Line #16 Creator/FamkeJanssen


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4	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/famke-janssen_1657_5235.jpg]]
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6	Famke Beumer Janssen is a [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Dutch]]-born actress. Though her birthday is disputed, Website/TheOtherWiki cites her as being born in 1964.
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8	Apart from her native Dutch, Famke also speaks English and French, as evidenced by her acting career. Her early career was that of a model, after a failed attempt at an economics degree in Amsterdam (described by the actress as one of her stupidest moves). She also produced several TV commercials. In the 1990s, she moved into acting. Several almost {{B Movie}}-level roles passed, including one with Creator/JeffGoldblum, before she obtained a role in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "The Perfect Mate". This was quickly followed by a role in the Creator/CliveBarker adaptation ''Film/LordOfIllusions''. Her big break came with the ''Film/JamesBond'' revival movie ''Film/GoldenEye'' in 1995. Famke won the role of [[MurderousThighs thigh-crushing assassin]] Xenia Onatopp.
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10	Despite the potential pitfall of being a Bond Girl (there is talk of the curse that condemns many an actress' career, as seen with the output of over 50 percent of the actresses in the series after their Bond role), Janssen was savvy enough to not carve out an acting career based solely on blockbusters (though it also had a lot to do with her not wanting to be typecast as a FemmeFatale after ''Golden[==]Eye''). After ''Film/DeepRising'', she established herself as a talented indie actress, though she was notable for appearing in the creepy remake of ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1999''. She then appeared in five entries of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''[[note]]the original trilogy, ''Film/TheWolverine'', and [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'']] [[/note]] as ComicBook/JeanGrey, widely accepted as a decent portrayal of the character.
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12	Since then, Janssen has been notable for playing transgender life coach Ava Moore in ''Series/NipTuck'' and for her (finally!) leading roles in movies such as ''Film/OneHundredFeet'' and ''Turn the River'', as well as a role in ''Film/{{Taken}}'' and its sequels.
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14	She also plays the manipulative matriarch Oliva Godfrey in the Netflix original Series/{{Hemlock Grove}} and led the spinoff from ''Series/TheBlacklist'', ''Series/TheBlacklistRedemption'', during its only season in 2017.
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16	-----
17	!!Filmography:
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19	!!!Films
20	* 1995 ''Film/LordOfIllusions'' as Dorothea Swann
21	* 1995 ''Film/GoldenEye'' as Xenia Onatopp
22	* 1997 ''Film/CityOfIndustry'' as Rachel Montana
23	* 1998 ''Film/DeepRising'' as Trillian St. James
24	* 1998 ''Film/{{Rounders}}'' as Petra
25	* 1998 ''Film/TheFaculty'' as Miss Elizabeth Burke
26	* 1998 ''Film/TheGingerbreadMan'' as Leeanne Magruder
27	* 1999 ''Film/{{House On Haunted Hill\|1999}}'' as Evelyn
28	* 2000 ''Film/{{Circus}}'' as Lily
29	* 2000 ''Film/XMen1'' as Jean Grey
30	* 2002 ''Film/ISpy'' as Rachel
31	* 2003 ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' as Jean Grey
32	* 2005 ''Film/HideAndSeek'' as Katherine
33	* 2006 ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' as Jean Grey
34	* 2008 ''Film/{{Taken}}'' as Lenore
35	* 2008 ''Film/OneHundredFeet'' as Marnie
36	* 2012 ''Film/{{Taken 2}}'' as Lenore
37	* 2013 ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'' as Muriel the Grand Black Witch
38	* 2013 ''Film/TheWolverine'' as Jean Grey
39	* 2014 ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' as Jean Grey
40	* 2014 ''Film/{{Taken 3}}'' as Lenore
41	* 2015 ''Film/JackOfTheRedHearts'' as Kay Adams
42	* 2017 ''Film/ThisIsYourDeath'' as Ilana Katzenberg
43	* 2018 ''Film/StatusUpdate'' as Katherine Alden
44	* 2019 ''Film/{{Primal}}'' as Dr. Ellen Taylor
45	* 2023 ''Film/KnightsOfTheZodiac'' as Vander Guraad
46	* 2024 ''Film/BoyKillsWorld'' as Hilda van der Koy
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48	!!!Television
49	* 1992 ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' as Kamala, episode "The Perfect Mate"
50	* 2004-10 ''Series/NipTuck'' as Ava Moore
51	* 2013-15 ''Series/HemlockGrove'' as Olivia Godfrey
52	* 2015-16 ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'' as Eve Rothlow
53	* 2016-18 ''Series/TheBlacklist'' as Susan Hargrave
54	* 2017 ''Series/TheBlacklistRedemption'' as Susan Hargrave
55	* 2019 ''Series/TheCapture''
56	* 2019 ''Series/WhenTheySeeUs'' as Nancy Ryan
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58	!!Associated Tropes:
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60	* ActorAllusion: In an episode of ''Series/NipTuck'' Ava gets compared to a phoenix - an obvious nod to Famke's role as Jean Grey.
61	* AdrenalineMakeover: She's played two characters who start out looking mousy but then go through this. Ms Burke in ''Film/TheFaculty'' and Jean Grey in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''.
62	* CastingGag: She and Dougray Scott were husband and wife in ''Series/HemlockGrove'' and ''{{Film/Taken 3}}''.
63	* CreatorBacklash:
64	** [[invoked]] It took her years to admit it but she was disappointed with ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''. When she was first cast as Jean, comic fans told her about the Dark Phoenix Saga and she got excited at the thought of doing it in a later film. She expressed disappointment with the final film, saying it had "too many subplots".
65	** She's also spoken out about her experiences filming Goldeneye; while appreciative of everything the film has done for her, she has detailed the feeling of sexism during shooting, be it the Director of Photography refusing to engage her in conversation and address her, or having a crowd of onlookers in what should have been a closed set while filming her love scenes.
66	* EnforcedMethodActing:[[invoked]]
67	** For ''Hide and Seek'' she held a gun with her left hand (she's right-handed) because - although she had used guns in films before - Catherine is a normal psychologist and she didn't want her to look too comfortable holding a gun.
68	** For ''Film/GoldenEye'' she told Pierce Brosnan to throw her as hard as he could into the wall for the sauna fight scene. She broke a rib filming it.
69	* FakeAmerican:[[invoked]] Most of her roles. As she has an American accent naturally when speaking English, she rarely plays Dutch characters.
70	* FakeRussian:[[invoked]] As Xenia in ''Film/GoldenEye''.
71	* FemmeFatale: She plays a lot of these, likely with ''Film/GoldenEye'' to thank for it. She noted in the early 2000's that she had turned down a number of roles akin to Onatopp shortly after that film's success.
72	* LifeImitatesArt:[[invoked]] After doing ''{{Film/Taken}}'' she was inspired to take action in the fight against corruption. She became a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
73	* MagnumOpusDissonance:[[invoked]] Her favorite role is a little-known comedy called ''Love & Sex''.
74	* NoStuntDouble:
75	** ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1999'' has a scene where the glass ceiling breaks around Evelyn. Famke did her own stunt for that.
76	** Similarly she did her own work on Hansel and Gretel, managing to break a rib after being dropped in a sequence requiring a harness; surprisingly this wasn't a first for her - in ''Film/GoldenEye'' she did a number of her own stunts, including driving during the race with Bond and being suspended for her death in the jungle. She also did her own work in the spa fight, resulting in her breaking two ribs after she was run into a wall; this led to Famke expressing some confusion that the scene employed stunt doubles at all during a December 2020 watchalong.
77	* OldShame:[[invoked]] She wasn't too fond of ''Hide & Seek'', saying she wouldn't have done it if Robert de Niro hadn't been in it.
78	* PlayingWithCharacterType:[[invoked]] In ''Film/TheFaculty'' she plays the ShrinkingViolet Ms. Burke, hidden under NerdGlasses, frumpy clothes and MessyHair. Then when the alien possesses her, she goes BeautifulAllAlong and becomes more confident.
79	* ReclusiveArtist: She stays away from social media, saying she values her privacy.
80	* StatuesqueStunner: A full six feet tall, and a definite MsFanservice... even in her 50s!
81	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:[[invoked]]
82	** She turned down the role of the T-X in ''Terminator 3''.
83	** She was offered a regular role on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' - appearing as Kamala again. She turned it down, wanting to focus on film work. The character Jadzia Dax was created to fill this spot.
84	** She was originally cast as Serleena in ''Film/MenInBlackII''; after only one day of filming, she left due to a death in her family. [[Film/WaynesWorld Lara Flynn]] [[Series/TwinPeaks Boyle]] replaced her.

Context Creator / FamkeJanssen