Famke Janssen

Famke Beumer Janssen (born November 5, 1965) is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for her roles in GoldenEye, Nip/Tuck, and the X-Men film series.

Early life
Janssen was born in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, the only brunette in a family of blondes. There, besides her native Dutch, she learned to speak English, German, and French. She has two sisters, Antoinette Beumer (director) and Marjolein Beumer (actress). Janssen moved to the United States in 1984 and began her professional career as a fashion model. She was signed with Elite Model Management, and worked for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Victoria's Secret, although she lost several months due to a car crash which required her to wear a neck brace. After studying writing and literature at Columbia University, she moved to Los Angeles to establish her acting career.

Career
Upon moving to Los Angeles, Janssen obtained her first parts, appearing in guest roles on TV series (such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Melrose Place). Her first film role was with Jeff Goldblum in Fathers & Sons (1992). Later she appeared in the first Pierce Brosnan James Bond film, GoldenEye, as femme fatale Xenia Onatopp. In 1998, she starred in eight films. Golden Eye was the beginning of Famke becoming a well known actress.

Janssen played superheroine Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix in X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Janssen also starred in the movies Lord of Illusions, The Faculty, House on Haunted Hill, I Spy, Rounders, Deep Rising and Hide and Seek. In addition, Janssen had a prominent role in the second season of the popular TV show Nip/Tuck as the seductive and manipulative transsexual life coach Ava Moore.

Janssen has signed on toplining a new police drama for NBC. The show will be created by David Shore, also the creater and executive producer of House. The writer of House - Peter Blake will also help develop the project. The show will be a light drama with procedural elements that center on a female police officer (Janssen).

Janssen provides the Dutch-language narration for the Studio Tram Tour at all Disney parks.

Personal life
Janssen lives in New York City, in Greenwich Village. She was married to writer/director Tod Culpan Williams, son of architect Tod Williams, from 1995 to 2000.

First name is pronounced // (the 'a' pronounced as in the word 'farm'). The name means little girl in Frisian, the native language of the Dutch province Friesland.

Janssen has a brindle Boston Terrier named Licorice, with whom she frequently travels. The Bronte sisters, Vladimir Nabokov, and Jean Rhys are her favourite writers.

Janssen has gained some media notoriety for her exceptionally long feet (US size 11, EU size 44), because her shoes for GoldenEye, her first major role, had to be custom-made to fit her. This bit of trivia eventually made its way into a scene in her 2000 film Love & Sex, in which Jon Favreau's character teases a blushing Janssen about her shoe size.