Carice Anouk van Houten (Dutch pronunciation: [kaˑˈris ɑˈnuk vɑn ˈɦʌu̯tə(n)]; born 5 September 1976) is a Dutch actress and singer. She is best known for her role in Black Book (2006), the most commercially successful Dutch film to date. Internationally, she is also known for English language work in films like Valkyrie (2008), Repo Men (2010), Black Death (2010), and the TV series Game of Thrones in which she has played the role of Melisandre since 2012.A highly acclaimed actress in the Netherlands, she has won five Golden Calf Awards for Best Actress for her roles in Suzy Q (1999), Undercover Kitty (2001), Black Book (2006), The Happy Housewife (2010) and Black Butterflies (2011). In the US she received two Saturn Award nominations.As a singer, Van Houten released a pop-rock album entitled See You on the Ice in 2012. She is the older sister of fellow actress Jelka van Houten.
Rembrandt Award, Golden Calf for Best Actress, Golden Calf for Best Actress in a Television Drama, Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best Actress, Rembrandt Award, Golden Calf for Best Actress, Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best Actress, Golden Calf for Best Actress in a Television Drama
Nominations
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, European Film Award for Best Actress, German Film Award for Best Leading Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, European Film Award for Best Actress, Germ...
Movies
Black Book, Valkyrie, Black Butterflies, Incarnate, Repo Men, Black Death, Undercover Kitty, Intruders, The Fifth Estate, Brimstone, The Happy Housewife, Dorothy Mills, Race, Stricken, Love is All, From Time to Time, Ik Omhels Je Met 1000 Armen, Family Way, Father's Affair, Lepel, Black Swans, Jacki...
TV Shows
Game of Thrones, In therapie, Kopspijkers, Russen, Het Labyrint, Koppensnellers, Luifel & Luifel, Acteurs, De, Game of Thrones, In therapie, Kopspijkers, Russen, Het Labyrint, Koppensnellers, Luifel & Luifel, Acteurs, De
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Quote
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[on portraying Melisandre in 'Game of Thrones'] Playing evil is just not interesting. I don't think anyone who does evil stuff thinks they're doing evil stuff. That's the scary part. The people who do things we despise or don't understand - they think they're doing a good thing, which is so scary. I think that is the only way for me to play her, because otherwise I'm fighting with her.
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[on the chance that her character in 'Game of Thrones' might die] It's sad if you get killed off, but it's also the fun part. It's like roulette. It's easier for me to say this because I have magical powers, which make it harder for the writers to kill me off. But I have a feeling that I won't get away with anything.
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[on her career, 2014] I'm not as keen on playing in the American big leagues. There's so much more to my life than being in a big American movie. I'm a singer and working on my second album. I write and produce. There is so much more that satisfies me. I will never become an American movie star. I'm a European actress that is lucky to be in a show like ['Game of Thrones'].
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[on the 'Game of Thrones' genre] It has made me more open to fantasy. It's so much richer than I thought it would be. You can easily write it off as Disney for grownups, but it's great that this comes from someone's brain, and tickles your imagination. I can see now why the geeks have been geeky about it.
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I do this acing thing mostly for myself. I like to make a connection and communicate with the audience to make myself feel less lonely.
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There is a saying that doesn't translate well, but it goes something like 'act normal because you are crazy enough'.
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[About her scenes being cut from Body of Lies (2008)] It sounds much more pitiful than it is. To be honest, I was wondering several times on set what my character was actually adding to the story.
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On what foreign press wants to know: I think they're all waiting for a crazy story about Paul (Verhoeven), that he exploded once or something, but I keep telling them he's a sweet man so I keep letting them down. And what it's like to be naked on a set. They all think that's very exciting. I just answer that in Holland, it's weird not to be naked on a set so we're all used to it.
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If you are not in America fast enough, it must have failed. When there is another thing like, maybe I don't want to go to America. I mean, it's not SO great there anyway...
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To me, that's not the most difficult thing. To transform. I don't really see it happen. I don't have the feeling I am transforming, really. I don't believe you can get into somebody's character but more that somebody comes in you. You just use yourself. In everything I play, I feel like it is me. I just say different things on different times and look different.
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In The Netherlands you know who the good and the bad are if I have to say it so black and white. You can orientate yourself better in your own country. Here everything is overwhelming. It is very difficult to know who to trust here.
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I don't do method acting. If I play a farmer I'm not gonna spend 3 weeks on a chicken farm. That's a bit too much for me. For Minoes (in which she played a cat in a woman's body) I didn't spend 3 weeks in a cat pound.
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Fact
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(March 19, 2016) Expecting her 1st child with her boyfriend Guy Pearce.
Was considered for the role of Michelle in Elle (2016).
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Her paternal grandmother, Sarah Currie Lockhart, was Scottish.
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Has starred in three movies that have the word "black" in the title: Black Book (2006), aka "Black Book", Black Death (2010) and Black Butterflies (2011).
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She was approached to play the role of "Cersei Lannister" in Game of Thrones (2011), but refused, due to schedule conflicts with Intruders (2011), and the role went to Lena Headey. In season 2, she was cast as "Melisandre".
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She is named after the daughter of the English composer, Sir Edward Elgar, due to the fact that Carice's father was investigating the secret of "Elgars Enigma Variations".
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Scored a #1 hit in The Netherlands with Dutch rock band, Kane, in 2010.
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Is a WWF ambassador since 2009.
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Played the character of Gretchen Ferris in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008), but all her scenes were deleted in the final cut.
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Born to Margje Stasse, who is on board of the Dutch educational TV, and Theodore van Houten, a writer and broadcaster.
$5 Million
