Quick Facts about Carice van Houten:
Name:Carice(Anouk) van Houten
Date of birth:5 September1976
Birthplace:Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Birth Name: CariceAnoukvan Houten
Zodiac sign:Virgo
Height:5' 6½" (1.69 m)
Eye color:brown
Partner:Sebastian Koch(2005–2009)
Pets:dogs
Age:35 years
Occupation:Dutchstage and Film Actress
Years Active:1997-Present
Official Website: caricevanhoutendotcomMini Biography of Popular Celebrity Carice (Anouk) van Houten
Carice (Anouk) van Houten was born in Leiderdorp (near Leiden) on 5 September 1976. Her parents are MargjeStasse (on the board of Dutch educational TV) and writer and broadcaster Theodore van Houten. She is the elder sister of actress and designer Jelka van Houten. When she was five her father took her to a screening of Abel Gance's epic Napoleon which fascinated her. She has demonstrated great interest in cinema since. Carice convincingly demonstrated her acting talents at the Bonifatius Lyceum high school, Utrecht, in the early 90s. One of her first parts was the title role in Hugo Claus's play TijlUilenspiegehel.
Carice van Houten played her first leading role in Martin Koolhoven'sTV filmSuzy Q. Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her part as Suzy. She also won the Pisuisse Award and the Top Naeff Award for her stage acting and another Golden Calf for her part as the kitten that becomes a girl in Undercover Kitty (2001). The first time she could be seen in cinemas in the USA was when Martin Koolhoven'sAmnesiA (2001) got a small theatrical release.
Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her performanceas Rachel Stein in the 2006 filmBlack Book at the Netherlands FilmFestival. Black Book's director Paul Verhoeven says about her in atelevision interview: "Never in my life I have worked with an actress thistalented." and when he is asked to compare her with Sharon Stone he says:"Carice can really act". The international press is also enthusiasticabout her role in Black Book. Dick Schümer writes in his review of thefilm in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that Carice van Houten is "not onlymore beautiful, but also a better actress than Scarlett Johansson".
Shealso developed a skill in clarinet playing. In 1995 she was rather uniquelyaccepted by both the Maastricht and Amsterdam drama academies, and started herTV career (Labyrint, VPRO TV 1997) as a student of the KleinkunstAcademieAmsterdam. There she was awarded the 1999 Pisuisse Prize, and the 2000 TopNaeff Prize for her theatre work. A day before the Top Naeff Prize she wasawarded the 'GoudenKalf' as best TV actress in Martin Koolhoven's Suzy Q. In2001 she starred in Amnesia by the same director. In September 2000 she joinedthe Noord-NederlandsToneel starring as a both singing and acting Polly in acontemporary staging of the Threepenny Opera to fabulously stunning reviews.Her great talent for dark comedy was demonstrated in a parody on City Lights'blind girl in the Amsterdam KleineKomedie. Carice is a great admirer ofAmerican silent comedies - particularly Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy - althoughshe can display an equally dramatic talent. In 2001 she made Minoes, in thetitle role of the cat-woman after Annie M.G. Schmidt. In the 2001-02 season shewon the main role in a theatre production of Schmidt's musical Foxtrot.
In April 2009 it was announced that Van Houtenwould star in Black Death by UK director Christopher Smith and in thehighly anticipated Dutch film Love Life (Komteenvrouwbij de dokter),based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Ray Kluun. She also starredin the Science-Fiction thriller Repo Men.
In July 2011, Van Houten was cast as the sorceress Melisandre in thesecond season of HBO's fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.
Trivia
Often plays in films ofdirector Martin Koolhoven, for whom she played the part that made her famous(Suzy Q (1999) (TV) ).
Is fluent in Dutch,English, German and French.
Sister of actress,singer and stage-designer Jelka van Houten.
Met former boyfriendSebastian Koch on the set of Black Book (2006).
Singin' in the Rain(1952) is her personal favorite movie of all time.
Went to St.Bonifatiuscollege in Utrecht.
Born to MargjeStasse,who is on board of the Dutch educational TV, and Theodore van Houten, a writerand broadcaster.
Played the character ofGretchen Ferris in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008), but all her scenes weredeleted in the final cut.
Is a WWF ambassadorsince 2009.
Scored a #1 hit in TheNetherlands with Dutch rock band Kane in 2010.
Personallife of Carice(Anouk) van Houten:
She was in a relationship with actor SebastianKoch, her co-star in Black Book. The couple announced they wereseparating in August 2009.
Carice has stated that Hollywood makes herunhappy: "I have seen Hollywood, and although I have nothing against it,it's not my kind of life. My agent is shocked that I want to stay inEurope", she says. "If Hollywood offers me a great part, of courseI'll take it, but I just don't want to live there."
PersonalQuotes of Carice(Anouk) van Houten:
Idon't do method acting. If I play a farmer I'm not gonna spend 3 weeks on achicken farm. That's a bit too much for me. For Minoes (in which she played acat in a woman's body) I didn't spend 3 weeks in a cat pound.
InThe Netherlands you know who the good and the bad are if I have to say it soblack and white. You can orientate yourself better in your own country. Hereeverything is overwhelming. It is very difficult to know who to trust here.
Tome, that's not the most difficult thing. To transform. I don't really see ithappen. I don't have the feeling I am transforming, really. I don't believe youcan get into somebody's character but more that somebody comes in you. You justuse yourself. In everything I play, I feel like it is me. I just say differentthings on different times and look different.
Ifyou are not in America fast enough, it must have failed. When there is anotherthing like, maybe I don't want to go to America. I mean, it's not SO greatthere anyway...
Onwhat foreign press wants to know: I think they're all waiting for a crazy storyabout Paul (Verhoeven), that he exploded once or something, but I keep tellingthem he's a sweet man so I keep letting them down. And what it's like to benaked on a set. They all think that's very exciting. I just answer that inHolland, it's weird not to be naked on a set so we're all used to it.
[About her scenes beingcut from Body of Lies (2008)] It sounds much more pitiful than it is. To behonest, I was wondering several times on set what my character was actuallyadding to the story.
Filmography of Carice(Anouk) van Houten:
3 ronden,Ivory Guardians,Suzy Q, Storm In MijnHoofd,AmnesiA, Undercover Kitty, The Wild Boar, Father's Affair, Black Swans, Lepel,Knetter, IkOmhels Je Met 1000 Armen, Black Book, Alles is Liefde, DorothyMills, Valkyrie, Komteenvrouwbij de dokter (Love Life), From Time to Time, RepoMen, De GelukkigeHuisvrouw, Black Death, Satisfaction, Intruders, BlackButterflies, Vivaldi, Game of Thrones,
Discography of Carice(Anouk) van Houten:
· Black Book (2007)
Awards
· GoldenCalf 1999: Best TV Actress – Suzy Q
· Camério(2002): Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
· GoldenCalf 2002: Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
· Artek(2005): Best Actress – Undercover Kitty
· GoldenCalf 2006: Best Actress – Black Book
· RembrandtAward 2009: Best Actress – Komteenvrouwbij de dokter
· TribecaFilm Festival 2011: Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film - BlackButterflies
Theatre Awards
· PisuissePrize (1999)
· TopNaeff Prize (2000)
OtherAwards
ELLE Personal StyleAward 2006
Regards;
VK Pandey
