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Alexandra Maria Lara
Born	Alexandra Plătăreanu November 12, 1978 (1978-11-12) (age 29) Bucharest, Romania

Alexandra Maria Lara (born Alexandra Plătăreanu on November 12, 1978) is an ethnic Romanian actress living in Germany. She performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of historical and crime films. Lara is best known for her roles in Control (2007), Youth Without Youth (2007), Nackt (2002), Downfall (2004), and About the Looking for and the Finding of Love (2005).

Biography

Early life

Born in Bucharest, Lara is the only child of Valentin Plătăreanu, a Bucharest actor, and his wife, Doina, a homemaker. At the age of four (in 1983) her family decided to flee to West Germany to escape from the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime in Communist Romania. Although the family had originally planned to emigrate to Canada, they settled down in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, before eventually moving to Berlin.

After graduating at the Französisches Gymnasium Berlin in 1997, Lara went on studying acting under the management of her father, co-founder of the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg, until 2000.

Career

By the age of 16 she was already playing lead roles in various television dramas. Since then her career has developed and she has become a respected film actress.

Her most famous role to date, which has resulted in international recognition, is as Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler's secretary in the Oscar Nominated 2004 film Der Untergang.

Due to her convincing performance in Der Untergang, Francis Ford Coppola wrote her a letter and gave her a leading role in Youth Without Youth (2007).

She plays a lead role in Greek director Theo Angelopoulos's 2007 film The Dust of Time, opposite Harvey Keitel and Bruno Ganz.

Also in 2007, she appeared as journalist Annik Honoré in the film Control, the Ian Curtis biopic. In 2008, she served as a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury.

Partial filmography

• Sperling und der falsche Freund (1997)
• Südsee, eigene Insel (1999)
• Vertrauen ist alles (2000)
• Fisimatenten (2000)
• Der Tunnel (2001)
• Honolulu (2001)
• Leo und Claire (2001)
• Liebe und Verrat (2002, TV)
• Was nicht passt, wird passend gemacht (2002)
• 99 Euro Films (2002)
• Napoléon (2002)
• Doctor Zhivago (2002)
• Schleudertrauma (2002)
• Nackt (2002)
• Der Wunschbaum (2004)
• Leise Krieger (2004)
• Der Untergang (The Downfall) (2004)
• Cowgirl (2004)
• Trenck (2003)
• Offset (2005)
• Der Fischer und seine Frau (2005)
• Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe (2005)
• Wo ist Fred? (2006)
• I Really Hate My Job (2007)
• Control (2007)
• The Company (2007)
• Youth Without Youth (2007)
• The City of Your Final Destination (2008)
• Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
• The Dust of Time (2008)
• The Reader (2008)

External links

• (German) Official website
• Alexandra Maria Lara at the Internet Movie Database
• (German) Interview