JANSSEN, FAMKE

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

(November 5, 1964–     ): Dutch beauty who portrayed Xenia Zaragevna Onatopp, the larger-than-life psychotic assassin in GoldenEye. Costumed by Lindy Hemming, Janssen is stunning as the top killer for crime boss Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean). Onatopp has a black-widow streak in bed—she crushes her lovers with her “killer thighs.” She even draws some blood when she kisses Bond in the steam room. Tall, athletic, and deliciously murderous, she’s definitely one of the great Bond villainesses—ranking right up there with Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) in Thunderball and Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) in Never Say Never Again.

Born in Amstelveen, Noord-Holland, Janssen made her motion picture debut as Kyle Christian in writer/director Paul Mones’s dramatic thriller Fathers & Sons (1992). Her post-GoldenEye credits include House on Haunted Hill (1999) and Love & Sex (2000), and she’s starred in three Taken movies as Liam Neeson’s ex-wife, Lenore, and five X-Men films as Jean Grey/Phoenix.

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app