She wore the most luxurious fashions of the 1980s. Her face is the envy of millions. So when Famke Janssen was cast as Xenia Onatopp, the new "Bond Girl" of the 1990s in the James Bond thriller, "GoldenEye" (1995), it was front-page news in The Hollywood Reporter. When the movie premiered, she was interviewed everywhere, and her name was added to wish lists all over Hollywood. Janssen was born on November 5, 1965 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and began modeling at a young age, becoming immediately successful in her native Holland.

When work for Chanel brought her to New York City in 1984, she decided to stay. Still young for a model (not yet 25), she quit to study creative writing and literature at Columbia University and enrolled in an acting workshop. Having appeared in an episode of Fox's campy night-time soap "Melrose Place” (Fox, 1992-99), Janssen landed her first significant role as Jeff Goldblum's romantic interest in "Fathers and Sons" (1992).

She followed up playing a model by day, crime fighter by night in the aptly-named, but otherwise awful television movie "Model By Day" (Fox, 1994), a role she has said she would rather forget. The multilingual actress co-starred with Scott Bakula in Clive Barker's "Lord of Illusions" (1995) before hitting screens in her breakthrough role as the villainous Russian killer who crushes men to death with her thighs in "GoldenEye.” After “GoldenEye,” Janssen was careful not to fall into the usual trap of so many other models-turned-actresses and avoided roles that amounted to nothing more than onscreen eye candy. She opted instead to tackle a variety of characters that required her to stretch her acting muscles, not just smile pretty for the camera. One of the only actresses to escape Bond-girl oblivion (few of James Bond's female co-stars have gone on to bigger and better projects), the busy actress appeared in six releases in 1998, announcing that she would rather work with quality directors and actors than star in tent-pole movies. She essayed characters ranging from a bitter alcoholic in "The Gingerbread Man" to a Russian-born owner of a gambling joint in "Rounders" to a tough, blue-collar Bostonian in "Monument Avenue.” Woody Allen cast her as a sophisticated book editor in "Celebrity,” reuniting her with her "Gingerbread Man" costar Kenneth Branagh, while Robert Rodriguez tapped her to be a timid high school teacher in "The Faculty.” Her deft performances prompted critics and co-stars to marvel at her chameleonic versatility and uncanny knack for imitating accents. Janssen slowed down the following year, appearing only in the forgettable horror flick "The House on Haunted Hill.” She returned with gusto in 2000, earning rave reviews for her performance in the romantic comedy "Love & Sex,” playing a magazine journalist tired of writing fluff pieces who starts a column on love and sex as a means to exorcise her past relationship demons, especially the breakup with her neurotic painter boyfriend (Jon Favreau). Janssen next landed her biggest role to date, playing the conflicted Jean Grey in Bryan Singer’s excellent adaptation of the Marvel comic “X-Men” (2000). She returned to comedy in the Favreau-helmed vehicle, "Made" (2001), again showing great chemistry with Favreau and a effective range in an otherwise small role. In the kidnapping thriller "Don't Say a Word" (2001), Janssen breathed life into the thankless role of Michael Douglas' bedridden wife, imbuing the character with a great sense of vulnerability when their daughter is abducted. She switched gears in 2002 for the big screen version of the 1960s TV hit "I Spy" starring Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy—even during the most comedic moments with those two, Janssen demonstrated an ability to keep her performance rooted in reality and, after several turns downplaying her looks, using her considerable sex appeal to great effect. She returned to the role of Jean Grey (with red hair like her comic book counterpart) for the much-anticipated sequel "X2: X-Men United" (2003), setting in motion events that would make her character pivotal to a third outing. Her next move was to the small screen in a recurring role in the 2004 season of FX's hit drama "Nip/Tuck" as the provocative "life coach" Ava Moore whose relationship with the McNamara's teen son revealed a seamier relationship with her own offspring. After supporting roles in “Eulogy” (2004), a low-budget comedy about three generations of a dysfunctional family gathering in Rhode Island to bury their patriarch, and “Hide & Seek” (2005), a low-budget horror about a widower (Robert De Niro) who discovers his daughter’s imaginary friend is really a malicious and violent reality, Janssen revived Jean Grey for the third installment of the series, “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006), directed by Brett Ratner. This time, the mutants face a peculiar choice after a cure for mutations is found: retain their uniqueness and remain isolated from society or give up their strange powers and become human.

Also Credited As: Famke Beumer JanssenBorn: Famke Beumer Janssen on November 5, 1965 in Amstelveen, NetherlandsJob Titles: Actor, ModelFamily
Sister: Antoinette Beumer.
Sister: Marjolein Beumer.
Significant Others
Husband: Tod Williams. Together since 1988; married from 1995-2000; son of famed architect Tod Williams
Education
Columbia University, New York, NY, literature, MA
Milestones
1984 Moved to New York City
1992 First TV appearance was in The Perfect Mate episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
1992 First film role opposite Jeff Goldblum in Fathers and Sons
1994 First lead role in the FOX TV-movie Model by Day
1995 Breakthrough role as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye opposite Pierce Brosnan s James Bond
1998 Appeared in Woody Allen s Celebrity
1998 Co-starred with Matt Damon and Edward Norton in Rounders
2000 Cast in a recurring role as Robert Downey Jr. s ex-wife on the FOX series, Ally McBeal
2000 Cast as superheroine Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix in Bryan Singer s X-Men
2000 Played the lead in the romantic comedy Love & Sex ; first collaboration with writer/director Jon Favreau
2001 Appeared in Favreau s mob comedy Made
2002 Played the female lead in I Spy opposite Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson
2003 Reprised role of Dr. Jean Grey in X2
2004 Joined the cast of FX s Nip/Tuck as seductive transsexual life coach, Ava Moore
2004 Featured in the ensemble black comedy Eulogy
2005 Starred opposite Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning in the thriller Hide and Seek
2006 Reprised role of Dr. Jean Grey in Brett Ratner s X-Men: The Last Stand
2007 Co-starred with Chris Eigeman and Ian Holm in The Treatment
2008 Appeared in The Wackness with Ben Kingsley
Raised in the Netherlands
Signed with Elite Model Management and worked for Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel