Franka Potente

Early life

The elder of two children, Potente was born in Münster, West Germany, and raised in nearby Dülmen. Her mother, Hildegard, is a medical assistant, and her father, Dieter Potente, is a teacher. Her Italian surname stems from her great-grandfather, a slater from Sicily who migrated to Germany during the 19th century. When she was 17 years old, Potente spent a few months as an exchange student in Humble, a suburb of Houston, Texas.

Career

1990s

After finishing high school in Germany, Potente enrolled at the Otto Falckenberg School of Performing Arts in Munich. Potente took acting jobs outside school time and appeared in her first movie in the 1995 student film Aufbruch (Departure). She was then spotted by a casting agent and appeared in the film Nach Fünf im Urwald (After Five in the Forest Primeval), directed by her then-boyfriend, Hans Christian Schmid. She played the role of a 17-year-old girl named Anna who, in search of freedom in an urban environment, runs away from home with a boy who has a crush on her. The film premiered at the 1995 Hof International Film Festival and opened in German theaters on 25 April 1996. She received the 1996 Bavarian Film Award for Young Talent for her work in this film. She subsequently finished her last year of training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan.

Potente returned to Europe and worked in German and French films; her breakthrough came with 1998's Lola rennt (Run Lola Run) after meeting the director, Tom Tykwer, in a café. Specifically written for her persona, her role was that of a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. Budgeted at US$1 million, the arthouse thriller was a critical and commercial success, grossing US$14.5 million worldwide. Variety wrote that her performance was "heroic, fierce, frightened and vulnerable all at once", while eFilmCritic.com called her casting a "smart choice". Following her newfound success, she starred opposite Teemu Aromaa in Downhill City (1999), a small-scale drama directed by Finnish director Hannu Salonen, and in the romantic comedy Bin ich schön?, about people having trouble with love and identity, which was released on 17 September 1999 in Germany.

2000s

In the German-language horror film Anatomy (2000), she starred as a medical student who wins a place at an exclusive Heidelberg medical school, where she uncovers a gruesome conspiracy by a secret Anti-Hippocratic society.{{cite web | access-date =2023-06-29 | archive-date =29 June 2023 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230629200954/https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3704762/anatomy-german-horror-duology-delivers-unique-health-scares-horrors-elsewhere/ | url-status =live | access-date =2023-06-29 | archive-date =29 June 2023 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230629201206/https://www.dw.com/en/babylon-berlin-director-tom-tykwer-to-head-berlinale-jury-in-2018/a-41212487 | url-status =live

Potente's first English-language role was that of a flight attendant who becomes engaged to cocaine smuggler George Jung in the biographical crime film Blow, alongside Johnny Depp. The film received mixed reviews, while it grossed US$83.2 million worldwide. She played a film editor in the controversial independent drama Storytelling (2001), with Leo Fitzpatrick and Selma Blair. It premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, and received a limited release in most international markets. Potente next found a much wider recognition from audiences for her performance in The Bourne Identity (2002), co-starring Matt Damon. In the film, she played a European woman who grows closer to the title character, a man suffering from extreme memory loss and attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency. A positive critical reception greeted the film upon its release, and budgeted at US$60 million, it grossed US$214 million globally. After her role in the film, she starred in the American films All I Want (2002) and I Love Your Work (2003), and in the German production Blueprint (2003).

She reprised past roles with the German horror sequel Anatomy 2 (2003) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), the latter which grossed US$288.5 million worldwide. In 2004, she starred in the British-German horror film Creep, as a woman locked in the London Underground overnight who finds herself being stalked by a hideously deformed killer living in the sewers below. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed US$3.2 million in UK cinemas. ViewLondon wrote: "The performances are good, particularly Potente, who avoids scream queen clichés by making her character surprisingly unlikeable – Kate is rude and arrogant in her early scenes and the fact that she's German is, of course, a coincidence."

In 2006, Potente appeared in the German coming-of-age drama Elementarteilchen (Atomised), based on the novel Les Particules élémentaires by Michel Houellebecq and directed by Oskar Roehler. She wrote and directed Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt, a silent also released in 2006. She next starred with Eric Bana and Kodi Smit-McPhee in the Australian drama film Romulus, My Father (2007), about the struggle of a couple to raise their son amid great adversity. For her portrayal, she was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Lead Actress. Starting in May 2007, Potente had a three-episode recurring arc in the FX drama The Shield, where she played Diro Kesakhian, "the ruthless godmother of L.A.'s Armenian mafia". Also in 2007, she appeared in Eichmann (2007), a biographical film detailing the interrogation of Adolf Eichmann.

In Che (2008), a two-part biopic about Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Potente took on the role of communist revolutionary Tamara Bunke. She described the film as "really epic and [...] very emotional", during an interview with Vulture magazine. The film, first screened at the Cannes Film Festival, garnered a positive critical response while it made US$40.9 million worldwide. The New Yorker, pointing out Potente, remarked that "[m]ajor figures come and go, diverting the plot without registering much of an impact", and The Hollywood Reporter described her part as a "small role" and felt that the actress "seems utterly uncomfortable in every scene". In 2009, she appeared in the House television series two-part episode "Broken".

2010s

Potente filmed the American neo-noir film Shanghai in Bangkok, Thailand, with production wrapping in August 2008. The film, set in the 1940s Chinese spy world, was released on 9 June 2010 in China, and on 2 October 2015 in North America. In 2011, she played the leading role of a passenger in the drama The Sinking of the Laconia, about the Laconia incident. The two-part television film first aired in January 2011 on BBC Two.

Potente starred in BBC America's first original scripted series, Copper, as Eva Heissen, a shrewd German-American businesswoman and the madam of a brothel in the Five Points district of New York City during the American Civil War. The show premiered on 9 August 2012 and had the largest debut in the network's history. It was subsequently renewed for a second season, but the BBC announced its cancellation following its finale. Potente subsequently had a two-episode appearance in American Horror Story: Asylum, as a woman who claims to be Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank.

In 2014, Potente landed a role on the second season of the FX series The Bridge as Eleanor Nacht, a "fixer" for the cartel. She returned to the big screen in the horror sequel The Conjuring 2 as real-life German-British parapsychologist Anita Gregory, who investigated the Enfield Poltergeist case in the late 20th century. The Hollywood Reporter found her to be "curiously sidelined for much of the action", but with a worldwide gross of US$320.3 million, it emerged as Potente's most widely seen film. Also in 2016, she obtained the two-episode role of a "calculated and determined" Chief Inspector in the second season of the Canadian supernatural series Dark Matter, and in 2017, she was cast in a supporting role in the BBC period drama series Taboo, alongside Tom Hardy.

2020s

In 2020, she wrote and directed her first feature film Home. The film premiered in October 2020.{{cite web | access-date =2023-06-29 | archive-date =29 June 2023 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230629200258/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/18/home-review-franke-potente | url-status =live

In 2022, Potente appeared in season four of Titans where she portrayed Mother Mayhem.

Authored works

Based on Potente's correspondence with colleague Max Urlacher during his time in Los Angeles, a book entitled Los Angeles – Berlin was published in September 2005. In May 2009, Potente published her second book Kick Ass – An Alternative Workout, co-written with her personal trainer Karsten Schellenberg. In August 2010, her first volume of stories "Zehn" was published.

Personal life

After relationships with German film director Tom Tykwer and American actor Elijah Wood, Potente married American actor Derek Richardson in mid 2012, in a private ceremony. The couple lives in Los Angeles, and has two daughters, born in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Discography

• Believe (1998)
• Wish (Komm zu mir) (1998)
• Easy Day (1999)
• Fly with Me (2001)

Bibliography

• 2005: Los Angeles – Berlin. Ein Jahr
• 2006: Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt, Drehbuch zum Film
• 2009: Kick Ass – Das alternative Workout
• 2010: Zehn: Stories
• 2014: Almählich wird es Tag

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Agentur Heppeler". Agenturheppeler.de.
2. (22 July 1974). "Franka Potente". franka-potente.org.
3. (6 March 2005). "Ein Star auf der Suche nach immer Neuem". Berliner Morgenpost.
4. "Hof International Film Festival - 1995 Awards". [[IMDb]].
5. Blaney, Martin. (29 October 2001). "Schmid wins prestigious Hof film award". Screen Daily.
6. Greenstreet, Rosanna. (2005-02-05). "Q&A".
7. Bock, ans-Michael. (2009-09-01). "The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema". Berghahn Books.
8. "Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
9. Rooney, David. (9 September 1998). "Run Lola Run". [[Variety (magazine).
10. McKay, Brian. (15 October 2002). "Run Lola Run". eFilmCritic.com.
11. (13 April 2000). "Downhill City".
12. "Am I Beautiful? (1998)".
13. "Anatomy (2000) - International Box Office Results".
14. Elley, Derek. (28 August 2000). "Anatomy".
15. "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (The Princess and the Warrior)".
16. "Blow (2001)". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
17. (28 August 2002). "Blow (2001)". [[Box Office Mojo]].
18. Ebert, Roger. (8 February 2002). "Storytelling (2002)". Roger Ebert.
19. (5 December 2001). "Storytelling Film Review". View Auckland.
20. "Storytelling". [[Box Office Mojo]].
21. "The Bourne Identity (2002)". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
22. "The Bourne Identity (2002)".
23. "The Bourne Supremacy (2004)".
24. "Creep".
25. "Creep".
26. Mahan, Colin. "Franka Potente joins The Shield". TV.com.
27. Pearse, Emma. (17 December 2008). "Che's Franka Potente on Working With Benicio, Peeing in the Jungle". Vulture.
28. "Guerilla (Che: Part Two) (2009)".
29. "The Argentine (Che: Part One) (2008)".
30. Lane, Anthony. (12 January 2009). "Che's Way".
31. Brunette, Peter. (21 May 2008). "'Che': Film Review".
32. ""Shanghai" to Hit Chinese Screens in June".
33. "Shanghai (2010)". [[Box Office Mojo]].
34. Lincoln, Ross A.. (28 July 2015). "World War II-Set Neo-Noir 'Shanghai' Finally Gets U.S. Release".
35. Deacon, Michael. (6 January 2011). "The Sinking of the Laconia, BBC Two review". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
36. Leffler, Rebecca. (1 April 2012). "'Copper' Producer, Actors Preview BBC America's Immigrant Drama". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
37. (18 October 2012). "BBC America Renews 'Copper' for Second Season". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
38. (1 November 2012). "'American Horror Story': Ryan Murphy on fate of Spoiler".
39. (17 November 2012). "Franka Potente Talks American Horror Story: Asylum, How She Got Involved with the Show, Playing a Historical Figure and the Role's Biggest Challenges".
40. (28 September 2015). "James Wan Begins Shooting New Line Cinema's Highly Anticipated "The Conjuring 2"". [[Business Wire]].
41. Linden, Sheri. (2 June 2016). "'The Conjuring 2': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
42. "Franka Potente".
43. "Franka Potente - Box Office".
44. Petski, Denise. (21 March 2016). "'Taboo': Franka Potente Joins Tom Hardy in FX/BBC Period Drama Series".
45. Andreeva, Nellie. (1 February 2022). "'Titans' Sets Season 4 Villains: Joseph Morgan As Brother Blood, Franka Potente As Mother Mayhem, Lisa Ambalavanar As Jinx".
46. "Kick Ass An Alternative Workout - Potente Franka".
47. (24 August 2012). "Lola hat klammheimlich geheiratet".
48. (2014-07-10). "Franka Potente: Jetzt packt sie aus!".
49. (15 February 2018). "Studio 100 Announces International Cast for 'Princess Emmy'". Animation Magazine.