stars I've seen in real life

1. Tilda Swinton

The iconoclastic gifts of the highly striking and ferociously talented actress Tilda Swinton have been appreciated by art house crowds and international audiences alike. After her stunning Oscar-winning turn as a high-powered corporate attorney in the George Clooney starring and critically-lauded ...

2. Julianne Moore

Actress | Far from Heaven

Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith in Fort Bragg, North Carolina on December 3, 1960, the daughter of Anne (Love), a social worker, and Peter Moore Smith, a paratrooper, colonel, and later military judge. Her mother moved to the U.S. in 1951, from Greenock, Scotland. Her father, from ...

3. Jodie Foster

Actress | The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...

4. Joseph Fiennes

Actor | Shakespeare in Love

Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is one of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Ralph Fiennes, an actor; Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus Fiennes, a...

5. Gael García Bernal

Actor | Mozart in the Jungle

Gael García Bernal was born in Guadalajara to Patricia Bernal, an actress/model & José Ángel García, an actor/director. His stepfather's cinematographer Sergio Yazbek. He began his acting career as a child, working w/ his parents in a variety of plays. At 14, he starred in a soap opera called El ...

6. Claire Danes

Actress | My So-Called Life

New Yorker Claire Catherine Danes was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Carla (Hall), a day-care provider and artist, and Christopher Danes, a computer consultant and photographer. She has an older brother, Asa. Her paternal grandfather, Gibson Andrew Danes, was a Dean of the Yale School of Art ...

7. Ewan McGregor

Actor | Moulin Rouge!

Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents ...

8. Liam Neeson

Actor | Kinsey

Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...

9. Daniel Day-Lewis

Actor | There Will Be Blood

Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the U.K., and his second wife, actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing ...

10. Holly Hunter

Actress | Broadcast News

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged her talent at an early age, and her first...

11. Jeremy Irons

Actor | Dead Ringers

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...

12. Cher

Actress | Moonstruck

The beat goes on ... and on ... and as strong as ever for this superstar entertainer who has well surpassed the half-century mark while improbably transforming herself from an artificial, glossy "flashionplate" singer into a serious, Oscar-worthy, dramatic actress ... and back again! With more ups ...

13. Franka Potente

Actress | Lola rennt

Franka Potente was born on 22 July 1974 in the German city of Münster, to Hildegard, a medical assistant, and Dieter Potente, a teacher, and raised in the nearby town of Dülmen. After her graduation in 1994, she went to the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule, a drama school in Munich, but soon broke off to ...

14. John Hurt

Actor | Nineteen Eighty-Four

One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend ...

15. Til Schweiger

Actor | Inglourious Basterds

Actor, producer, writer, and director Til Schweiger is Germany's best-known actor and also the country's most successful director. With more than 51 Million admissions no other German filmmaker drew more people to cinemas. He runs his own production company Barefoot Films based in Berlin, Germany.

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16. Pierce Brosnan

Actor | Mamma Mia!

Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left...

17. Paul Dano

Actor | There Will Be Blood

An actor for all seasons and all kinds of roles (from dark, difficult characters to more loving ones) Paul Dano has an extensive body work that includes working with directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Steve McQueen, Dayton & Ferris, Ang Lee, Denis Villenueve and Paolo Sorrentino; acting with ...

18. Jared Leto

Actor | Dallas Buyers Club

Jared Leto is a very familiar face in recent film history. Although he has always been the lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and songwriter for American band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto is an accomplished actor merited by the numerous, challenging projects he has taken in his life. He is known to be ...

19. Jennifer Jason Leigh

Actress | The Hateful Eight

Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Lee Morrow in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of writer Barbara Turner and actor Vic Morrow. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry. She is the sister of Carrie Ann Morrow and half-sister of actress Mina ...

20. Jason Lewis

Actor | Sex and the City

Jason Lewis has been entertaining audiences on stage and screen for over 20 years.

Jason is recognized globally for his iconic role as 'Smith Jerrod' Samantha's (Kim Cattrall) lovable, kind, boyfriend on HBO's groundbreaking comedy series, Sex and the City. He reprised his role in both feature films...

21. Brendan Fehr

Actor | Roswell

Brendan Fehr was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He and his two sisters were raised by his mother, a case manager at the Stony Mountain Correctional Institute. In Vancouver for a wedding in 1997, he dropped by Look Talent Management to inquire about quick-cash modelling assignments. Manager ...

22. Bruce Greenwood

Actor | Star Trek

Bruce Greenwood was born on August 12, 1956 in Noranda, Québec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek (2009), Thirteen Days (2000) and I, Robot (2004). He has been married to Susan Devlin since 1985. They have one child.

23. Mary Kay Place

Actress | Being John Malkovich

Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series....

24. Charlie Cox

Actor | The Theory of Everything

Charlie Thomas Cox was born in London, England, to Patricia C. A. (Harley) and Andrew Frederick Seaforth Cox, a publisher. He has English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, and descends from several prominent forebears (Baronets of Agnew and Carnegie, an Earl of Findlater, and a Colonial Governor of ...

25. Natalia Wörner

Actress | The Pillars of the Earth

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Natalia Wörner studied acting at the Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio in New York and began her stage career in Hamburg upon her return to Germany, She made her film debut in 1992, appearing in the feature film LENI as a young Jewish woman escaping Germany during the ...

26. Catherine Flemming

Actress | Wunderkinder

Catherine Flemming was born on February 2, 1967 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, German Democratic Republic. She is an actress and producer, known for Wunderkinder (2011), Victoria (2016) and Il giovane Casanova (2002).

27. Diane Kruger

Actress | Inglourious Basterds

Diane Kruger was born Diane Heidkrüger in Algermissen, near Hildesheim, Germany, to Maria-Theresa, a bank employee, and Hans-Heinrich Heidkrüger, a computer specialist. She studied ballet with the Royal Ballet in London before an injury ended her career. She returned to Germany and became a top ...

28. Heike Makatsch

Actress | Love Actually

Born on 13 August 1971 in Düsseldorf, Germany, as the daughter of former German national ice hockey keeper Rainer Makatsch. After studying politics and sociology at the University of Düsseldorf for two years and an apprenticeship as dressmaker, she was hired by newborn TV music channel VIVA in 1993...

29. Hannelore Elsner

Actress | Die Kommissarin

One of the pre-eminent divas of post-war German cinema, Hannelore Elsner (born 'Elstner') was the consummate actress: a gifted and versatile performer with a penchant for intense roles, often as emancipated, strong-willed women. A Bavarian engineer's daughter (her father died of tuberculosis when ...

30. Veronica Ferres

Actress | Crisis

After playing a lead role in Oscar and Golden Globe nominated movie "Schtonk!" by Helmut Dietl 1992, Veronica Ferres became one of the most well-known German actresses. She has worked in over one hundred and fifty feature films; more than thirty of which were American / English productions. Two ...

31. Thomas Heinze

Actor | Wilder Westen inclusive

Thomas Heinze was born on March 30, 1964 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Wilder Westen inclusive (1988), Marie Brand (2008) and Sources of Life (2013).

32. Matthias Schweighöfer

Actor | Army of the Dead

Grimme-Preis award winner, Matthias Schweighöfer, is one of Germany's most successful actors and is quickly becoming an international phenomenon.

Schweighöfer was most recently seen in Christopher Nolan's film, "Oppenheimer," Netflix's "Heart of Stone" opposite Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan and "The ...

33. Birgit Minichmayr

Actress | Der Untergang

Birgit Minichmayr was born on April 3, 1977 in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria. She is an actress, known for Downfall (2004), The White Ribbon (2009) and Everyone Else (2009).

34. Inga Busch

Actress | Polizeiruf 110

Inga Busch was born on January 25, 1968 in Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She is an actress, known for Police Call 110 (1971), Eine fast perfekte Liebe (1996) and I'm Your Man (2021).

35. Julia Jentsch

Actress | Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage

After school, Jentsch turned to acting. She attended the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Jentsch then began her acting career in the theater. In 2001 she joined the ensemble of the Munich Kammerspiele, where she masterfully interpreted Desdemona in Shakespeare's "Othello", Sophocles...

36. Suzanne von Borsody

Actress | Lola rennt

Suzanne von Borsody was born on September 23, 1957 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Run Lola Run (1998), Beate S. (1979) and Das eine Glück und das andere (1980). She has been married to Jens Schniedenharn since April 2014.

37. Senta Berger

Actress | Unter Verdacht

Senta Berger was born in 1941 in Vienna, Austria to her father Josef Berger who was a musician and her mother Therese Berger, a school teacher. Senta and her father performed together when she was just four years old. She sang and her dad played the piano. At five years old, she took ballet lessons...

38. Benjamin Sadler

Actor | Luther

Benjamin Sadler was born on February 12, 1971 in Toronto, Canada. He is an actor, known for Luther (2003), The Charlemagne Code (2008) and Augustus: The First Emperor (2003).

39. Detlev Buck

Actor | Männerpension

Directed his first movie at the age of 21. Studied at the 'Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie' (DFFB) til 1989. Founded the Boje Buck Filmproduktion in 1991. Founded the Boje Buck Produktion GmbH together with Claus Boje in 1992.

40. Joachim Król

Actor | Der bewegte Mann

Joachim Król was born on June 17, 1957 in Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He is an actor, known for Maybe... Maybe Not (1994), Tatort (1970) and Run Lola Run (1998).

41. Max Tidof

Actor | Comedian Harmonists

Max Tidof was born on March 18, 1960 in Polch, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for The Harmonists (1997), Vergeßt Mozart (1985) and Körner und Köter (2002). He has been married to Lisa Seitz since 1989. They have one child.

42. Peter Lohmeyer

Actor | Allein gegen die Zeit

Peter Lohmeyer was born on January 22, 1962 in Niedermarsberg, Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for 13 Hours: Race Against Time (2010), Train Birds (1998) and Soul Kitchen (2009). He was previously married to Sarah Wiener.

43. Marion Kracht

Actress | Diese Drombuschs

Marion Kracht was born on December 5, 1962 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Diese Drombuschs (1983), Derrick (1974) and Buddenbrooks (1979). She has been married to Berthold Manns since December 2004. They have two children.

44. Siemen Rühaak

Actor | Die Gerichtsreporterin

Siemen Rühaak was born on May 16, 1950 in Osteel, Lower Saxony, Germany. He is an actor, known for Die Gerichtsreporterin (1994), Alle meine Töchter (1995) and Doppelter Einsatz (1994). He has been married to Margrit Sartorius since 2009. They have one child.