Diane Kruger Biography

Diane Kruger was born on July 15, 1976, in Algermissen, West Germany, to Hans-Heinrich Heidkruger and Maria-Theresa. Her father was a computer specialist, while her mother worked in a bank.

She was raised a Roman Catholic and went to a Catholic school. She wanted to become a ballerina and secured admission to the ‘Royal Ballet School,’ in London. However, after an injury, she had to give up her dream of becoming a ballerina.

Kruger moved to Paris and pursued modeling. She represented her country in the ‘Elite Model Look’ in 1992, and managed to land advertisement assignments for brands like ‘Yves Saint Laurent,’ ‘Chanel,’ ‘Giorgio Armani,’ ‘Christian Dior,’ etc.

She did runway shows for Marc Jacobs, ‘D&G,’ and Sonia Rykiel. She was also featured on the cover page of fashion magazines like ‘Vogue Paris,’ ‘Cosmopolitan,’ etc. After pursuing modeling for years, she stopped modeling to get into acting.

She started taking acting lessons at the ‘Cours Florent.’ This helped her land cameo roles in some French movies. It was not until 2002, that she managed to land a prominent role in a movie—‘The Piano Player.’

In 2003, Kruger played the lead role of ‘Julie Wood’ in a French movie titled ‘Michel Vaillant,’ starring opposite Sagamore Stevenin. The movie was directed by Louis-Pascal Couvelaire and written by Jean Graton.

She played ‘Lisa’ in ‘Wicker Park’—an American psychological romantic mystery film—in 2004, starring alongside Josh Hartnett and Rose Byrne. It was a remake of the French movie ‘L’Appartement.’

The most important role of her career came in 2004 when she played ‘Helen of Sparta’ in Wolfgang Petersen's epic film ‘Troy.’ The movie, which was based on Homer’s ‘Iliad,’ starred Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom among other prominent actors.

Kruger starred alongside Nicolas Cage in ‘National Treasure’ in the same year. Later on, she appeared in films like ‘Joyeux Noël’ (2005) and ‘Copying Beethoven’ (2006). She reprised her role as ‘Dr. Abigail Chase’ in ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’ (2007).

She was given an opportunity to be the hostess of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2007 ‘Cannes Film Festival.’ The following year, she was selected as a jury member of the 58th ‘Berlin International Film Festival.’

In 2009, Tarantino cast her in his movie ‘Inglourious Basterds’ in which she starred alongside actors like Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz. She was nominated for the ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her role in the movie.

During the late 2000s and early 2010s, Kruger made appearances in films like ‘Mr. Nobody’ (2009), ‘Unknown’ (2011), and the French-language film ‘Les Adieux à la Reine’ (Farewell, My Queen) (2012). She also made cameo appearances in Fox’s show ‘Fringe’ (2010) and Mark Ronson’s music video ‘Somebody to Love Me’ (2010).

She was a member of the jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 ‘Cannes Film Festival.’ She also starred in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel ‘The Host’ in 2013.

She then had a recurring role as police officer ‘Sonya Cross’ in FX’s ‘The Bridge’ (2013-14). In 2015, she was named one of the members of the jury for the Main Competition at the ‘Venice Film Festival.’

She was cast alongside Bryan Cranston and John Leguizamo in the biographical crime thriller ‘The Infiltrator’ (2016). The following year, she played the titular character in the mini-series ‘The Kellyanne Conway Story.’

In 2018, she shared screen space with the likes of Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, and Jim Sturgess in the biographical drama film ‘JT LeRoy.’ That same year, she also played the role of ‘Deja Thoris’ in the drama film ‘Welcome to Marwen’ directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film received a mixed response from critics but failed to perform at the box office.

She next starred in films like ‘The Operative’ (2019), ‘QT8: The First Eight’ (2019), ‘The 355’ (2022), and ‘Out of the Blue’ (2022). In 2022, she portrayed ‘Clare Cavendish’ in the Neil Jordan-directed neo-noir crime thriller film ‘Marlowe.’ The film had its premiere at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival and received mixed reviews from critics.

In 2023, she played the role of ‘Estelle’ in the French psychological thriller film ‘Visions’ directed by Yann Gozlan. Kruger’s performance in the film received wide praise from critics with Jean-Luc Wachthausen of Le Point stating "With her blonde grace, her false fragility, her fluid acting, Diane Kruger carries this psychological thriller on her shoulders."

By far, Kruger’s role in Tarantino’s German-American black comedy war film ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009) is considered to be her most prominent role. For her role as a German actress-turned-allied spy, she earned a ‘Screen Actors Guild Award’ nomination.

Kruger married French actor and director Guillaume Canet in 2001, after dating him for two years. The couple divorced in 2006 and do not have any children.

She met actor Norman Reedus while filming the movie ‘Sky’ in 2015. She started a relationship with Reedus in 2016, and their daughter, Nova was born in November 2018. The couple got engaged in 2021.

She told the media that her marriage with Guillaume did not work because their work kept them apart for long periods of time. She is still good friends with her ex-husband.

She was in a relationship with Canadian-American actor Joshua Jackson from 2006 to 2016.

Besides German, Kruger speaks English and French fluently.

She is the global spokesperson for ‘L’Oreal’ and the face of Calvin Klein’s fragrance brand ‘Beauty.’

She dubs for herself in three languages—English, French, and German.

She was trained at the ‘Cours Florent’ and won the ‘Classe Libre’ award for best actor.

She was named the ‘Sexiest international import’ by Victoria's Secret ‘What Is Sexy’ list (2012).