Franka Potente was born on 22 July 1974 in the German town of Dülmen, to Hildegard, a medical assistant, and Dieter Potente, a teacher. After her graduation in 1994, she went to the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule, a drama school in Munich, but soon broke off to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. After a notable debut in Dans la forêt vierge après cinq heures (1995), the role of the heroine in Cours, Lola, cours (1998), directed by her then longtime companion Tom Tykwer was her national breakthrough. After some other successful movies in Germany, she starred in several Hollywood productions, most prominently La mémoire dans la peau (2002) and La mort dans la peau (2004) and lived one year in Los Angeles. After her return to Berlin, she continues working with German and international directors.
