Famke Janssen

Famke Janssen began her professional life in 1984 as a fashion model after moving to the United States from the Netherlands. Represented by Elite Model Management, she worked for brands including Chanel, Giorgio Armani, and Victoria's Secret before transitioning to a prolific career in television and film acting, directing, and screenwriting.

Early Education and Career Shift

Born in Amstelveen in 1964, Janssen briefly studied economics at the University of Amsterdam. By the early 1990s, she moved away from her initial success in modeling to pursue acting, securing her first film credit in the 1992 crime drama Fathers & Sons.

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Film and Television Expansion

Janssen gained international recognition playing Xenia Onatopp in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. She subsequently appeared in various projects throughout the 1990s, including The Faculty and House on Haunted Hill. Her television work includes the role of Ava Moore in Nip/Tuck, as well as recurring appearances in How to Get Away with Murder and the lead in The Blacklist: Redemption.

X-Men and Directorial Work

From 2000 to 2014, Janssen portrayed Jean Grey, also known as Phoenix, in the X-Men film series, earning a Saturn Award for her performance in X-Men: The Last Stand. In 2011, she expanded her creative output by writing and directing the film Bringing Up Bobby. Her later work includes starring roles in The Postcard Killings and the 2025 series Amsterdam Empire.