Diane Kruger Diane Kruger is a German actress and former
fashion model.
She is known for roles such as Helen in Troy, Dr. Abigail Chase in National Treasure and
its sequel, Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds, Anna in Mr. Nobody, The Seeker/Lacey
in The Host, and Gina in Unknown.
As of July 2013 she stars as Detective Sonya Cross in the FX television series The Bridge.
Early life She was born as Diane Heidkrüger on 15 July
1976 in Algermissen, Germany, in the west near Hildesheim, the daughter of computer
specialist Hans-Heinrich Heidkrüger, and his wife, Maria-Theresa, a bank employee.
She was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school.
She has stated that one of her grandmothers was Polish.
She was raised in Germany with her younger brother, Stefan.
Her mother sent her to student exchange programs when she was a teenager to improve her English.
As a child, Kruger wanted to become a ballerina and successfully auditioned for the Royal
Ballet School in London.
However, after an injury ended her ballet career prematurely, Kruger moved to Paris
and turned her energy toward modeling and learning French.
Modeling In 1992, Kruger represented Germany in the
Elite Model Look and started modelling afterwards.
Despite her relatively small frame for a model, she managed to add prestigious bookings such
as advertisements from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Giorgio Armani,
Jil Sander, Christian Dior, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton; runway shows from Marc Jacobs,
D&G, and Sonia Rykiel as well as appearances on the cover of Vogue Paris, Marie Claire,
and Cosmopolitan to her modeling repertoire.
She gradually stopped modelling after deciding to pursue a career in acting.
Acting career Kruger soon became interested in acting and
took lessons at the Cours Florent.
She landed some small appearances in several French films.
She made her onscreen début in 2002, opposite Dennis Hopper and Christopher Lambert in The
Piano Player, a TV-movie by Jean-Pierre Roux.
Her first major acting role was the same year when she starred in her then husband's directorial
début Mon Idole.
She played Julie Wood in 2003's Michel Valliant and Lisa in Wicker Park (2004), alongside
Josh Hartnett and Rose Byrne.
One of her more high-profile roles to date is her portrayal of Helen of Sparta in Wolfgang
Petersen's epic Troy.
She was ranked 50th on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.
In 2004, Kruger starred with Nicolas Cage and Sean Bean (who co-starred with her in
Troy) in the film National Treasure, going on to appear in films Joyeux Noël (2005)
and Copying Beethoven (2006).
She reprised her role as Dr. Abigail Chase in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, released
in December 2007.
Kruger was the hostess of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2007 Cannes Film
Festival.
Kruger was a jury member of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in 2008.
The festival is chaired by Costa Gavras.
In 2009, she co-starred as a German actress turned Allied spy in Quentin Tarantino's film
Inglourious Basterds.
In December 2009, she announced the nominations of the 67th Golden Globe Awards and also picked
up nominations from the Screen Actors Guild for Best Supporting Actress and Outstanding
Performance by a Cast of a Motion Picture for her role in Inglourious Basterds.
Kruger played Anna in Jaco Van Dormael's Mr. Nobody.
Critical response has praised the film's artistry and Kruger's acting.
Kruger made a cameo appearance in an April 2010 episode of the Fox show Fringe, in which
her boyfriend, actor Joshua Jackson is a star.
In 2010, Kruger also appeared in Mark Ronson's music video for "Somebody to Love Me", where
she plays Boy George.
In the 2011 film Unknown, Kruger starred as Gina, a Bosnian illegal immigrant and key
character alongside leading actor Liam Neeson.
It was also announced in 2011 that Kruger had replaced Eva Green in the role of Marie
Antoinette in the French-language film, Les Adieux à la Reine.
In 2012, she was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012
Cannes Film Festival.
She starred in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel The Host, which was released
in March 2013.
More recently, Kruger portrayed El Paso, Texas, police officer Sonya Cross on FX's The Bridge,
which aired in 2013.
Endorsements Kruger is a brand ambassador for watch manufacturer
Jaeger-LeCoultre.
In December 2009, she was announced as the global "spokesmodel" of L'Oréal.
It was announced in May 2010 that she would become the latest face for Calvin Klein's
newest fragrance line, Beauty.
Personal life In 1999, she began dating French actor and
director Guillaume Canet.
They were married on 1 September 2001.
They acted together in 2005's Joyeux Noël, but divorced in 2006, though they remain friends.
Kruger later said that the marriage was not successful because their careers had kept
them occupied in different parts of the world.
She has been in a relationship with Joshua Jackson since 2006.
During an interview with magazine Glamour, she said, "Without sounding pessimistic, I
learned that I don't believe in marriage.
I believe in a commitment that you make in your heart.
There's no paper that will make you stay.
A guy friend of mine said, and it made a lot of sense, that people should get married at
the end of the road, not the beginning."
Besides German, Kruger speaks English and French fluently.
She is a friend of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
Kruger divides her time between Paris, Germany, and Vancouver.
As of May 2013, she has been living in Los Angeles for her role in The Bridge.
Kruger holds a U.S. green card.
Awards and nominations