The subject couldn't be more topical: Diane Kruger's latest film, "In the Fade," tells the story of a neo-Nazi attack on immigrants. She won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her starring role.
Image: Reuters/R. Duvignau
Advertisement
Queen, mother or spy: Diane Kruger's roles
The German actress's name, Heidkrüger, was deemed too complicated for her to succeed in the US. She changed it to Kruger, and found her way to Hollywood's top. She has now won the best actress award in Cannes.
Image: Alamode Film/Just Publicity
Best actress award at Cannes
In the thriller "In the Fade" by Hamburg-born and -based director Fatih Akin, Diane Kruger depicts a German mother called Katja, whose Kurdish husband and five-year-old son are killed by a bomb planted by neo-Nazis. It was actually the German-American actress's first German-language role; she won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros./Festival de Cannes
Breakthrough with 'Troy' (2004)
The American epic from 2004 was directed by a German filmmaker and starred the German actress. Kruger was until then still unknown in the US, but director Wolfgang Petersen picked her among 3,000 potential candidates for the role of Helen, described as "the most beautiful woman in the world" in the Greek myths. After this film, her career quickly took off with many international roles.
Image: imago/United Archives
A Danish soprano in 'Merry Christmas' (2005)
The anti-war film "Merry Christmas" is based on actual events that occurred during World War I on the French front, where a Christmas truce in December 1914 allowed enemy soldiers to celebrate together. Diane Kruger starred alongside the German actors Benno Fürmann and Daniel Brühl. The 2005 film was nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars.
Image: imago/EntertainmentPictures
Spy in 'Inglorious Basterds' (2009)
Quentin Tarantino selected Diane Kruger for the role of Bridget von Hammersmark in his alternate history Nazi-resistance film, "Inglorious Basterds." It was a new challenge for the actress, as it had nothing to do with her previous roles. She embodied a film star from the 1940s who was celebrated as Nazis' icon, while actually cooperating with the Americans.
Image: Universal
Honored in Germany (2010)
In 2010, Diane Kruger was awarded the Golden Camera award in Berlin for best international actress. The accolade recognized not only her outstanding performance alongside Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz in "Inglorious Basterds," but also her exceptional career as a Hollywood star, born in Germany.
Image: imago/S. Simon
Chase scenes in 'Unknown' (2011)
In the thriller "Unknown," Diane Kruger is an action heroine. Filmed in Germany, the movie tells the story of a US scientist visiting Berlin for a congress. Dr. Harris (Liam Neeson) attempts to retrieve his lost briefcase; this turns into a relentless pursuit. Diane Kruger plays a taxi driver called Gina - one of the film's two lead female characters.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Marie Antoinette in 'Farewell, My Queen' (2012)
The French film "Farewell, My Queen" (original title: "Les Adieux à la reine") by Benoit Jacquot was selected for the 2012 Berlinale competition. It is set in Versailles during the French Revolution in 1789. The story is told from the perspective of Sidonie Laborde, a young servant who reads to her beloved Queen, the moody Marie Antoinette, depicted by Diane Kruger.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
On the road in 'Sky' (2015)
While they are on holidays in the US, Romy (Diane Kruger) runs away from her husband and tries to survive by doing different jobs. Her Parisian grandmother's apple pie recipe is a remedy to toxic love relations. "Sky" is a French road movie from 2015. It was Kruger's third film with director Fabienne Berthaud.
Image: Alamode Film/Just Publicity
8 images1 | 8
She left home at the age of 15 in search of broader horizons. Diane Kruger's hometown of Algermissen, close to the north-central city of Hildesheim, had grown too small for the teenager.
Born on July 15, 1976 to a banking clerk and a computer specialist, the wannabe dancer left for Paris, where she started a career as a model. She graced the covers of "Vogue" and "Elle."
From model to actress
In 2000, the young Kruger switched careers, taking classes at an acting school in the French capital. Her perfect French language skills later helped her to land important roles in independent films, including several under director Fabienne Berthaud. At the end of her studies, Kruger acted in several shorts, including "The Piano Player," a short which saw her sharing a set with Christopher Lambert and Dennis Hopper.
A Hollywood career
Diane Kruger at CannesImage: Reuters/S. Mahe
The thriller "Wicker Park," released in 2004, was her first role in an international production. For the role, however, she shortened her birth name, as Heidkrüger proved too complicated for tongues in Hollywood. Ever since, she's been known as Diane Kruger.
A short while later, she made her Hollywood debut, finding her way to the head of a pack of nearly 3,000 competitors for the role of Helena in Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy."
Although she now lives in Hollywood, Kruger continues to take part in smaller European productions. In the European co-production "Merry Christmas," she appears alongside German actors Benno Fürmann and Daniel Brühl. For the role, which cast her as a singer on a World War I front, she even took private singing lessons.
A sought-after jury member
One role that gained lots of international attention was Kruger's appearance in Quentin Tarantino's Nazi drama, "Inglorious Basterds." In it, she played a German playing a risky game of chance, a woman adored by the Nazis but spying for the Americans. She gained critical acclaim with the role, and was asked to be a jury member at film festivals in Cannes and Venice. In 2017 she took on her first real German-speaking role for Fatih Akin with the film "In the Fade" - and promptly took home the Best Actress award from Cannes.
