Diane Kruger is a German-American actress and former fashion model. She is known for roles such as Helen in the epic war film Troy, Dr. Abigail Chase in the heist film National Treasure and its sequel, Bridget von Hammersmark in Quentin Tarantino’s warm film Inglorious Basterds, and Gina in the psychological thriller film Unknown. Take a look below for 24 more fun and fascinating facts about Diane Kruger.
1. Kruger was born as Diane Heidkruger on July 15, 1976, in Algermissen, West Germany, near Hildesheim, the daughter of computer specialist Hans-Heinrich Heidkruger, and his wife, Maria-Theresa, a bank employee.
2. She was brought up Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school.
3. She has stated that one of her grandmothers was Polish.
4. She was brought up in Germany with her younger brother, Stefan.
5. Her mother sent her to student exchange programs when she was a teenager to improve her English.
6. As a child, Kruger wanted to become a ballerina and successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in London.
7. Later, Kruger moved to Paris and turned her energy towards modelling and learning French. She has French nationality.
8. In 1992, Kruger represented Germany in the Elite Model Look and started modelling afterwards.
9. Kruger became interested in acting and took lessons at the Cours Florent.
10. She made her film debut in 2002, opposite Dennis Hopper and Christopher Lambert in The Piano Player, a TV film by Jean-Pierre Roux. That same year, she also starred in her then husband’s directorial debut Mon Idole.
11. She played Julie Wood in 2003’s Michel Valliant and Lisa in Wicker Park (2004), alongside Josh Hartnett and Rose Byrne.
12. One of her more high-profile roles to date is her portrayal of Helen of Sparta in Wolfgang Petersen’s epic Troy.
13. She was ranked 50th on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.
14. Kruger was the hostess of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
15. Kruger was a jury member of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in 2008. The festival is chaired by Costa Gavras.
16. In the 2011 film Unknown, Kruger starred as Gina, a Bosnian illegal immigrant and key character alongside leading actor Liam Neeson.
17. Kruger is a brand ambassador for Swiss watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre.
18. In December 2009, she was announced as the global “spokesmodel” of L’Oréal.
19. It was announced in May 2010 that she would become the latest face for Calvin Klein’s newest fragrance line, Beauty.
20. Kruger is fluent in German, English, and French. In 2013, she became an American citizen.
21. She was a friend of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
22. In 1999, she began dating the French actor and director Guillaume Canet. They were married on 1 September 2001.
23. They acted together in Joyeux Noël (2005) and divorced in 2006. Kruger said that the marriage was not successful because their careers had kept them in different parts of the world.
24. During the production of the movie Sky, in 2015, Kruger met her co-star for that film, Norman Reedus. The two were first seen together as a couple in July 2016. In November 2018, Kruger gave birth to their daughter, her first and his second child.
