Famke Janssen was born in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, and has two other siblings. Moving to America in the 1980s, she modeled for Chanel in New York. Later, taking a break from modeling, she attended Columbia University, majoring in literature.
This model-turned-actress broke into Hollywood in the early 1990s. Her first film was Getrennte Wege (1992). Later she became James Bond's enemy in GoldenEye (1995). Her career has bloomed since then with her starring in such films as Haunted Hill (1999), Hide and Seek - Du kannst dich nicht verstecken (2005), a recurring role on FX's Nip/Tuck: Schönheit hat ihren Preis (2003), and the blockbuster movies X-Men (2000), X-Men 2 (2003), and X-Men: Der letzte Widerstand (2006).
