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Famke Janssen: Men are threatened by me in Hollywood

Oct 3, 2012, 10:01 GMT

Famke Janssen

Famke Janssen says men are 'threatened' by her in Hollywood.

The 47-year-old actress - who played Bond Girl Xenia Onatopp in 1995 movie 'GoldenEye' - believes some male actors in the industry don't feel comfortable in her presence but she refuses to change the way she is just to please guys.

She said: 'My boyfriend [Cole Frates] says men get threatened by me and I notice it sometimes. I've seen women dumb themselves down in order to deal with men in Hollywood. I've never done it. I don't know how to, I'm too Dutch. I think we're way too straightforward as people to do that.'

Famke recently reprised her role in 'Taken 2', which sees her play the ex of Liam Neeson's alter-ego, who is still in love with her, and she enjoyed working with the 60-year-old actor again because he is 'so talented and handsome'.

She explained: 'Oh my God, fantastic. He is so talented and handsome and tall. As a tall actress, it's not easy to find people you can actually look up to rather than look down on. In the story, he's married to his work and I think that would be problematic in a relationship.

'But Liam is one of my favourites. I am not supposed to say that but it is true. He's very clever in how he has reinvented himself as an action hero. It's the only way to sustain yourself in this business because there are millions of people fighting for your place.'

Famke got her big break in 'GoldenEye' and admits she was about to quit acting until she landed the role of Xenia, and while the part saved her career, she didn't want to be typecast in similar roles.

She added to Metro newspaper: 'It changed everything. What preceded it were years of struggling and being turned down in Hollywood for every imaginable reason. I was just about to give it up when I got 'GoldenEye'.

'After that, I had to say, 'OK, but I'm really not dumb and I am really not Russian and I don't want to have a career playing this type of role.' So I focused on independent films but did studio ones, too.'