Famke Janssen explains her struggles to avoid stereotypes in Hollywood

Revealing the problems she faced before and after becoming the Bond girl, Famke Janssen said that she knew her work was going to cut out.

In a recent interview with Fox News, the Dutch actress stated that she learned to avoid being typecast long before she took on the role that catapulted her to stardom.

"I started out as a model even before I became an actress," she said. "Then I tried to get away from the stereotype of a model-turned-actress by quitting at the height of my career and going to Columbia University. And then I turned to acting, thinking that I could start clean. It didn't exactly happen that way."

 

Even though she started out in independent films first, her biggest break was 1995's 007 film 'GoldenEye.' That was the part of what was considered to be a Bond girl, as Soviet assassin Xenia Onatopp. "I thought, 'OK, we now have another hurdle to overcome. Now I have to get past that stigma," she explained.

After 'GoldenEye,' Janssen became a megastar. However, she said she turned down numerous scripts to avoid being labelled as just another big screen femme fatale.

"I didn't want to do anything with guns," she recalled. "And I think people thought of me like this weird foreigner. They couldn't really place where I was from and I had this weird name. Then I thought, 'OK, let me do the most American type of things that I can think of.' So that became my focus after a while."

Then, instead of pursuing more blockbusters, Janssen tackled independent roles, which let her tell different stories but that just lasted until she decided to become a superhero in 2000 as Jean Grey in the Marvel film 'X-Men.' She reprised the role in four sequels, from 2003 until 2014.

"The roles I've been asked to play have nothing to do with me personally. And I try to do different things all the time. Whether or not people see them or acknowledge it, that's out of my control. But I try," she said.

On the work front, the 54-year-old actor will be next seen in 'Asher' alongside Ron Perlmanand Richard Dreyfuss. The story explores how an ageing hitman (Perlman) learns to redeem himself.