Franka Potente was born on July 22, 1974 in Munster, Germany. She is 1/16th Italian on her father’s side, and her last name means “powerful” in Italian. She grew up in a small town environment, Dulmen, Germany, and she showed an interest in acting at a very early age. Her parents, amused by the mini-plays she put during holiday gatherings, encouraged her to continue acting.
Although Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) was not her first role, it was the one that earned her almost immediate success. It was a brilliant film by Tom Tykwer, who wrote the part of “Lola” especially for Franka after he attended to premier of one of her lesser known films. The film won many Sundance Film Festival awards, and Franka won best actress at the German Film Awards.
Since then, she also starred in another critically acclaimed Tykwer film, The Princess and the Warrior (2000), played Johnny Depp’s first girlfriend in the movie Blow (her Hollywood debut), and co-starred with Matt Damon in Bourne Identity. She says that filming Blow was very challenging for two reasons. Firstly, she had to have an American accent, and secondly, she has been a long-time fan of Johnny Depp and was slightly intimidated... at first. However, in Bourne Identity, she was allowed to keep her German accent.
You can also catch her in these less recognized films: Anatomy (2000), Try Seventeen (2002), and Blueprint (2003).
Currently, she live in Berlin but also has a second apartment in Los Angeles. Some of her favourite bands include Sigur Ros, Björk, The Strokes, The Voodoo Club (a German band), and Kruder and Dorfmeister (also German). Some of her favorite American foods are cheese fries and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. Being a caffeine addict, her favorite drinks are Diet Coke and coffee. She’s a big fan of James Spader (one of her favorite films being Sex Lies and Videotape) and Meryl Streep.
What can I say? She rocks! I just want to sit on a red couch with her, chain smoke, drink some Diet Coke, and watch James Spader movies all day.