Why Marie From The Bourne Movies Looks So Familiar

As the 1990s turned into the 2000s, Matt Damon started his metamorphosis from the dramatically talented Good Will Hunting guy to a legitimate blockbuster movie presence. The transformation had already started with 2001's Ocean's Eleven, but his role as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity truly cemented him as a viable A-list action man. Though the first movie originally almost killed off Jason Bourne, it turned into a series of largely amazing Bourne movies, several of them arguably better than the original.     

The Bourne Identity, of course, tells the story of a man who wakes up with no memories and two bullet holes in his back. He quickly finds out that he has the espionage and combat skills of a lethal super spy, and tracks down a number of hidden resources before embarking on a quest to find his real identity — and the identity of the people trying to kill him. The movie features a lot of famous faces, from Damon himself to Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Clive Owen, Walton Goggins, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. The actress playing Bourne's hired driver and eventual romantic interest, Marie Kreutz, is no exception, though you might initially find it difficult to figure out where else you've seen her. Don't worry. We've got you covered.

Here's why Marie from the Bourne movies looks so familiar.

German actress Franka Potente arrived on the global cinematic scene in 1998, when she starred as the titular Lola in Run Lola Run (also known by its German name, Lola Rennt). The fast-paced, fantastical thriller opens when the main character's lover, petty criminal Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), calls her and informs her that he's lost a bag of cash he was delivering to a crime boss, and that they have 20 minutes to come up with the money. From that point on, the film is a frenetic chase to replace or find the lost cash, with events resetting every time the pair's desperate plans go awry.   

Per IMDb, the artistic and ambitious Run Lola Run ran the gamut of prestigious award ceremonies both at home and abroad, raking in prizes like the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Foreign Film honors at the Independent Spirit Awards. Potente herself took home the 1998 Bambi Award for Best Actress. As such, while Lola wasn't her first role, this movie is a pretty excellent place to start if you're looking to get acquainted with Potente's filmography. 

Potente started attracting international interest after her breakthrough role in Run Lola Run, and in 2001, she was already starring opposite popular Hollywood A-listers like Penélope Cruz and less popular A-listers like Johnny Depp. Ted Demme's crime biopic Blow tells the story of George Jung (Depp), a pilot who starts smuggling drugs for Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel, and becomes his top trafficker before his eventual, dramatic downfall. 

Potente plays the role of Barbara Buckley, a flight attendant who acts as Jung's initial contact point to the criminal underbelly, as well as romantic interest and an important part of his inner circle in the comparatively innocent early days when Jung only smuggles marijuana. Unfortunately, she eventually dies of cancer, and with her gone, Jung pivots hard for the dark side.

In a 2009 interview with Contact Music, Potente revealed that the most difficult part of her role was the American accent. "This constant control of the language that you normally never think of was really getting on my nerves," she said. "The dialect coach had this tiny head and these huge headphones, then after every scene [I'd get notes]." In fact, she found one particular scene so difficult that she had to resort to a shot of Jägermeister to calm her nerves. 

Apart from her appearances in high-profile movies, Potente also has a huge back catalog of TV roles. Her C.V. includes appearances on famous shows ranging from The Shield and House to Psych and Dark Matter, as well as larger roles in series like FX's The Bridge (in which she plays cartel associate Eleanor Nacht) and Netflix's Taboo (Helga the brothel madam). One of her most recent and memorable TV roles came in 2018, when she joined the second season of TNT's comedic nail salon crime drama Claws. 

Potente plays the delightfully villainous Zlata Ostrovsky who, in her very first appearance, nets a pretty impactful kill (we won't spoil it). Though she initially acts as a friendly and generous figure to the Nail Artisans gang, she eventually reveals her ruthless and manipulative nature to Desna (Niecy Nash). Fortunately for the main characters — but unfortunately for Franka Potente's fans — Desna's brother Dean (Harold Perrineau) takes care of her in a pretty definitive way.

It isn't always easy for a foreign actress to break into Hollywood, but Potente has certainly made things happen for herself to our collective benefit.