Franka Potente

Infobox actor
name = Franka Potente

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caption =Franka Potente, October 2005
birthdate = birth date and age|1974|7|22
birthplace= Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Franka Potente (born July 22, 1974) is a German film actress. She began her career in the comedy "It's a Jungle Out There" (1995) and gained critical recognition in the action thriller "Run Lola Run" (1998). After half a decade of critically acclaimed roles in German films, Potente gained Hollywood's attention by playing the role of Barbara Buckley in "Blow" (2001) and the female lead opposite Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity" (2002). An accomplished dramatic actress, Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in "Run Lola Run" and "Opernball". Potente performs in leading and supporting roles in a variety of low-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers.

Biography

Early life

The elder of two children, Potente was born in Münster, [ [http://www.wdr.de/themen/panorama/1/potente_film/reportage.jhtml wdr.de: Heimspiel für Potente, 7/20/2002] Dead link|date=August 2008 (German)] North Rhine-Westphalia, and raised in nearby Dülmen. [ [http://www.franka-potente.org/ Franka Potente ] ] Her mother, Hildegard, is a medical assistant, and her father, Dieter Potente, is a teacher. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/27/Franka-Potente.html Franka Potente Biography (1974-) ] ] Her Italian surname stems from her great-grandfather, a slate mason who came from Sicily to Germany during the 19th century. At the age of seventeen, she spent some months as an exchange student in Texas. [ [http://www.morgenpost.de/content/2005/03/06/politik/739194.html Berliner Morgenpost, 3/6/2005] (German)]

Career

After finishing high school in Germany, she enrolled at the Otto Falckenberg School of Performing Arts in Munich. Potente took acting jobs outside school time and appeared in her first film in 1995, a student film entitled "Aufbruch". She was subsequently spotted by a casting agent and appeared in the film "Nach Fünf im Urwald" ("It's a Jungle Out There"), which was directed by her then-boyfriend, Hans Christian Schmid. She received the 1995 Bavarian Film Prize for Young Talent for her work in this film. She undertook her last year of training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan.

Potente returned to Europe and worked in many German and French films. She was cast as the lead in "Lola Rennt" ("Run Lola Run") after meeting the director, Tom Tykwer, in a café. The part was written for her and although the film was a small-budget, art house film production, it was a big success in Europe. Franka Potente also performed on the soundtrack. She made several more German-language films, including the horror film, "Anatomy" and the romantic thriller, "The Princess and the Warrior".

Her first English-language role was that of the narrator in "Storytelling" in 2001. This was followed by a role in "Blow", opposite Johnny Depp, and the female lead in "The Bourne Identity", with Matt Damon, which she later reprised in "The Bourne Supremacy". In 2006, she starred opposite Eric Bana in the Australian film "Romulus, My Father", for which she was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Lead Actress. Also in 2006, she wrote and directed "Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt", a silent comedy.

Starting on May 22, 2007, Potente had a three-episode recurring role in FX drama "The Shield", where she played Diro Kesakhian, the ruthless Godmother of LA's Armenian Mafia. [ [http://www.tv.com/the-shield/show/8261/story/5515.htmlom_act=convert&om_clk=headlinessh. TV.com: Franka Potente joins The Shield ] ]

Personal life

When not working on location, she lives in Berlin. She has previously dated American actor Elijah Wood and director Tom Tykwer. In 2008, she got engaged to an American businessman. She told the German tabloid "Bild" that her fiance's name is Dio and that they plan on having children together. [http://www.bild.de/BILD/unterhaltung/leute/2008/08/06/franka-potente/mit-us-amerikaner-verlobt-wuenscht-sich-kinder.html]

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0004376|name=Franka Potente

Persondata
NAME= Potente, Franka
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1974-7-22
PLACE OF BIRTH= Dülmen, Münsterland, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=