Diane Kruger: A Lovely Mistake

The actress Diane Kruger was once cast as the most beautiful woman in the world. She beat off some 3,000 other candidates for the role of Helena in Wolfgang Petersen’s "Troy", starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom. No one would have guessed back then that the 49-year-old would go on to establish herself permanently in both Hollywood and French arthouse cinema. Perhaps this is partly because she started out as a model: at the age of 16, Diane Heidkrüger – her real name – moved from Algermissen near Hildesheim to Paris, where she worked as a model and soon also as an actress.

She spoke English without an accent, which led director Quentin Tarantino to doubt her nationality when she auditioned for “Inglourious Basterds” in 2009. From then on, Kruger starred in blockbusters in the US and independent films in France. She has now worked with Fatih Akin again – he was also the director of "Aus dem Nichts", for which she won the Best Actress award at Cannes – and appeared in his coming-of-age film "Amrum", which was released in cinemas at the end of 2025. This will be followed in 2026 by the French thriller series "La Décision", the Spanish sci-fi film "A.M.I" and the international film project "Each of us".

Ms Kruger, you have successfully established yourself as an actress since your major Hollywood debut in "Troy". To what extent was that a matter of fate?

The fact that I ended up in acting just happened that way, so in that sense you could certainly call it fate. The same goes for becoming a mother in 2018. My child came as a surprise at a time when I’d actually stopped really believing it would happen. That’s the beauty of life: when you’re not looking for something, it comes to you.

Has your view of your mother changed because of your daughter?

Yes, and I wonder how people manage with two children – I do have a brother, after all. For me, being a mum is the hardest job in the world. I have much more sympathy for my mum and for everything she’s been through. Especially as it wasn’t easy for her financially. But my brother and I have turned out reasonably well, haven’t we? (laughs). And she also showed great trust when she let me move out at 16 so I could pursue my modelling career.

Your home town, Algermissen, is a small town with a current population of 8,000. How does one manage to make it from the provinces to Hollywood?

I sensed from a very early age that I would travel the world. I was always incredibly good at history and languages at school. Among other things, I was desperate to ( … )

→ Read the full interview in rampstyle #31.