992 Appeared in an episode of TV’s campy night-time soap “Melrose Place” (Fox)
- 1992 Film debut in “Fathers and Sons”, opposite Jeff Goldblum
- 1994 TV-movie debut as lead in “Model By Day” (Fox)
- 1995 Co-starred as ex-Soviet fighter pilot Xenia Onatopp opposite Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in “GoldenEye”
- 1998 Acted in six films, including “Rounders”, “Celebrity” and “The Faculty”
- 1999 Had featured role in “The Adventures of Sebastian Cole”, written and directed by Tod Williams
- 2000 Had recurring role as the ex-wife of Robert Downey Jr’s character in episodes of “Ally McBeal”
- 2000 Cast as Jean Grey, one of the planet’s most powerful telepaths and telekinetics, in the feature version of the Marvel comic “X-Men”
- 2000 Headlined the romantic comedy “Love & Sex”; screened at Sundance; first collaboration with actor-writer-director Jon Favreau
- 2001 Cast in villainous role in “Men in Black 2″; had to withdraw from project due to a family illness
- 2001 Co-starred in Favreau’s mob comedy “Made”
- 2002 Had leading role in film version of “I Spy”
- 2003 Again played Jean Grey in “X2″
- 2004 Cast in the black comedy “Eulogy” which follows three generations of a family, who come together for the funeral of the patriarch
- 2004 Join the cast of FX’s “Nip/Tuck” playing a woman who becomes a “life coach” to Joely Richardson’s character
- 2005 Starred opposite Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning in the thriller “Hide and Seek”
- 2006 Reprised the role of Jean Grey in the third installment of the “X-Men” series, “X-Men: The Last Stand”
- Raised in The Netherlands
- Worked as a model for Chanel and other designers
