Happy birthday, Famke Janssen! The actress turns 52 years old today.
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Born in the Netherlands, Janssen was raised by her parents alongside her two sisters, Antoinette and Marjolein. As an adult, the Dutch actress struggled to find a career and opted to study economics at the University of Amsterdamn for a year. She quickly left and enrolled at Colombia University where she studied creative writing and literature.
After graduating from Colombia, the actress stay in the U.S. to begin a career in modeling. She worked with Elite Model Management on campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and more. During this time, she also began accruing roles in projects like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Fathers & Sons.
However, fans will know her best because of two roles. In 1995, Janssen starred in Pierce Brosnan’s first James Bond movie, GoldenEye. Then, in 2000, she was cast as Dr. Jean Grey in the X-Men franchise. The actress reprised the superhero role in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Most recently, fans have seen Janssen in series such as Nip/Tuck and Bringing Up Bobby, the latter standing as her directorial debut. She is also part of the Taken franchise and starred in Netflix’s hit drama, Hemlock Grove.
Happy birthday, Famke!
