Biography

Franka Potente

Jump to

Overview

Born
July 22, 1974 · Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Height
5′ 9″ (1.75 m)

Mini bio

Franka Potente was born on 22 July 1974 in the German city of Münster, to Hildegard, a medical assistant, and Dieter Potente, a teacher, and raised in the nearby town of Dülmen. After her graduation in 1994, she went to the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule, a drama school in Munich, but soon broke off to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. After a notable debut in Nach Fünf im Urwald (1995), the role of the heroine in Run Lola Run (1998), directed by her then longtime companion Tom Tykwer was her national breakthrough. After some other successful movies in Germany, she starred in several Hollywood productions, most prominently The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and lived one year in Los Angeles. After her return to Berlin, she continues working with German and international directors.
- IMDb mini biography by: fippi2000
After graduating from high school, she moved to Munich. Here she began studying acting at the Otto Falckenberg School in 1994. After two years she dropped out and took a course at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York. Potente starred in small productions at the University of Film and Television and then became famous overnight. She was approached in a Munich club and discovered during the casting for the hit comedy "After Five in the Jungle". This first film role in 1995 was also her breakthrough. She played the runaway "Anna" and received the "Bavarian Film Prize" for "Best Young Actress". This was followed by TV productions such as "Coming In" alongside Steffen Wink and the two-part "Opernball", which she shot with Heiner Lauterbach. In 1998 she played her way into the hearts of viewers with the title role in Tom Tykwer's "Lola Runs". As the red-haired "Lola," she made the film the most internationally successful German feature film of the 1990s.

"Lola Run" received numerous awards, including the "Filmband in Gold" from the German Film Prize in Berlin. Franka Potente was also honored with the "Audience Prize". In 1998 she was voted "German Shooting Star" of the "European Film Promotion" at the Berlinale together with Jürgen Vogel and was able to win one of the coveted "Bambis". The following year she appeared in three films, including appearing in front of the camera together with Heiner Lauterbach for the action thriller "Clandina of Schlaraffen". In 2000 she played in the thriller "Anatomy" with Benno Fürmann and also had a role in Tom Tykwer's "The Warrior + the Empress". This year she made her breakthrough in Hollywood. She was the love interest of Hollywood star Johnny Depp in the film "Blow" and was able to film with another top star the following year. For the spy film ''The Bourne Identity''' she played with Matt Damon in Paris and Prague. The sequel "The Bourne Conspiracy" followed in 2004.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademark

Ever-changing hair color

Trivia

Speaks fluent French, English, and German.
Plays the violin and the flute.
Tom Tykwer wrote Run Lola Run (1998) specifically for her, with the intention of casting her as Lola.
Says she was discovered as an actress in a public restroom. She was in a bar when she noticed she was constantly stared at by some woman. She decided to leave but went to the restroom before. The woman followed her and again stared at her through the mirror. Suddenly she asked "How would you describe yourself in one sentence?". Turns out she was a casting agent.
Has occasionally shaved off her hair after filming movies because she has wanted time to get her "real" hair back (as it is dyed or bleached so often for roles).

Quotes

To give somebody your time is the biggest gift you can give.
When I was a kid at first I wanted to own a candy shop. I guess every kid wants to - we just want to have access - free access.
I think working with Johnny Depp was very intimidating. It was my fault though. I mean he's a total cool nice, nice guy, but I was just so, I don't know, overpowered by his presence. Like he's a very mystic person. He's older so I never really warmed up around him. I was so stiff.
I said, 'Wouldn't it be great if Matt Damon's character fell in love with a girl with a real butt?' They were like, 'Yeah sure, sure - here's your personal trainer.'
I always performed when I was a child. My parents got very annoyed, because my brother and I had our little bedrooms upstairs, and I would plaster the house with posters with arrows pointing upstairs.