Diane Kruger Movies
Born Diane Heidkrüger in Hildesheim, Germany,
Diane Kruger initially aspired to be a dancer and studied with the Royal Ballet in London. When an injury ended her hopes for a dancing career, she began modeling in Germany, where she became a finalist of the Look of the Year contest at the age of 15. She worked with renowned fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana, and her pictures graced the covers of magazines like Vogue and Elle. Moving to Paris on the advice of film director
Luc Besson,
Kruger decided to take up acting and enrolled in the Ecole Florent, where she became top of her class in 2002. The same year, the actress made her big-screen debut opposite
Dennis Hopper and
Christopher Lambert in the indie feature
The Piano Player (aka
The Target), but she was not truly revealed until her role in
Mon Idole, co-starring and directed by her real-life companion
Guillaume Canet. After a couple more acting assignments in France,
Kruger began her Hollywood career by acting alongside
Josh Hartnett and
Rose Byrne in
Wicker Park, a remake of the 1996 French film
L'Appartement. While still filming
Wicker Park in 2003, she was selected among many other candidates to play the legendary beauty Helen of Troy in
Wolfgang Petersen's historical epic
Troy (2004). The latter film ended up being released before
Wicker Park, thus becoming her high-profile introduction to the American public. She also starred opposite
Nicolas Cage in
Jon Turteltaub's
National Treasure. In 2009 she had a small but important part in Quentin Tarantino's award-winning Inglorious Basterds. She followed that up with roles in Inhale and Unknown. ~ Yuri German, Rovi