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Franka Potente
Potente in 2019
Born (1974-07-22) 22 July 1974 (age 50)
Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2012)​
Children2

Franka Potente (German: [fʁaŋka po.ˈtɛn.tə] ⓘ; born 22 July 1974) is a German actress. She first appeared in the comedy film After Five in the Forest Primeval (1995), for which she won a Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in 1998, when she starred in the acclaimed action thriller Run Lola Run, for which she won a BAMBI Award for Best Actress. She received further critical acclaim and a Bavarian Television Award nomination for her performance in the television film Opernball (also 1998).

After half a decade of well-received roles in German productions, Potente made the transition into Hollywood with her role in the biographical crime film Blow (2001), and achieved wider recognition for her appearances in The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004). She portrayed communist revolutionary Tamara Bunke in Che (2008), and psychologist Anita Gregory in The Conjuring 2 (2016). Her other notable films include Anatomy (2000), The Princess and the Warrior (2000), Creep (2004), Romulus, My Father (2007), Eichmann (2007), and Muse (2017).

Potente has starred in the television series Copper (2012–2013), Taboo (2017), Claws, Titans and Echo 3. She played recurring roles in the second seasons of American Horror Story (2012) and The Bridge (2014).

Early life

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The elder of two children, Potente was born in Münster, West Germany,[1] and raised in nearby Dülmen.[2] Her mother, Hildegard, is a medical assistant, and her father, Dieter Potente, is a teacher. Her Italian surname stems from her great-grandfather, a slater from Sicily who migrated to Germany during the 19th century. When she was 17 years old, Potente spent a few months as an exchange student in Humble, a suburb of Houston, Texas.[3]

Career

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1990s

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After finishing high school in Germany, Potente enrolled at the Otto Falckenberg School of Performing Arts in Munich. Potente took acting jobs outside school time and appeared in her first movie in the 1995 student film Aufbruch (Departure). She was then spotted by a casting agent and appeared in the film Nach Fünf im Urwald (After Five in the Forest Primeval), directed by her then-boyfriend, Hans Christian Schmid. She played the role of a 17-year-old girl named Anna who, in search of freedom in an urban environment, runs away from home with a boy who has a crush on her. The film premiered at the 1995 Hof International Film Festival and opened in German theaters on 25 April 1996.[4][5] She received the 1996 Bavarian Film Award for Young Talent for her work in this film. She subsequently finished her last year of training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan.[citation needed]

Potente returned to Europe and worked in German and French films; her breakthrough came with 1998's Lola rennt (Run Lola Run) after meeting the director, Tom Tykwer, in a café. Specifically written for her persona, her role was that of a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. Budgeted at US$1 million, the arthouse thriller was a critical and commercial success, grossing US$14.5 million worldwide.[6] Variety wrote that her performance was "heroic, fierce, frightened and vulnerable all at once",[7] while eFilmCritic.com called her casting a "smart choice".[8] Following her newfound success, she starred opposite Teemu Aromaa in Downhill City (1999), a small-scale drama directed by Finnish director Hannu Salonen,[9] and in the romantic comedy Bin ich schön?, about people having trouble with love and identity, which was released on 17 September 1999 in Germany.[10]

2000s

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Potente (left) at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair

In the German-language horror film Anatomy (2000), she starred as a medical student who wins a place at an exclusive Heidelberg medical school, where she uncovers a gruesome conspiracy by a secret Anti-Hippocratic society.[11] The film was a box office success in Germany, grossing US$10.5 million domestically,[12] and Variety, in its review for the film, remarked: "Boasting a gutsy performance from sturdy young German star Franka Potente (Run Lola Run), Anatomy is creepy, sometimes gruesome, widescreen fun that pushes all the right buttons. Out-performing Scream at the local [box office] and the biggest German pic of the year so far, this is natural latenight/fantasy fest fare that could become a cult item on half-inch and possibly even theatrically".[13] Also in 2000, she had the starring role in the romantic drama The Princess and the Warrior, directed by Tykwer, her Run Lola Run director. In the film, she portrayed a psychiatric hospital nurse who, after a near-death experience, enters into a relationship with an anguished former soldier (Benno Fürmann, also her co-star in Anatomy) who lapses into criminality.[14] The independent film was favorably received by critics; eFilmCritic stated that Potente "proves her versatility as an actress here with a much more subdued character, but is still capable of delivering powerhouse emotional scenes", while the consensus of review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes was: "More slow-moving than Run Lola Run, this film nonetheless offers an intriguing storyline about love and fate".[15] She received nominations for the European Film Award and the German Film Award for Best Actress.

Potente's first English-language role was that of a flight attendant who becomes engaged to cocaine smuggler George Jung in the biographical crime film Blow, alongside Johnny Depp. The film received mixed reviews,[16] while it grossed US$83.2 million worldwide.[17] She played a film editor in the controversial independent drama Storytelling (2001), with Leo Fitzpatrick and Selma Blair. It premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival,[18] and received a limited release in most international markets.[19][20] Potente next found a much wider recognition from audiences for her performance in The Bourne Identity (2002), co-starring Matt Damon. In the film, she played a European woman who grows closer to the title character, a man suffering from extreme memory loss and attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency. A positive critical reception greeted the film upon its release,[21] and budgeted at US$60 million, it grossed US$214 million globally.[22] After her role in the film, she starred in the American films All I Want (2002) and I Love Your Work (2003), and in the German production Blueprint (2003).

She reprised past roles with the German horror sequel Anatomy 2 (2003) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), the latter which grossed US$288.5 million worldwide.[23] In 2004, she starred in the British-German horror film Creep, as a woman locked in the London Underground overnight who finds herself being stalked by a hideously deformed killer living in the sewers below. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed US$3.2 million in UK cinemas.[24] ViewLondon wrote: "The performances are good, particularly Potente, who avoids scream queen clichés by making her character surprisingly unlikeable – Kate is rude and arrogant in her early scenes and the fact that she's German is, of course, a coincidence."[25]

In 2006, Potente appeared in the German coming-of-age drama Elementarteilchen (Atomised), based on the novel Les Particules élémentaires by Michel Houellebecq and directed by Oskar Roehler. She wrote and directed Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt, a silent also released in 2006. She next starred with Eric Bana and Kodi Smit-McPhee in the Australian drama film Romulus, My Father (2007), about the struggle of a couple to raise their son amid great adversity. For her portrayal, she was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Lead Actress. Starting in May 2007, Potente had a three-episode recurring arc in the FX drama The Shield, where she played Diro Kesakhian, "the ruthless godmother of L.A.'s Armenian mafia".[26] Also in 2007, she appeared in Eichmann (2007), a biographical film detailing the interrogation of Adolf Eichmann.

In Che (2008), a two-part biopic about Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Potente took on the role of communist revolutionary Tamara Bunke. She described the film as "really epic and [...] very emotional", during an interview with Vulture magazine.[27] The film, first screened at the Cannes Film Festival, garnered a positive critical response while it made US$40.9 million worldwide.[28][29] The New Yorker, pointing out Potente, remarked that "[m]ajor figures come and go, diverting the plot without registering much of an impact",[30] and The Hollywood Reporter described her part as a "small role" and felt that the actress "seems utterly uncomfortable in every scene".[31] In 2009, she appeared in the House television series two-part episode "Broken".

2010s

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Potente filmed the American neo-noir film Shanghai in Bangkok, Thailand, with production wrapping in August 2008.[32] The film, set in the 1940s Chinese spy world, was released on 9 June 2010 in China,[33] and on 2 October 2015 in North America.[34] In 2011, she played the leading role of a passenger in the drama The Sinking of the Laconia, about the Laconia incident.[35] The two-part television film first aired in January 2011 on BBC Two.

Potente starred in BBC America's first original scripted series, Copper, as Eva Heissen, a shrewd German-American businesswoman and the madam of a brothel in the Five Points district of New York City during the American Civil War.[36] The show premiered on 9 August 2012 and had the largest debut in the network's history. It was subsequently renewed for a second season,[37] but the BBC announced its cancellation following its finale. Potente subsequently had a two-episode appearance in American Horror Story: Asylum, as a woman who claims to be Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank.[38][39]

In 2014, Potente landed a role on the second season of the FX series The Bridge as Eleanor Nacht, a "fixer" for the cartel. She returned to the big screen in the horror sequel The Conjuring 2 as real-life German-British parapsychologist Anita Gregory, who investigated the Enfield Poltergeist case in the late 20th century.[40] The Hollywood Reporter found her to be "curiously sidelined for much of the action",[41] but with a worldwide gross of US$320.3 million, it emerged as Potente's most widely seen film.[42][43] Also in 2016, she obtained the two-episode role of a "calculated and determined" Chief Inspector in the second season of the Canadian supernatural series Dark Matter, and in 2017, she was cast in a supporting role in the BBC period drama series Taboo, alongside Tom Hardy.[44]

2020s

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In 2020, she made her first feature film Home, for which she was also responsible for the screenplay. The film premiered in October 2020.[45]

In 2022, Potente appeared in season four of Titans where she portrayed Mother Mayhem.[46]

Authored works

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Based on Potente's correspondence with colleague Max Urlacher during his time in Los Angeles, a book entitled Los Angeles – Berlin was published in September 2005. In May 2009, Potente published her second book Kick Ass – An Alternative Workout, co-written with her personal trainer Karsten Schellenberg. In August 2010 her first volume of stories "Zehn" was published.[47]

Personal life

[edit]

After relationships with German film director Tom Tykwer and American actor Elijah Wood, among others, Potente married American actor Derek Richardson in mid 2012, in a private ceremony.[48] The couple lives in Los Angeles, and has two daughters, born in 2011 and 2013.[49]

Filmography

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Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1995 After Five in the Forest Primeval Anna German: Nach Fünf im Urwald
1998 Run Lola Run Lola German: Lola rennt
Am I Beautiful? Linda German: Bin ich schön?
1999 Paradise Mall [de] Mona Wendt German: Schlaraffenland
Downhill City [es] Peggy
2000 Anatomy Paula Henning German: Anatomie
The Princess and the Warrior Simone "Sissi" Schmidt German: Der Krieger und die Kaiserin
2001 Blow Barbara Buckley
Storytelling Toby's Editor Segment: "Non-Fiction"
2002 The Bourne Identity Marie Kreutz
All I Want Jane
2003 I Love Your Work Mia Lang
Blueprint Iris Sellin / Siri Sellin
Anatomy 2 Paula Henning German: Anatomie 2
2004 The Bourne Supremacy Marie Kreutz
Creep Kate
2005 A Life in Suitcases Trixie Boudain
2006 Atomised Annabelle German: Elementarteilchen
2007 Romulus, My Father Christine Gaita
Eichmann Vera Less
2008 Che Tamara "Tania" Bunke
2010 Shanghai Leni Müller
Small Lights Valerie German: Valerie
2016 The Conjuring 2 Anita Gregory
2017 Muse Susan
2018 Between Worlds Julie
25 km/h Ute
2019 Princess Emmy Queen Karla Voice[50]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Coming In Nina Television film
1998 Opernball Gabrielle Becker Television film
2007 The Shield Diro Kesakhian 3 episodes
2008 Manhunt [fr] Beate Klarsfeld Television film
The Bridge [de] Elfie Bauer Television film
2009 House Lydia Bohm 2 episodes - season 6 - ep 1&2
2010 Psych Nadia Episode: "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out"
2011 The Sinking of the Laconia Hilda Smith 2 episodes
Beate Uhse [de] Beate Uhse Television film
2012 American Horror Story: Asylum Anne Frank / Charlotte Brown 2 episodes
2012–2013 Copper Eva Heissen 20 episodes
2014 The Bridge Eleanor Nacht 12 episodes
2016 Dark Matter Chief Inspector Shaddick 2 episodes
Der Island-Krimi Solveig Karlsdóttir 2 episodes
2017 Taboo Helga von Hinten 7 episodes
2018 Claws Zlata Ostrovsky 2 seasons
2022 Titans Mother Mayhem Regular role (season 4)[46]
Echo 3 Hildy Hildy prison camp member
2023–present Castlevania: Nocturne Erzsebet Báthory / Sekhmet Voice role

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy Marie Helena Kreutz Voice role

Discography

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  • Believe (1998)
  • Wish (Komm zu mir) (1998)
  • Easy Day (1999)
  • Fly with Me (2001)

Bibliography

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  • 2005: Los Angeles – Berlin. Ein Jahr
  • 2006: Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt, Drehbuch zum Film
  • 2009: Kick Ass – Das alternative Workout
  • 2010: Zehn: Stories
  • 2014: Almählich wird es Tag

Awards and nominations

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Year Work Award Result
1995 After Five in the Forest Primeval Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress Won
1998 Run Lola Run Bambi Award for Best Actress Won
Opernball Bavarian TV Award for Best Actress in a Movie Made for Television Nominated
— Berlin International Film Festival EFP Shooting Star Award Won
1999 — German Film Award for German Actress of the Year Won
2000 The Princess and the Warrior European Film Award for Best Actress Nominated
German Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Jupiter Award for Best German Actress Won
2007 Romulus, My Father Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Agentur Heppeler". Agenturheppeler.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Franka Potente". franka-potente.org. 22 July 1974. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Ein Star auf der Suche nach immer Neuem". Berliner Morgenpost. 6 March 2005. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Hof International Film Festival - 1995 Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  5. ^ Blaney, Martin (29 October 2001). "Schmid wins prestigious Hof film award". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  7. ^ Rooney, David (9 September 1998). "Run Lola Run". Variety. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  8. ^ McKay, Brian (15 October 2002). "Run Lola Run". eFilmCritic.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Downhill City". IMDb. 13 April 2000. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Am I Beautiful? (1998)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  11. ^ Lê, Paul (25 February 2022). "Editorials - 'Anatomy': German Horror Duology Delivers Unique Health Scares [Horrors Elsewhere]". Bloody Disguisting. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Anatomy (2000) - International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  13. ^ Elley, Derek (28 August 2000). "Anatomy". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  14. ^ Braun, Stuart (11 February 2017). "Tom Tykwer to head Berlinale Jury in 2018". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (The Princess and the Warrior)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Blow (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Blow (2001)". Box Office Mojo. 28 August 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (8 February 2002). "Storytelling (2002)". Roger Ebert. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Storytelling Film Review". View Auckland. 5 December 2001. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Storytelling". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  21. ^ "The Bourne Identity (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  22. ^ "The Bourne Identity (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  23. ^ "The Bourne Supremacy (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  24. ^ "Creep". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  25. ^ "Creep". View. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018.
  26. ^ Mahan, Colin. "Franka Potente joins The Shield". TV.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  27. ^ Pearse, Emma (17 December 2008). "Che's Franka Potente on Working With Benicio, Peeing in the Jungle". Vulture. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  28. ^ "Guerilla (Che: Part Two) (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  29. ^ "The Argentine (Che: Part One) (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  30. ^ Lane, Anthony (12 January 2009). "Che's Way". New Yorker. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  31. ^ Brunette, Peter (21 May 2008). "'Che': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  32. ^ ""Shanghai" to Hit Chinese Screens in June". English.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  33. ^ "Shanghai (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  34. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (28 July 2015). "World War II-Set Neo-Noir 'Shanghai' Finally Gets U.S. Release". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  35. ^ Deacon, Michael (6 January 2011). "The Sinking of the Laconia, BBC Two review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  36. ^ Leffler, Rebecca (1 April 2012). "'Copper' Producer, Actors Preview BBC America's Immigrant Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  37. ^ "BBC America Renews 'Copper' for Second Season". The Hollywood Reporter. 18 October 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  38. ^ "'American Horror Story': Ryan Murphy on fate of Spoiler". Entertainment Weekly. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  39. ^ "Franka Potente Talks American Horror Story: Asylum, How She Got Involved with the Show, Playing a Historical Figure and the Role's Biggest Challenges". Collider.com. 17 November 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  40. ^ "James Wan Begins Shooting New Line Cinema's Highly Anticipated "The Conjuring 2"". Business Wire. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  41. ^ Linden, Sheri (2 June 2016). "'The Conjuring 2': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  42. ^ "Franka Potente". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  43. ^ "Franka Potente - Box Office". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  44. ^ Petski, Denise (21 March 2016). "'Taboo': Franka Potente Joins Tom Hardy in FX/BBC Period Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  45. ^ Felperin, Leslie (18 January 2022). "Home review – Franka Potente makes directing debut with haunting ex-con drama". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  46. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (1 February 2022). "'Titans' Sets Season 4 Villains: Joseph Morgan As Brother Blood, Franka Potente As Mother Mayhem, Lisa Ambalavanar As Jinx". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  47. ^ "Kick Ass An Alternative Workout - Potente Franka" (in German). Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  48. ^ "Lola hat klammheimlich geheiratet" [Lola secretly marries]. Stern (in German). 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  49. ^ "Franka Potente: Jetzt packt sie aus!" [Franka Potente: Now unpack it!]. Gala (in German) (German ed.). 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  50. ^ "Studio 100 Announces International Cast for 'Princess Emmy'". Animation Magazine. 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
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