FUNKYLOWLIVE

Date of Birth: July 15, 1976

Birth name: Diane Heidkrueger

Born and raised in Germany, Diane Kruger studied ballet with the Royal Ballet in London, but had to give it up when she sustained a career-ending injury. Returning to Germany at the age of 15, she began modeling and was a finalist in Elite's 1992 Look of the Year competition. Diane quickly worked her way to the top, becoming the face of Armani, Chanel, Dior, L'Oréal, and Ungaro.

At the suggestion of director/producer Luc Besson, Kruger moved to Paris to pursue a career in acting. Her first role was in the independent film The Piano Player (2002), starring Dennis Hopper and Christopher Lambert. She then took on roles in French films such as Mon Idole (2002), Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire) (2003) and Michel Vaillant (2003).

Next, Kruger won the biggest role of her career to date after beating out more than 2,000 other young women to star with Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt in the big budget epic, Troy (2004). She followed that up with the role of Lisa in Wicker Park (2004) opposite Josh Hartnett and then played Dr. Abigail Chase in National Treasure (2004), also starring Nicolas Cage.

Kruger married French actor/director Guillaume Canet in September 2001, but they were divorced in 2006.

FILMOGRAPHY:

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
The Hunting Party (2007)
The Age of Ignorance (2007)
Goodbye Bafana (2007)
Copying Beethoven (2006)
Les brigades du Tigre (2006)
Frankie (2005)
Joyeux Noël (2005)
National Treasure (2004)
Wicker Park (2004)
Troy (2004)
Michel Vaillant (2003)
Ni pour, ni contre (2003)
Mon idole (2002)
The Piano Player (2002)