From Quentin Tarantino classics to the latest Marvel blockbusters, DW's KINO team of Scott Roxborough and Hans Christoph von Bock pick the top actors from Germany mixing it up in Hollywood.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/Weinstein Company
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KINO favorites: 7 international stars from Germany
From Alexandra Maria Lara to Daniel Brühl, these actors got their start in German cinema and television before making the leap to the global cinema stage — and international fame.
Image: Liam Daniel
7: Alexandra Maria Lara
Born in 1978 in Bucharest as Alexandra Maria Platareanu, her parents fled Romania for Germany in 1983 and, with a new surname, she debuted on TV at age 11. In the 2004 hit Downfall she played Hitler's secretary, and soon after was working alongside Kate Winslet in The Reader, her now husband Sam Riley in Joy Division biopic Control (pictured), and with Daniel Brühl in the Hollywood drama Rush.
Following a breakout role in Tom Tykwer's international hit Run Lola Run in 1998, a kiss in the 2001 film Blow with heartthrob Johnny Depp started the Hollywood career of actor Franka Potente. She followed that up with a role in The Bourne Identity the following year (above, with Matt Damon). More recently, she has appeared in numerous US series such as Taboo — and has written several books.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
5: August Diehl
Since Berlin-born August Diehl stormed the international cinema stage with his turn in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) — not as King Kong but an evil SS officer — the actor has been a regular feature in films made beyond his homeland, including Night Train to Lisbon alongside Jeremy Irons, as the eponymous character in The Young Karl Marx and the BBC war series, Close to the Enemy.
Image: Imago/ZUMA Press/Universal Pictures
4: Florence Kasumba
The Uganda-born, Germany-raised actor who today lives in Berlin has conquered Hollywood in recent years with roles in superhero franchise films like Wonder Woman (2017) and the Marvel epics Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Early this year, she also had a major role in the blockbuster Black Panther playing Ayo, the king's head of security (pictured right).
Image: imago/ZUMAPRESS/Marvel Studios
3: Christoph Waltz
When Quentin Tarantino gave Waltz the role of SS officer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, the Vienna-born actor stole the show and won the Oscar for best supporting actor. He picked up another Oscar, and a place in Hollywood's acting elite, for his turn as bounty hunter King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). The Berlin-based Waltz also played the villain in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Sony Pictures
2: Diane Kruger
Another German actor who gained global renown for her lead role in Inglorious Basterds, Kruger, a former fashion model, had already got her start in Hollywood when she played Helen in 2004's Troy alongside Brad Pitt, and also appeared that year in Wicker Park. Now an American citizen, Kruger won best actress at Cannes in 2017 for her first German role in Fatih Akin's In the Fade (above).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros.
1: Daniel Brühl
The international film career of Barcelona-born Daniel Brühl began rather unexpectedly when his German comedy Goodbye Lenin! (2003) became a global hit. The Berliner has since been a Hollywood regular, with roles in The Bourne Ultimatum and the Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate. He recently won plaudits, and a Golden Globe nomination, for his turn as Niki Lauda in Ron Howard's Rush (2013).
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There was a time when the only role for a German actor in Hollywood was playing the third Nazi from the left. Yes, Berlin-born Marlene Dietrich was one of the biggest stars of her era but in her wake, few German actors in Tinseltown made it past bit roles or playing the baddie in James Bond films.
No longer. A new generation of German performers is getting noticed outside the borders of Berlin, Munich and Cologne. And, for the most part, they're doing it without resorting to tired stereotypes.
Franka Potente made her international breakthrough with Run Lola Run in 1998Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/Sony Pictures
For the latest edition of KINO Favorites, we take a closer look at seven stars who have made the leap from Germany to Hollywood. It's an impressive lineup, including a multi-Oscar award winner, a star of both the catwalk and the silver screen, and a woman who's appeared in four of the top-grossing films of the past three years. Few have become household names (yet), but all have carved out impressive careers.
No two success stories are the same. Our magnificent seven have each made their own way — by breaking out with a local art house hit, by moving from walk-on roles in German TV to standout parts in Marvel blockbusters, or by slugging it out for decades in German melodramas before becoming an "overnight success" courtesy of Quentin Tarantino. One even made her name first in Paris and Hollywood, before returning home for the most ambitious role of her career.
To a man and woman, our seven international stars have successfully avoided the worn trope of the German as a boilerplate villain. When one of them plays a Nazi — and a few have — they give depth and character to roles that, in years past, would have been little more than cardboard cutouts. Most steer clear of the cliche altogether, preferring to play the sidekick, the love interest or, occasionally, even the hero.
This new generation of German stars has also, for the most part, mastered the trick of balancing Hollywood roles with more meaty fare back home. Far from abandoning the German scene, almost all of the names on our list have avoided the trap of getting typecast by continuing to try out different, and often more challenging work, in German films and TV.
So have a look and tell us what you think. Anyone we left off you think deserved to make the cut? Who would top your list of the best Germans who've gone Hollywood? Let us know at kino@dw.com.
7. Alexandra Maria Lara — Control, Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, Rush
6. Franka Potente: Run Lola Run, The Bourne Identity/Supremacy, Taboo
5. August Diehl: Inglourious Basterds, Radegund, Kursk
4. Florence Kasumba: Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, The Lion King (2019)
3. Christoph Waltz: Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Spectre, winner of two Academy Awards
2. Diane Kruger: National Treasure, Inglourious Basterds, The Bridge
1. Daniel Brühl: Goodbye Lenin!, Inglourious Basterds, Captain America: Civil War, The Alienist , 7 Days in Entebbe
