The Kristian Harloff Show - Famke Janssen talks Amsterdam Empire, Golden Eye, Taken, X-Men & Her Incredible Career.

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

Kristian Harloff sits down with the incredible Famke Janssen for an in-depth interview about her latest project, Amsterdam Empire, her time as Jean Grey in the X-Men films, and her experiences working on Taken and beyond. Famke opens up about her journey through Hollywood, how she approaches complex roles, and what it was like bringing such iconic characters to life. We also discuss her thoughts on the future of the X-Men reboot, behind-the-scenes stories from her filmography, and her work with Netflix. If you're a fan of Famke Janssen, the X-Men, or just love hearing behind-the-scenes insight from some of the best in the business, you won't want to miss this one!   SPONSORS:  TRADE COFFEE: Get 50% off 1 month of Trade at https://www.drinktrade.com/KRISTIAN FACTOR: Eat smart at https://www.FactorMeals.com/kristian50off and use code kristian50off to get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year.  Get delicious, ready-to-eat meals delivered—with Factor. *Offer only valid for new Factor customers with code and qualifying auto-renewing subscription purchase. NUTRAFOL: See thicker, stronger, faster-growing hair with less shedding in just 3-6 months with Nutrafol. For a  limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to https://www.Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code KRISTIAN. Find out why Nutrafol is the best-selling hair growth supplement brand!  TRUE CLASSIC:  Head to https://www.TrueClassic.com/KRISTIAN to grab the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very excited for my next guest. I've been talking about it all week. I've been a fan for such a long time. And whether it was, heck, man, GoldenEye, Rounders, going back to obviously the X-Men films, the faculty. And now we have a brand new series on Netflix that you guys can check out. And she is star of said show. And that, of course, is Amsterdam Empire. And I am joined by Famke Jensen.

How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm good. It's nice to have you. Like I said, I've been talking about it all week because I had the opportunity to see the show. And you talk about hell hath no fury. Right?

My goodness. I know. I mean, it's what we all in our dreams would like to do. And then we wake up and all right. Let me just, no. Right. Well, it's true. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, the show is pretty good. Look, I'm all for crime thrillers and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, interesting twist, and that's what this show has, because you put it in, the fact, Amsterdam in general, and for those people who have not been to Amsterdam, you have like this idea of what it is. Like, everything's legal over there. You can pretty much do whatever you want. And they play on that in the show, but they also play on the, like, the stuff that is intriguing,

and then the stuff that is kind of is really dangerous. So what made you get involved with this show? And, you know, the fact that you're like, no, no, no, no, this speaks to me. I got to be a part of it. Yeah, they came to me. The showrunner, Nico Molinar, had written this with, and he apparently, the only person he wanted, you know, to play Betty was me. And so I was very flattered by it. And I read the script and I thought, well, this is a powerhouse.

She's fun and this is exciting. But I said to him like, hey, look, I have never acted in Dutch before. I've never acted in the Netherlands. I left when I was 18. I didn't start acting until I came to the States, you know. in my 20s. And so if I'm coming back to the Netherlands to do something, I'm definitely not coming back to just play someone's ex-wife.

And I'm not going to play to someone who's out for revenge. Because after an episode or two, we're just going to be tired of that character. We want to make sure she has different, you know, elements. And we understand the hurt that fuels that kind of anger and all of it. And I just right away, I felt so much for her because I, you know, I think sadly most people know what it feels like to be cheated on. But in her case, the fact that she was cheated on and it was, you know, and he impregnates the new girlfriend.

And it all happens publicly. And whenever I read these things with the public aspect of it, I just like my stomach hurts. Because it's bad enough to go through these things, but then to go through something publicly always just to me seem like the absolute worst thing. And so I right away at this feeling of like, I want to protect Betty, I want to fight for her, I want to, you know. And so I said, okay, I'll do it, but I want to also be executive producer in that case and, you know, have a bigger say in the storytelling, the, you know, all the other aspects that come with the production of this. And then the costumes that just happened to organically come into play because I never. meant to design the costumes is just that I had such a clear idea of who she was and the more I, the deeper I got into that character, the more I thought, you know, her clothes need to reflect

that colorful nature of who she is, that childlike nature of who she is. And all of those components and elements I added to, you know, the costumes and stuff like that. So it just, I ended up wearing all these different hats that, you know, I'd never worn before on a series. and it made it incredibly gratifying and, you know, an incredible experience, and especially because on top of it also something that was never initially planned. We did a music video. I did a music video. I did a music video.

I did a music video. Yeah, I love that. Well, Betty Younger said a video as. Yeah, yeah. But yes, it's crazy. It's crazy because I had to learn to sing dance all of it for this. for this music video that everyone will be able to, it's like throwback in 90s, you know,

with one hits forever, for sure. So November 3rd, everyone, wherever you want to watch it, you can like, you know, Spotify, whatever. But how much fun is that, though? I mean, like he's dead. Come on. Right? Come on.

Yeah. The day that we filmed it, and thankfully, it was towards the end of November when we finished the show. like right before like the last two weeks of the show right before the last two weeks we ended up recording this thing and I cried by the time it was done

because I was so sad it was over because it was such a, even though I'd never have to dream of wanting to become a singer or a dancer but to be trained personally by the best choreographer you can possibly wish for Vincent Vianna and to be, you know, get vocal lessons and to be trained to, and I ended up actually record

recording three separate songs, but this being like the big hit of, you know, Betty. It was just so much fun. Yeah. Who gets to do that in life, you know? Yeah. Well, that's exactly what you're. Everything that you just said to make so much sense because, as you said, you want to become executive producer. You're able to do that.

You're able to contribute even more. And you give her more depth, more range. And I'm sure the collaboration with the rest of the team then becomes so much more exciting because you're challenging yourself. You guys are challenging each other. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I always have known give me nothing and you won't get, you know, I'll do everything because I give my 1,000% of myself to everything. But I, you won't, I won't be able to shine. But like let me, you know, contribute because I'm very creative by nature. And, you know, let's make this the best possible thing. So I think this is one of those perfect examples of.

what happens when you collaborate and all of a sudden out of, you know, all these different things start developing. So, yeah, I was amazing. Well, it's also, you know, it's like you said, you've had such an established career and the things that you've done for yourself. So it's, you've also earned the factor where you get to that place and you're doing a series that, hey, look, it's, it's not, it's, it's no secret. We also, we're going to be promoting heavily on your name. You are, you are, you are this very talented cast, but you are the name. So of course you should be asking for example. second produced. No, I know, I know. And this is something they're not that it doesn't happen in the

Netherlands. And so it was something I really had to fight for. But in the end, yes, I, I sort of, you know, feel the same as what you just said. I have worked really hard to get to this point. And at some point, you want to feel and see the results of that and go, I didn't, you know, I did 80 films. Right. I need to, you know, now be able to say, like, look, I have something else. to contribute to this. I know, I know what I'm talking about because I have had O-ed experience. I've worked with incredible actors and directors and not to, you know, boast about myself, but just because I know that I've worked really hard to get to where I am now. And so let me shine and give me other, you know, responsibilities and creativity that I know I can add to this thing. And so that was,

In the end, it wasn't an easy road to get there, but I got there. I'm super proud and I'm really excited that it's, yeah, now the proof is in the pudding. It is. And I think that that's exactly, as I was telling you before, like I followed your career and I, and I've seen the way you've been, you're not someone that's afraid to fight for what they want and you're out there and you'll, you'll talk about the things that you're like, listen, this is what I believe in. This is what I want to accomplish. And I think that, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but it feels like you also incorporated that into this character. Very much. Yeah.

Very much. But she also had to be fought for because there were certain things that just weren't on the page. And, I mean, thankfully over these 80 films, I've made a career, I think, out of adding qualities to characters that were underwritten. You know, it's just something that I think as women, we probably have had to do it more. and maybe because I've been typecast for a long time, I've had to do that maybe a little bit more than some other people. But yeah, so I know how that works and I can do it. But at some point you also go like, hey, I paid my dues.

Yeah. Just writing me the character that's full-fledged. Yeah. Just have to bring out the whole arsenal. Like, all right, this component and that added ingredient and whatever. Yeah. Well, yeah, and that's like I said. I mean, I think that I wasn't as aware of the show.

until I heard that you were, that you were a part of it. And when I heard, oh, well, she's a part of it. Let me see. It must be quality. Watch it. It is. And you're like, oh, and that's another reason why you're like, well, it makes sense that you would get what you got.

And, you know, working in TV, you've done it before. You've had tons of TV experience. You've had a ton of a film experience, obviously. But when it comes to the way, and you've seen the business change. You know, you've seen it from what network TV was. Yeah. And now watching what streaming is today. Tell me your opinion and your perspective on like, first of all, working with Netflix

and how the streaming game is so much different than like television, say, 15, 20 years ago. Yeah. I actually think it's beautiful because I, you know, since I have never had a normal life with a regular, you know, job or a time when I was at home so I could watch something on TV, I've just never experienced that. that this is always, this is more, this is right up my alley. I get to watch something where, whenever I want to, wherever I want to, however many episodes or whatever. So I think that already is a wonderful thing. But what I love about this particular moment in time is that there is this real appetite for authenticity. And we're now seeing it obviously with, you know, first with squid games being the big example.

And then, you know, most recently with like adolescence or something. something, which may as well have been in a different language because I almost needed subtitles. It was so good. Yeah, good. And it's so authentic and it's so real. We're seeing these local series made, you know, local content in a territory. Everything is authentic. And then there's the platform of Netflix where we get to watch it.

And when I first came to the States, people did not watch things with subtitles. There was no interest in it. whatsoever. And now it's almost the only thing people watch. And it's so exciting because what I think in my life has, where I've learned the most and I've grown the most as a human being is through travel, different cultures, meeting different people and all of that. And I think that this way of watching things and learning about Korean culture, Chinese culture, Dutch, Danish, whatever it is, this is what you can do now. Everyone can do it. And there, in the, in the privacy of their home not home,

they can watch different things in, in the original language and whatever, and kind of feel like you're somewhere else. And I think that's a beautiful moment, especially because we've gone through such a time where we only had these really big, glossy movies with, you know what I mean? Yeah, totally. Very little character development and a very specific one type of,

you know, not character, but like a very American kind of like, over the top way of looking at things maybe whereas now i go wow this is so interesting because there's this real appetite for something that's different that's unique i agree with you i think that i think that i think like the HBO kind of changed the game back in the late 90s with the come whether it was sopranos or whatever it might have been it's it's i remember watching i'm going to go before that i'm going to say 20 peaks is was that sure sure yeah that's a great example as well because you can really dive into full on character development. But the reason I bring up also with the Sopranos is really the pushing of the envelope of what you could do on television, right? And that then just kept going, whether it was breaking bad, game of thrones. I mean, it goes on, list goes on and on now. And it, it, there's just so much more quality in television right now in my, this is there's certainly a lot of quality in film. But there's a lot of quality in television because you can as like you're what you're doing with your show.

You set up the characters enough in that first episode that by the, you're like, well, we can let them marinate. And like you said, for those first two episodes, she's going to seem so like revenge, revenge,

and then we're going to give her more layers and more stuff to do. But so by the time you get to the seventh episode, you're like, okay, that's a developed character. I get it. Or you have to cram it in sometimes with two hours. And especially if it's a big budget movies,

you don't have enough time because you've got to put in the big budget explosions and everything too. And you've cut out major scenes. I agree with you 100%. Yeah, I really, I like where we've headed and where we are culturally now because it is, you know, we live in such a global world and it's so easy to just go like, oh, everything is the same. I can buy the same thing. I can do the same thing. You know what I mean?

Like social media is the same wherever you go, whatever. But then to realize like, no, there are real authentic, you know, projects still. and world i was just filming in sophia bulgaria and it's so authentically you know bulgarian it's not at all like the rest of the world it just doesn't it hasn't been spoiled there's not a Starbucks on every corner or a macdonalds i never saw even in macdonalds it may have been one but do you know what i mean like it's just nice to see that still exists because we're now it's so easy just you know everything expands we're coming this marginalized kind of way of living and being and that's what I really like about this moment in our you know through the streamers

and now with Amsterdam Empire that we really get to see this and I think that's you know Netflix has been a very big part of that yeah in this case in how we are now exposed to different cultures and people are no longer scared of subtitles you know well that's that I was yeah that's yeah that's yeah that's where I was going out in the next because when you were talking about that earlier I was Like, yeah, you know, that's, it really is true because even when, when I started watching the show, like, it just automatically gave me the English dub. And I went, no, no, no, no. And I immediately put it on Dutch. And I was like, and I put it on English subtitles, obviously, but I was like, but I was like, no, because it, it started.

I'm like, wait a minute. I thought at first my, my video was out of sync. And then I'm like, no, no, no. But then I could easily match up the emotions differently. Yeah. No, it just, it just wasn't working. Like animation and anime something. Sometimes, sure, but when it comes to the live action stuff, I can't do it.

And you're right. It's just we've just been accustomed now. By the way, I ended up dubbing myself in English just in case because I thought, hey, I can't have someone else dubbed me in my second language. That's crazy. But none of the other actors obviously were dubbed themselves and they were just dubbed by voice actors. And it's not the same. It's also me in a studio. I'm not acting opposite other people.

Yeah. You're recreating it. You're recreating it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you have to try to match your, so the more important part is that you match your lips, even though it's never going to match, but that seems to be the obsession. And so performance is like an afterthought. No, and then you have to try to emotionally, yeah, and you have to emotionally try to get to a place that you had to get to that day when you're back out. Yeah, that's kind of, that's super difficult. But, you know, the other thing you mentioned is, and what we're talking about right now is the fact that it, it was shot in your native language. You haven't talked, you haven't talked. You haven't. said it in, you said, you haven't performed in it since you were 18, you said. So was that,

as you said before, not necessarily a challenge, I guess, but intimidating at all? Or once you, did you say I hadn't performed it since I was 18? Is that what you said earlier? I thought you said you had, you had, you left. No, I wasn't even an actress. I was a model when I left at 18. Oh, wow. So from 18 to 22, I was in Europe modeling. And then I came to the States to New York when I was 22. Oh. I didn't start acting until in my 20s. Okay. And so my first acting job, I would never, you had never acted in Dutch before. Never actually. Oh, wow. Okay, okay. No, no, no, no. Okay. So, so, all right, well then, uh, even, even crazier that because then, so now you're like, well, yeah, I just, I've never acted in my, in my language before. So you go, is it

intimidating at all? Or do you just, it's old hat once you start? No, the, the thing is it was probably the thing I feared the most in the beginning. It was very intimidating. The idea of coming to my, and you know, you have to understand Dutch culture. Dutch culture is very different from American culture. I, like Dutch culture is we don't have stars. They don't have paparazzi. They don't, everyone is very normal. You know what I mean? There's a whole saying, act normal, then you're crazy enough or whatever it is. It's like it's very much about fitting in, you know, a society of people who are all kind of middle class. Like, it's just not so already coming in going, oh, I don't, I've now learned to, you know,

to think and dream big and, you know, I've accomplished these things. So maybe there's already going to be this preconceived idea about me. And then on top of it now, I'm going to act in Dutch and they're, you know, they're going to sit there listening in my mind. Like, I don't actually I haven't done to watch anymore. So then I just started recording myself going, oh,

I need to, you know, listen to this back over and over and over again. Any, any sound that is just slightly not sounds Dutch to me. I'm just going to have to work on it. But once I got there, it wasn't even,

I didn't think about it anymore. And you were locked in, and you were locked into the character at that point. I was locked into the character. Yeah. And, yeah. So the Dutch part, actually, the language part,

actually gave me a freedom because I could create a whole new character. I had, you know, in America sort of had to, I guess, in a way, you do become a different person when you speak a different language. It's natural. And so through, you know, acting in English, I already started playing these different characters. But the fun part about acting is that you get to play people that are completely unlike you, but you add certain parts of yourself in them. Yeah.

And so this whole Dutch thing just added another level to it. Yeah. It transformed you immediately for even. It did. It did. Because when I was watching, I mean, I was watching it and I saw her. I didn't see you. So, and that's a compliment.

Okay, good. Yeah. It felt very different to me, too. I don't know who she was, but she was definitely not. I mean, I know she was Betty, but it was definitely not me. Yeah. So, yeah, it was fun. So, you know, let's, let's jump back.

a little bit because I'm fascinated with what you just told me, where you move over here, you decide, because you start with modeling. And so you come over and you, did you say New York first? I still live in New York, actually. I moved to New York and I stayed there. But I ended up when I was at the height of my career as a model saying to my modeling agency, hey, I don't want to model anymore. I want to become an actress because at that point I'd sort of figured out.

And I got this response, which I will never forget, like, oh, yeah, right, you and everyone else. That's never going to happen. And at that point, I thought, okay, never mind. I'm still not modeling anymore. And I went to Columbia University and studied there writing a literature. And I just thought, let me just take space and distance because clearly there's this preconceived idea about what, you know, a model turned actors or whatever it was going to be. Right. And I didn't want to be that cliche.

So I It was very hard at that time Because it was being paid a lot of money as a model But I turned down every job that came my way And studied And then I did end up going to L.A. for a couple of years And it came running back to New York Yeah

Wasn't my kind of thing But started taking acting lessons And you know, really You do the training You put in the work I put in the work Yeah Only to literally come in my first audition

And people saying, hey, weren't you a model? I know, but it's like you It's like you can't, well, first of all, you can't escape it. It's like I can't escape the golden eyed bump girl, whatever. Well, and I'm definitely going to ask you about that, but I, let's go. You guys know how excited I get talking about trade coffee. And it's holiday season, man. And for you guys, Black Friday, it came early because it is the season of giving or, I don't know,

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Come on. Drinktrade.com slash Christian. Giving you a deal here. Because New York, it's funny. Because next time, if you enjoy yourself at the end of this, next time I'm going to do in person, because I'm in New York as well. Oh, cool. And I lived in. Anytime in person, I am so much.

not a Zoom tech person. I love just the I would have so much preferred to do this. I'm with you. I'm with you. I didn't know. I don't know how maybe wires got crossed. I would much rather do. I would have done it in person. So much. Come on, team. Come on. I know. I know. Next time. Yeah, we'll go into the city. I would love to. I could talk to you forever. But when, you know, it comes to moving to New York, you do your thing. You let's so let's jump into to bond because the question I'm actually, going to start with is now I'm sure you we're talking about streaming talking about a streamer talking about big wig conglomerate Amazon takes over bond and now they're going to cast a new bond and obviously with that comes new bond girls first thing that I would ask you is any advice

that you would have to those people that are coming in because you were a part of the Pierce bonds in beginning so like that in itself must have been not only do you get is that like a really a big job. It's starting off a new bond. So take me through that about. Yeah, I mean, I think, first of all, that pressure was on Pierce so much more than it ever was on me. I think to me, I was mostly dealing with, you know, this whole notion of like these bond girls and the cliche of these, you know, of a lot of actresses who hadn't transitioned properly into an acting career and I always thought, well, maybe it's because they weren't, you know, they didn't have those aspirations. Maybe they just wanted to be in that movie and, and, and, but I also was so

acutely aware of it that I just thought, all right, I'm going to fight. I'm going to go into this thing and I am going to be different. I am not going to be forgotten that easily and I'm going to turn this character into something other than this wallflower type of thing. So, and I, you know, I was interviewed years ago for someone who was doing a book on Bond, and they had done so much research. And when this guy started asking me these questions or telling me things about the set, I was like, oh, shit, did I really? I said that. I did that. Right.

So, but no, you know, barely any movies under my belt. You know, I've done a few little things, but this was obviously a very big deal. Yeah. I just had so much. I don't know. I had all this confidence or or something in me was like, no, I don't want to do it this way.

I want to, you know, because for example, the director had very specifically, you know, set up in his mind like, okay, I'm just going to not shoot a whole scene, probably to keep more control, like I'm just going to do a close-up of the gun and I'm going to do this and that.

And I go, no, no, you need to look at my face. You need to film this because I'm about to do something while I'm shooting the gun. And you're to miss it if you don't like what's up-and-coming actress i was just going to say that's fantastic that's that's fantastic i don't know where i dare to do but i did and i did that throughout the whole production and ultimately it gave me a career right and there's a balance between that too right because i think that there are some people that can do it and if you do it um because from what it

seems you were doing it because like you said you you have a good mind for it you knew what what could help not only the character, but you weren't doing in a way where they're just like, oh, my God, here we go again. It's like, no, it's okay. It's making sense. And they start to, and you said it helped the career. Well, yes. I mean, I did it for myself, but I think I also did it for women in general because I

really thought that those parts had been underwritten and they'd been sexualized in a way that I get it. Hey, I watched those movies. I think it's super fun. And I very much leaned into it with with Sammy on a top by making. or over sexualized, like, you know. But I thought it needed to have this tongue and cheek kind of aspect to it and not take itself so serious. Because Bond doesn't.

You know what I mean? It's like, it's crazy that something with a character like that has existed for whatever 60 years in a way. You know what I mean? But it's fun. It's fun. And it needed to be that. And so it's mostly that I don't know where I got the confidence to just fight. for those things. I easily could have just gone like, hey, I got this part. It's amazing.

Let me just stay under the radar and just do. And, you know, but I wouldn't have created the character ultimately that I helped create there. And it helps build your confidence, I'm sure. And especially like you said, it helps your career tremendously. When, well, before we move on from that, you know, there's also been people talking about with, with Pierce Bronson that if, if, before they were mentioning another, the bond that they were going to get, there has been always people throwing out. What if he comes back as like the silver hair fox kind of bond? Would you think that that would be something that would work?

Would you see him? I mean, I feel like he could pull that off. But what do you feel about if he was going to do that? I mean, I think it would be great. I, you know, what I find so interesting about, it's not easy to keep a franchise alive for 10. years, let alone 20, 30, 60 years, Bonn's been around. That's crazy.

Who can do that, you know? Yeah. And with a, you know, misogynistic character and whatever in your lead role. Like, it's just, I find it incredible how they've been able to reinvent a character, but keep it the same and find a way to put it in a modern world today and still be relevant and fun and interesting. It's just, no one ever has done that. before. So I'm, you know, I, I think it's absolutely amazing what they've done with it. So I welcome whatever, you know, decision they make. I'm sure it'll be great and exciting. But it's no longer with the broccoli's and, you know. No, it's true.

And no. Yeah. If they, if they asked you to come back as a different character, would you do it? I don't know that that would be possible. I die as, but as a different character. Because it's not, because it's, that's the thing with Bond. That's the thing of Bond is they have like, it's not like the same canon. It's like they change. up. Has it ever had they ever done a movie? I mean, I know Judy Dench kind of came back, but she's playing the same character, playing M. She played M. She played M, but different, but different bonds. So I don't know. I'm not sure if they've done it. No, no, no. I think they've come back as the same character. Same character, yeah. Just die and come back as a whole new character. Right. No.

Take to leave a faith, but hey, I'm all for it. Anything is possible. So that movie clearly, as you mentioned, changes. And you're like, so what does that do for the career moving for Or do you know once that comes out, you're like, okay, things are different now? Well, yes. I mean, the publicity machine behind a Bond movie, I honestly never even experienced anything like it. On the first week of filming, they held a press conference with 400 people of the British press, too. Oh, wow. That must have been, yeah.

So that was like next level. Right. But so, yeah, very quickly you'll learn that machine is going to, you know, and international too. Like I flew all over the world to promote that film, which is great. But I also was at that moment was thinking very quickly like, okay, this is amazing. This is going to bring a lot of opportunities, but probably not quite the ones that I want to do because I don't want to be typecast as this Russian, you know, whatever assassin because that I wouldn't be fun. I didn't start acting to just become, you know, the same thing over and over again. Were those the roles that were coming in after that?

That's what, maybe not necessarily Russian assassin, but definitely anything with a gun, whatever, certain type came in. And I said no to everything. And I took quite some time until the first thing that came in that I thought, oh, okay, this I'm going to fight for. It was city of industry with Harvey Gaitel. And I had to fight for it because Harvey was, you know, one of the people was like, I don't believe it. She's, you know, because I play this checkout girl and like a, you know, lower income. kind of environment and all that kind of stuff.

And he had, like most people, some idea about this glamorous life that I don't even come from that life, to be honestly, at all. But so I had to really prove myself. I literally bought like the checkout girl, you know, it was like Halloween, early Halloween. I auditioned for it. And it took a bit, but I got it. And then there was a scene that I had to play where, you know, he comes to tell me the news that my husband has died and I fall apart.

And he, after we shot that scene, he leaned over and he said that was amazing. And at that point, I knew like, I did it. I won him over. Yeah. But so I, you know, had to pay my dues and I had to prove myself. And I feel like that's kind of what I've been doing ever since. It's just, you know, I guess a lot of people have preconceived ideas and you're only as good as your last role or you are whatever that last role was and if that's something as flashy or specific

as a golden eye then that is you know what will come your way and so i had to learn to navigate you know by doing all sorts of indie films but then realizing you also need to do big budget films because you're you know you need to be irrelevant you need to it also pays the bills it also pays the bills you know other than it pays the bills for sure um but it also So, you know, unless people are, unless you have some kind of a name value. And trust me, I have done everything in my power not to have one because I'm not on social media. I don't promote myself. I'm super private.

Yeah. You know, I haven't done press in probably 15 years or something like that. So I need, at least be in projects once in a while that people are going to see and recognize me from because this little bubble life that I've created for myself doing a lot of indie films and playing different characters. and it's absolutely, you know, gratifying on a creative level, but I need to remain sort of relevant in that, you know, business aspect of it too. Well, that also goes back to what we were talking about earlier, where it's like you are, you mean, again, they're taking nothing away from the other very talented actors in the show.

You're really the name that is being promoted on, on this show, so it would make sense that you would do press. Is that the thing, though, going into it? Because I think, and I'm, I always tell I have two kids, have two daughters, And I hate social media. I hate phones. It's my business, unfortunately, but I hate it. I talk about it all the time.

Yeah. I feel like mentally, you're probably in a really good spot because you don't pay attention to that stuff. No. Mental health-wise, I think it's absolutely a mindset. Do I, do I pay? I mean, everything comes at a price. I pay a price for not being on it. I don't get paid as much money.

I'm not as known. You know what I mean? Like, there's all the other. I don't get the same opportunities probably for roles that are out there because I don't have 9 million followers on, you know, doing all this work on getting myself out there, promoting myself. But the price that I would have to pay to be on it for my mental state, for my, you know, emotional state, for my well-being, it's just not something that I, it's not a price that I can

pay. That makes sense. Are you someone, are you someone that if you, if you post, you have to check what's going on? Or could you do that like, hey, here's my new show. post and then run away. I don't know. Honestly, I've never been on social media. My whole life.

I've never had any social media presence. I've just always instinct, maybe because I'm so, so deeply private. Sure. I don't want anyone to know anything about me. That's my natural state of being. But I think that if 10 people wrote something nice about me and one person said something mean,

I would lose a night of sleep over it and hang on to that. I'm just too sensitive for it. I get it. I understand. I mean, that's a lot of people. So even people on my show.

And I'm definitely guilty of it. It's like you, like you just said, you can have 98% is positive to tell you how great it is. And it's like, oh, this guy should be working somewhere else, don't interview people.

And you're like, oh, man, that guy hates you. I know. Yeah. It's just, it's human. It's human.

It's human. But my bigger issue with it overall, I think, is just the division. Yeah. that is created through social media and something I don't want to partake in because the moment you're for something, you're against something else. You know what I mean?

It's like it's an echo chamber. Yeah. It's an echo chamber because it's a, it's a, it's very similar to what, you know, even though it's great that we can even have a face-to-face conversation here, I'm with you that to me, I much prefer to be in a room with someone and have a conversation with them because it's the energy, it's the vibe. Yeah. But then you also talk about like social media.

It's like, okay, if you post. did one particular thing, even with texting, your tone is completely different from what you might be saying. And then it's like, you can also, I don't see your emotion. I don't see your reaction to what I write. And I can go about my day. And like you said, if I said one thing about you, maybe I'd even have that intent that I was going to hurt your feelings. But I just said, oh, she was blah, blah, blah. And then that ruined your month.

I know. And if I said it to your face, if I said something to you right now and you're like, oh, my God, I can't believe you just said that to me. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I can't believe that I said that to. I apologize. Exactly. No. And then it's also like the parts, and you said you have daughters.

Like it seemed very difficult for these young girls. I don't know how old they are. But to grow up with these fake, you know, none of it is real anyway. Right. Because people put filters on everything and post about their lives in unrealistic manner. So how do you grow up not feeling inadequate about yourself? It's true. Social media is linked to a lot of.

a lot of that stuff where it's I mean there's this crazy uh speaking of Netflix is Doc I forget the name of it but it yeah it's social I saw it you know what I'm talking about about the girl the girl was the dilemma but yeah the one that the girl was getting like bullied for like year like two years and then I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't seen it but then the reveal is crazy who was doing it yeah oh that one oh no no no no yeah yeah you know what I'm talking about yeah yeah yeah yeah Yes, yes, yes, yes. And it was, but that was like, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I couldn't believe it.

I know. Anyway, so I think you, I understand that you're saying it is one of these things that it's like, there's a loss in certain things about promotion-wise, but I think mental health, you're doing the right thing. Since I started doing this show, I really have been introduced some brands that just really fit what I'm looking for in my lifestyle. Nothing could be more true than that with factor. I love Factor. So good. It's not the easiest to try to find times to cook. That's why I love Factor.

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That's NutraFol.com promo code Christian. Plus, as we said before, you have a name that people go, oh, yeah, of course. Love her. I'm going to watch that. And you kept building that. You kept building that name. You do the movie with Harvey Kytel. You challenge yourself.

You get yourself into this now place where you're like, okay, I can, because you hang with Harvey Kytel and you're going, all right, I can do this. I can do this. And but you kept switching it up. And I'm sure, as you were mentioning that to me, I was thinking about it on the business side of it. Like if I was your representation, I'm going, yeah, yeah, sure. She was in Bond.

But look what she did here. I'll give you that. She can pull that off on a big budget, but look what she does there. And then they start to be able to, as you said, it's a business, they can, and you are their product. Where they go, okay, look, this is what we can do.

This is what she can do. And you're your own product, where you can then say, all right, I'm going to challenge myself again. What's your next challenge after that movie? After that, so I think city of industry, Dan Browners came about.

And then it really was my focus on doing all these indie films working with Woody Allen. and on celebrity with, you know, I'm working on just movie after movie that was just indie, character-driven, you know, trying to build a name for myself as someone who, you know, first of all, I had to prove I was, I was capable of playing an American. Right. Because Gold and I obviously were such a big, you know, Russian kind of extreme character that, And then a name like Fomke-Yonson, so it's not even like I have a normal name here.

So that was my first hurdle. Yeah. Were you ever asked to change? Were you ever asked to change your name? No, no one's ever asked me to change it. But it's been pronounced in the most, you know, Americanized ways like Famke-Jansen. Yeah. I'll make sure on the outro, on the outro, I'll say it as correct as I can.

Yeah, Fomke-Yanson. Fomke-Yanson. I can say it. But yeah. So, I mean, that was. really, you know, and then other films started coming along where it was a little bit, you know,

closer to studio films. It wasn't until, and then I did love and sex with John Favreau, and it was a romantic comedy and super fun and whatever. And then, you know, at some point, the X-Men movies came about it. And that was the whole other kind of, you know,

trajectory that went. And I want to talk to you about that, but I, but I can't, I can't pass off rounders. I love rounders. I love I love that movie. How was that experience? It was great. It was great.

It was also so interesting to see it because Matt Damon wasn't known. But during the making of our film, his movie, his great-out role, Goodwill Hunting came out. And so we were filming in Atlantic City. We were shot in New York City, but in Atlantic City. And all of a sudden, he became a star. You guys must have been like, yes. That's helped the movie out tremendously. And it's so interesting to see because over the time, of course, that's happened also with Hugh Jackman when we auditioned Hugh, basically.

Because we were filming X-Men and we didn't have our lead. And so they had flown him in to audition. We already were filming. And so I was, you know, dressed as Jean Grey and doing another. scene and he came in and I just did a scene with him and I thought isn't that interesting I know Disney Hugh Jackman and I'm just making all the money he's still and he's still and he's still the character it's true I don't know he's the character 99 years later was he originally was he originally cast or is there somebody else no it was somebody else it was somebody else okay yeah

it was somebody else who couldn't get out of their contract but yeah so it's um it's yeah this is how this business works it's so interesting to see how, you know, life's can change. But it's never the way that people think it's never overnight success. It's always people who've worked at least 10 years. Right. To pay their dues and then you get a boost. They get a boost.

And it looks like they were discovered overnight. Yeah. Right. Like as you said, like you had to fight. I mean, this is, to be honest, this is why I like to do what I do because I love learning about people. I like, and I always say people before they come in, we didn't have the opportunity to do it because it was kind of quicker.

But I don't really like to do what. like interviews. I like, I like the conversations of people. I like to talk to people because, well,

because I learn about people. And like you said, it's me, I've already learned that the fact that you've had to, because you're right. Like immediately, it's like,

okay, here's a beautiful woman who knows, who is a great actress, who has done these things and has been able, but I don't know your struggle. I don't know the idea that like,

you're like, and like you said, you, you walk into a room and, like, oh, well, she's, she's had it all.

And you're like, I certainly didn't. I had to do, I had to do this. I had to fight against people thinking that I was this. I had to then do this. I had to challenge myself. That's the fascinating thing to me about this.

And just the human, the human spirit in general, right? You've got to be able to get that because I can only imagine, like, how, as you have had these successes, like, there must have been times. Are you just like, why am I doing this? Oh, you have no idea because, you know, when I, when I was discovered as a model on this like literally walking down the street in Amsterdam that fell into my life right and that gave me this opportunity to travel the world and and make my own money and do things I was never because

I don't come from you know money in my my background like that so it just gave me this freedom and you know like this this ownership over my own life in a way that I never had but when I wanted to become an actress those beginning years I cannot tell you how many times I was rejected. I was rejected more in probably a month than most people in an entire lifetime. So the amount of rejection I've experienced, and especially in the beginning, and I think probably most actors in the beginning of their careers, because everything that's different about you becomes a problem.

Your name, you know, in my case, let's just say my height, my name, like, you know, not being American, like whatever it is. And ultimately, you come out in something where all of those things are being celebrated. Yes, true. That's true. It's true. Yeah. Years before you get there.

Right. And things move all the time. Like you said, like today they love Tall Lim and tomorrow they don't. Yeah. It's like, it's ever changing in this crazy business. So. But no. I mean, the amount of rejection I've endured.

And there were moments where I literally was actually right before GoldenEye, I wanted to throw in the towel and I said, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to write a script. I'm going to apply to AFI film school, and I got in. And then right as I got in, I learned that I was going to audition for this, you know, and I ended up getting the role. But it was like this moment where I had just, I was ready to give it a lot because I thought, how many more signs from the universe do I need to get that this is just not meant to happen. Isn't that crazy how that works too?

I know. I've been in those positions too where you're just like, I'm not doing this anymore. Well, don't quit just yet. Try this. You're like, oh, all right. No, and that's the thing I think about doing jobs like we do. There's no one who stands in front of us or behind us rarely in life who says it's going to work. Just hang in there.

Do one more. You know what I mean? One more addition. It's in there. Because I know it's going to know you have no guarantee. You're going to try something that hasn't been done before probably, you know, especially because in each one of our case where unique people having a unique journey. And you just have to muster up that, you know, courage and that confidence and, and that

drive within yourself when everything seems to scream otherwise. Right. You know? Yeah. It's, it is. Like I said, it's that it's, it's, it's, it's that the test of the human spirit, right? And like we, we all have the capability of getting there. And a lot of people to no fault of their own, whatever it might be, they just, they don't,

they don't go through it. They think that they can. when ultimately they can, but they don't think that they can. No, because how many people in your position do you think have dropped out of the race in the time that, you know, where you got to where you, like, it happens a lot because you have to make a lot of sacrifices to do what we do. Oh, sure. You just do.

And people don't totally understand it. And I am certainly not complaining because I live the most incredible life. I could not be more grateful. But you fought for it. I am definitely have made, incredible sacrifices to get to where I am here. I think if anyone's been listening to this, I think that they realize that. I mean, I certainly realize it.

And I'm going to apologize to you because I know that you've probably, since you've been doing press, you've been asked this a billion times, but my audience would be mad at me if I did not ask you. And I know that you already answered part of this about the upcoming Avengers Doomsday thing. I know that. I know you said that you hadn't been contacted for it. And, but what I've also realized with that movie is that it seems like every other day they're adding somebody new.

And it seems like a lot of your old colleagues are part of at least June's day. Since the answer that you've been giving, have there been any other conversations? Do you ever see yourself appearing in one of those movies? You know, I don't, I don't tend to look back at anything I've done. I tend to look forward. Okay. And the position that I'm in right now, you know, was in this incredible learning curve that I went through on Amsterdam Empire by being executive producer and costume designer on my clothes and doing a music video in which I sing and dance. And all of these added elements, it's hard for me now to just look back and worry or think about like a part where I get a few lines and something.

It just doesn't seem that interesting to me. I'm in a different place, and I've earned my way into this moment, and I'm running with it because, you know, this is 80 films I know my belt. Yeah. And I've paid my dues. And so now to have a seat at the table and go, I'm an executive producer, I have a say in this. I, you know, I think this needs to change, and you think there needs to be more diversity here. and I think we need to this, you know, need to be strengthened in the script or whatever it is. It's amazing.

Right. I would not be asked back on Doomsday or somewhere else with that type of input. That's not what they want for me, you know. Right. It was like, it's like a more of a, it would be, I mean, with all the people they have in that movie right now, it would be a little bit more of a glorified cameo, I guess, at this point, right? Exactly. Yeah.

Exactly. So, I mean, I'm not opposed to doing anything. that's, you know, just being part of a fun ensemble or whatever it is. But at this moment in time, you know, I just finished a movie yesterday in Bulgaria called One Second After. And I also designed my clothes on that one as well. And it's just so cool to just have these added parts to, you know, what I'm doing in my life right now because I am, I love creativity.

Yeah. I'm always looking to create. So that's more of the challenge for you right now is the more of what kind of gets you going is like, that could be fun and everything. But for me right now, I want to, I really want that kind of input. Like you said, you've earned it. I've tasted it. And I've tasted it. You tasted it.

So once you give me a taste of something, you know what I love chocolate. Like I just tastes really good chocolate or really good coffee. Yeah. It's hard to go back to the crap that I was drinking or eating before. You're in the right city then for that. I'll tell you that. Oh, my God. I know.

Oh, my goodness. So, all right. So then is television something that you want to keep pursuing the streaming side of it? Do you want to? Because you mentioned your writer as well. You know, other things that you want to do, do you, is that where you want to kind of keep the, is that the next part of the journey? Is it continuing in TV?

I find, yeah, as an actor, I find it's not an actor's medium television or streaming because you sign up to something. Like when you sign up to a movie, you get the full screen. You know, beginning to end, you know, your character, the arc, the whole thing, there's no surprises there. But when you sign up on streaming or television or whatever, it's episodic. And they usually have only written one episode or so by the time you sign on. And then the rest of it is like, oh, you know what I mean? Like you can easily get into a position like, oh, I've known that this is, I wouldn't have said yes or something like that.

And sometimes it's, or you're being surprised in a very pleasant experience. exciting way, but it's a bit scarier in that you just don't know. But it can be incredibly collaborative. In the best possible way, it's the most incredible thing because you collaborate as you go along. I did nip taco series years ago with Ryan Murphy. And they had only pitched me the first two episodes and I'd seen their first season. And I was like, okay, this is amazing.

And he's very talented and I want to work with him. But seeing how Ryan works and just being part of that. collaboration of, you know, people feeding of one another and him seeing what, how you work as an actor and then writing more scenes accordingly and all of that. That's a beautiful process. So it can be absolutely amazing. And if it's, you know, or it could just not turn out well because they're, you know, killing you off after two episodes and you thought you're going to be there the whole time or whatever. You just don't know. You don't know. But have you, have you, have you, um, You directed, have you directed before?

I directed a movie. I'll bring up Bobby with Mila Yovovic and Bill Pullman. I wrote directed and co-produced it. So I got a taste of it already back then. Is that something you'd want to dive back into? Because you sound like a director, to be honest with you. No, yes, right? This is control issues.

No, not control issues. It's not control issues. More of like a creative kind of knowing where you want to put things. I do, I do. But what I did learn about the experience of directing is that, And it was an indie, so, you know, no money trying to get this thing off the ground was already took me years and whatever. You have, as a director, you have to pick something that you can grow with.

So because you can easily be with this thing for 10 years at the time you either make it or it's, you know, done or whatever. So I was, I had outgrown it by the time I was done because it took many years to get out the ground and you know lots of hurdles and stuff like that so it would have i would have to find the really the right project for me but right now i something i could grow along with but right now i just love this part of executive producing and starring in it and who knows where that's going to take me i mean i could you know i'm i surprised myself most of the time i don't even know like i say things or do things i'm like wait who yeah who said that who did that well i mean yeah i

I could see it for sure because, like you said, the creative input. Maybe it's television. Maybe it's something else, too. I'd be curious to see what that was, what you chose. I only have a couple minutes left. So what I'd like to also ask is the journey. This is why I'm saying I'd love to do another one in person because I think I want to get you. I want to your journey is just so fascinating to me.

So when you do that, because as you mentioned, like even when you're auditioning, you're auditioning to you, which is crazy, by the way. I love that. Right. Yeah, it's great. So what were your overall, what was your overall experience with the X-Men movies? Because you, do you look back at it and say, you know, that was a, because obviously did great things for your career, but were they positive experiences?

Was 50% of it positive? Was 85% of positive? No, they were, I think overall positive experiences. They were, you know, we worked with the same group of people over the span of, I don't know, a decade or more. So it's, you know, you definitely. see people going through, you know, marriage and divorce and children and things like that. So there's a lot.

And, you know, we traveled the world with those for promotional things. So it was overall a really good experience. And on the last stand, when we got into a little bit of the Phoenix saga, a tiny little thing, I sat down with the writers and those guys like, hey, you know, look, I really want to make sure. or that she isn't just, you know, I want to see this almost like a schizophrenic journey of Jean Grey turning into Phoenix. It just comes out of her. She's no control. And then going, so we went through the dialogue to put specific, you know, so it's, I think in those beautiful, in those moments where I get to collaborate with people, I do my best work.

And, you know, not everyone has, gives you. that. And not everyone has the confidence to say, hey, I'm going to give this actress a chance and, you know, let her come up with some ideas or whatever. But I think just because I've been doing it so long and because I am creatively driven by everything, I do like that part of it. So I really hope that in the future that can very much be part of my journey. Did you get that chance to do just that on the taken films? not as much no not as much no no no no these were very much like and the funny thing is like the first taking was shot like an indie film we were

no one knew that film was going to I was just going to say you probably had no idea you probably saw it was a one-off and then that thing exploded that thing exploded it was dumped in February like it was not no one ever imagined that thing

to just have the traction that it did but yeah it reinvented his whole career again. I know. Nuts. I know. Liam is amazing. Yeah, he's great. He's great. Did you see the naked gun? Such a rich, talented actor. Just looking at his body of work.

I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Did you see the naked gun the new one? Yes. He's hilarious. I know. He's hilarious. Yes. Perfect comedic timing. My God. He was so funny in that. It was my favorite. It was hilarious. It was hilarious. It was hilarious. All right. So Amsterdam Empire, it is from when this, It's already out, guys. You can check it out and you should check it out.

Everything that I just talked about, the journey of Fomke Yonson. And it was an absolute pleasure speaking with you. And I appreciate you give me your time. And yeah, next time, let's please, let's please do this in person. We're going to do this in person. We're going to have a proper talk. I would love that. I just, I'm very much a firm believer in, you know, in people's energies,

frequencies, vibration, whatever you call it. You can't do it on a... No, you can get a vibe. Or a screen or it just doesn't work. It's not the same. You can get a vibe of somebody,

but then you also know, I hope that you're like, okay, I do want to sit down with this person in person. No, I know. Right. I've honestly never been on a dating app. I've never been on a social media thing.

Nothing. No. Because I like real life. Yeah. That's what I go. I like real life. And as much as I can, I will pursue real life.

and, you know, find like-minded people there. So, anyway, you've been a real pleasure. So much fun. Thank you. Same with you. Same with you. And I'm very excited for you with the show. Congratulations again for the fight for being able to get.

And November 3rd is when the music video comes out. November 3rd, I'll absolutely be watching. Yeah. Anywhere. It will be on Spotify. It will be everywhere. But yes. Okay.

Well, thanks again. I really appreciate you being here with me and I look forward to talking to you again. All right. Thank you so much. Until the next time.