Alexandra Maria Lara
Alexandra Maria Lara (née Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978)[1] is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in Downfall (2004), Control (2007), Youth Without Youth (2007), The Reader (2008), Rush (2013), and Geostorm (2017).[2]
Alexandra Maria Lara | |
---|---|
In February 2020 | |
Born | Alexandra Maria Plătăreanu 12 November 1978 |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1994–present |
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 1 |
Early life
Born in Bucharest, Lara is the only child of Valentin Plătăreanu, an actor, and his wife, Doina. In 1983, her family fled to West Germany to escape Nicolae Ceauşescu's regime in Communist Romania. Although the family had planned to emigrate to Canada, they settled in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, before eventually moving to Berlin.
After graduating from the Französisches Gymnasium Berlin in 1997, Lara studied acting under the management of her father, co-founder of the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg, finishing in 2000.
Career
By sixteen, she was playing lead roles in various television dramas; since then, she has appeared in films, including as Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler's secretary, in the Academy Award-nominated 2004 film Downfall; following this, Francis Ford Coppola wrote her a letter and gave her a leading role in Youth Without Youth (2007).
In 2007 she also appeared as Belgian journalist Annik Honoré in the film Control, the Ian Curtis biopic. In 2008, she served as a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. She has also appeared in several French productions, including Napoléon and L'Affaire Farewell. She appeared in The Reader and Der Baader Meinhof Komplex which were both nominated for the 81st Academy Awards, for best picture and best foreign language film, respectively.
In 2018 she starred with her real life husband Sam Riley in Happy New Year, Colin Burstead by Ben Wheatley, playing his German girlfriend.[3]
Personal life
In August 2009, Lara married English actor Sam Riley, with whom she acted in the films Control and Suite Française.[4] In January 2014, she gave birth to their first child, a boy.[5][6]
In addition to her native Romanian, Lara is fluent in German, English, and French.
Filmography
- Stella Stellaris (1994, TV miniseries)
- Ich begehre dich (1995) as Mädchen am Bahnhof
- Mensch, Pia! (1996, TV series, breakthrough role) as Pia Mangold
- Faust: Tote weinen nicht (1997, TV) as Laura
- Das Vorsprechen (1997, Short) as Junge Schauspielerin
- Die Mädchenfalle - Der Tod kommt online (1998, TV Movie) as Silke Hartmann
- Tatort: Fürstenschüler (1998, TV) as Kerstin
- Die Bubi Scholz Story (1998, TV Movie) as Renate - jung
- Polizeiruf 110: Sumpf (1999, TV) as Meike
- Sperling (Sperling und der falsche Freund) (1999, TV)
- Südsee, eigene Insel (1999) as Sandra
- Vertrauen ist alles (2000, TV film) as Jennifer Blankenburg
- Lady Cop (ep. Die Geliebte des Killers) (2000, TV) as Sabine Sasse
- Fisimatenten (2000) as Hanna
- Crazy (2000) as Melanie
- Luftpiraten - 113 Passagiere in Todesangst (2000, TV Movie) as Nicolette
- Der Tunnel (TV film, 2001) as Charlotte 'Lotte' Lohmann
- Honolulu (2001) as Cleonise
- 99 Euro Films (2001) (segment "Privat")
- Leo und Claire (2001) as Käthe Katzenberger
- Liebe und Verrat (2002, TV film) as Marie Irimia
- If It Don't Fit, Use a Bigger Hammer (2002) as Astrid
- Schleudertrauma (2002, TV film) as Doreen
- Naked (2002) as Annette
- Napoléon (2002, TV miniseries) as Comtesse Marie Walewska
- Doctor Zhivago (2002, TV series) as Tonya Gromyko Zhivago
- Trenck (2003, TV film) as Prinzessin Amélie (Anna Amalia)
- Der Wunschbaum (2004, TV miniseries) as Camilla Senger, geb. Hofmann
- Leise Krieger (2004, Short) as Nora
- Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel) as Traudl Junge
- Cowgirl (2004) as Johanna 'Paula' Jakobi / Murderous Lady im Film Noir
- Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe (2005) as Venus Morgenstern
- Der Fischer und seine Frau (2005) as Ida
- Offset (2006) as Brindusa Herghelegiu
- Wo ist Fred? (2006) as Denise Poppnick
- The Company (2007, TV miniseries) as Lili
- Control (2007, directed by Anton Corbijn) as Annik Honore
- I Really Hate My Job (2007) as Suzie
- Youth Without Youth (2007, directed by Francis Ford Coppola) as Veronica / Laura / Rupini
- Miracle at St. Anna (2008, directed by Spike Lee) as Axis Sally
- Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008, directed by Uli Edel) as Petra Schelm
- The Reader (2008, directed by Stephen Daldry) as Young Ilana Mather
- Hinter Kaifeck (Kaifeck Murder) (2009) as Juliana Lukas
- The City of Your Final Destination (2009, directed by James Ivory) as Deirdre Rothemund
- L'affaire Farewell (2009) as Jessica
- City of Life (2009) as Natalia Moldovan
- The Nazi Officer's Wife (2010)
- A Distant Neighborhood (2010, directed by Sam Garbarski) as Anna Verniaz
- Small World (2010) as Simone Senn
- Rubbeldiekatz (2011, directed by Detlev Buck) as Sarah
- Nachtlärm (2012) as Livia
- Imagine (2012, directed by Andrzej Jakimowski) as Eva
- Move On (2012) as Szefowa Lena
- Rush (2013, directed by Ron Howard) as Marlene Lauda
- Suite Française (2015, directed by Saul Dibb) as Leah
- The Most Beautiful Day (2016) as Mona
- Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt (2016) as Sharon Schalldämpfer
- Sing (2016, directed by Garth Jennings) as Rosita (German dubbing, originally performed by Reese Witherspoon)
- Vier gegen die Bank (2016, directed by Wolfgang Petersen) as Freddie
- Geostorm (2017, directed by Dean Devlin) as Ute Fassbinder
- 25 km/h (2018, directed by Marcus Goller) as Ingrid
- Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018, directed by Ben Wheatley) as Hannah
- The Collini Case (2019, directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner) as Johanna
- The King's Man (2020, directed by Matthew Vaughn) as Polly
References
- "Alexandra Maria Lara BIO". imaginethefilm.org. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
- Alexandra Maria Lara at IMDb
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8122018/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
- "Sam Riley is married to Alexandra Maria Lara". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- "Sam Riley's wife pregnant | Showbiz | News | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- "Alexandra Maria Lara: Baby-Geschlecht bekannt!". Promiflash.de. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexandra Maria Lara. |
- Official website (in German)
- Alexandra Maria Lara at IMDb
- Interview (in German)