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Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Actress Diane Kruger reveals the 'ultimate gift' that changed her life
Six years ago, Diane Kruger had an epiphany while at a showbiz party in New York. 'I thought, 'What am I actually here for?' Working as a model and actor I had attended so many amazing functions but the time comes when you say, 'Perhaps there might be something else out there for me.'' That same year, at the age of 42, something else did come along: her daughter, Nova. 'I was lucky. I had enough financial security – I thought, 'What else is there in my life I could possibly want or need?' Then Nova arrived when I needed her the most. She was the ultimate gift from life.' Kruger, now 48, is today relaxing in pink leggings and a black sweatshirt at her home in Manhattan, New York. Nova is at school. Her partner, and Nova's dad, actor Norman Reedus, 56, is away filming a spin-off of The Walking Dead, the series that made him globally famous. All seems well, yet she tells me that for a long time she had zero intention of becoming a mother. 'I wanted to have a career and travel and not have attachments – to go to every party and not feel like I had responsibilities. And whether you like it or not, a baby takes over your world. So I didn't want children for a very long time.' Kruger is now starring in Little Disasters, a six-part Paramount+ adaptation of British writer Sarah Vaughan's 2020 novel of the same name. The challenges of motherhood are at the forefront of her mind because the show is about a well-heeled London family struggling with the demands of raising three young children. Kruger plays perfectionist stay-at-home mother Jess. When her youngest child suffers an unexplained head injury, on duty at the hospital that day is one of her best friends, doctor Liz (played by Jo Joyner), who is forced to call social services. Cue police and social workers descending on a tight-knit group of friends in a highly bingeable TV drama of suspicion and counter-suspicion. Kruger and her family rented a house in West London while filming; she likes the capital and happily sent Nova off to summer camps in the countryside, but says London traffic 'is the worst in the world'. At the centre of Little Disasters are the constant judgments thrown at mothers everywhere. It turns out these are even faced by Hollywood stars. 'At the drop-off it's, 'Why isn't this kid dressed appropriately?' or 'Looks like the nanny is dropping her off again,'' says Kruger. 'At the same time the community of mothers I belong to is incredibly supportive. I couldn't be the mother I am without them.' Before meeting Reedus in 2015, Kruger had been in a ten-year relationship with American actor Joshua Jackson, better known as Pacey in the celebrated 1990s teen drama Dawson's Creek. They split as her 40th birthday approached. By that time, she says, she'd changed her mind about kids. Even if she hadn't started dating Reedus (they met on the set of 2015 romantic drama Sky) she was prepared to have a child on her own. 'Oh yeah, for sure. I would have done it alone. But I didn't and, actually, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing your little girl with her dad.' Born Diane Heidkruger in Algermissen, a small north German town, her own father Hans-Heinrich was a computer engineer, an alcoholic and frequently absent; he and her mother Maria-Theresa had a messy break-up when Kruger was 13 (she has a younger brother, Stefan). 'My father was not very present so to see the relationship they [Reedus and Nova] have is one of the great pleasures of my life,' she says. From a young age, she was driven and ambitious: in 1988, aged 11, she travelled to the Royal Ballet School in London to train as a dancer (without her parents, who had also sent her alone for English lessons in Dorset during school holidays). Then a knee injury sustained during training required two metal plates, ending her dancing career (and still today causing her trouble in damp weather). Two years after that, in 1992, she was chosen to represent Germany at Elite Model Look, an annual modelling competition that had launched Gisele Bündchen and Cindy Crawford. She didn't win but stayed in Paris as a 15-year-old. 'Yes, I was alone. At the time they had an apartment block where young models could rent a room. I did that for six months and then rented my own apartment.' It's striking that Kruger worries about Nova crossing the road, yet she lived in another country while so young. 'The world was different,' she says. 'It didn't feel odd. I grew up to be independent and I couldn't wait to start my life. I was dying to get out of that little village. I arrived in Paris thinking, 'I have got to be successful.' We were not a wealthy family, and I didn't have any money; I had to make it work. But yes, even though we have cellphones now I would still freak out if Nova got lost on the way home from school even for five minutes!' When Kruger was a teenager in Paris, her mother warned her that if she heard about any misbehaviour she'd have to come home. She also told her daughter she didn't think she would make a very good model. 'And my mother wasn't wrong – I'm 5ft 7in so not some Amazon that blows everyone away when she enters a room,' she says. Yet she soon wound up modelling for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Dior – and, more importantly, she found an influential backer. Fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld lived a few streets away from Kruger's Paris apartment and the fellow German took her under his wing. 'He was an amazing man. Larger than life, and I seem to be drawn to people like that. So big and unapologetic about what he thought and I always admire those types. He was a genius whether you like Chanel or not.' (Lagerfeld was the fashion house's creative director for 35 years.) Kruger didn't have a close relationship with her father for obvious reasons, so does that explain why she is drawn to fatherly types? After all, when she eventually became an actor, she was similarly enthralled by demanding but loyal director Quentin Tarantino (Kruger appeared in his 2009 war caper Inglourious Basterds). 'No, I don't think it was a father thing in that sense. It was more that he saw me… Karl saw something interesting in me when I didn't see it myself,' she says. 'I always felt validated by him. And Quentin too is this powerful force who makes you part of his vision. He is a character, for sure, but I had the best time working with him.' (Kruger famously came to the director's defence in 2018 after he told her, on the set of Inglourious Basterds, that he needed to 'cut off your air and see the reaction in your face' to demonstrate how Christoph Waltz's character should throttle her.) She has previously described her attraction to Reedus in similar terms, as her 'teenage dream of a man', and being drawn to his masculinity. 'With Norman the attraction is that he is so sure of who he is. Yes, I find that attractive and not just in men. The acting business can be flighty – people are always chasing the latest fad or fashion – and he isn't like that. I love that about him.' Reedus has said he tried to propose while on a motorcycle trip in the state of Georgia but was scuppered by a thunderstorm, and so eventually popped the question at home when they and their daughter were snuggled up in bed. They have been engaged since 2021 – is there a date for the wedding? She shrugs. 'No, not really. I dunno… we'll see.' Kruger is charming and easy to talk to, but also tough. You sense that if she doesn't like something she'll say so. No wonder that, by her early 20s, she had decided modelling was 'the most boring thing I've ever done' and put herself through acting school at the private Le Cours Florent drama school in Paris. She beat off 3,000 other hopefuls to land the role of Helen in the 2004 blockbuster Troy, alongside Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt ('a total dream to work with'). But some reviews were scathing. A New York Times critic dismissed Kruger as 'too beautiful to play a role of any substance'. 'And she was a female writer so she should have known better than to judge on appearance, right?' says Kruger. 'If anything it made me want to be even better and more ambitious. It was a long time ago but I remember being really shocked.' Other aspects of filming were more unpleasant. She told Variety in 2022 that she had 'felt like meat' while being looked up and down by an unnamed studio director at an audition and had 'definitely come across the Weinsteins of this world from the get-go'. When Kruger first started out 'it just felt like, 'This is what Hollywood is like,'' she said. 'Also, I come from modelling and believe me, [men in that industry] have their moments.' And now? 'I think it's better,' she tells me. 'There's always room for improvement. It's not one battle per se. I recently did a show with a 25-year-old French actress, and I asked her whether she'd ever experienced directors overstepping – she said it had never happened to her. They wouldn't dare! Young girls are much more outspoken now. When I was in my mid-20s there was no one to talk to – you just had to be aware.' Little Disasters shows how far she has come. There's hardly a scene where she isn't assailed by her own demons, being bawled at by her husband or facing down cops and social workers. Kruger found playing embattled Jess exhausting, yet she was drawn to the role because, well, motherhood changes you. 'In every way and for good and bad. It takes a long time for a mum to find herself again after having a child. It took a good two years to get back to being me. My priorities changed. 'For example, I hated school – I went to Catholic school which was strict – so I tell Nova school is only there to help you find what you want in life, not the other way round.' The characters in Little Disasters are burdened by work stress, redundancy, alcohol issues and fertility problems – it's not a glowing advert for prospective parenthood. And this seems to be a prevailing theme in the zeitgeist. No wonder the 27-year-old singer Chappell Roan recently said that she didn't know any parents who were happy. 'I would have been a terrible parent at 27,' says Kruger crisply. 'I see where Chappell Roan is coming from but for myself that's not true. Becoming a parent is pure joy and the most wonderful thing in life. You get to curate a new life. But yes, it can be scary, too, because you are responsible for another human being. Every time they cross the street on their own – what if they died? Those thoughts are in your head. And how many more summers will they hang out with you?' Is Nova aware that her parents are famous? 'Norman gets stopped by fans in the street who want pics. She's aware of dad being very famous.' Is Nova keen on acting? 'She hates being on stage for a school recital. At this point she wants to be a vet.' Kruger is currently filming another tough role, in Each Of Us, about four women in the Ravensbrück concentration camp during the Second World War. Then there is her starring role as Marlene Dietrich in an eagerly anticipated five-part TV production. ('Still in the works,' she says.) She and Reedus can pursue their careers because, luckily, Kruger's mum is now Nova's nanny: 'As any parent knows, not having childcare weighing on you every day is a special thing.' But there is something else, too. After her childhood, Kruger has been able to find some closure: 'Me and my mum's relationship has got a lot better since she became Nova's nanny,' she says. 'Don't forget I left home at 15 so we didn't get those years when you become friends with your parents and hang out… 'I left as a child and quickly became a grown-up who didn't need any help from them. Now I am so grateful. I can see how she did her best.' Kruger confidential AI: terrific or terrifying? Both in equal measure. Your idea of holiday hell A cruise. Go-to karaoke song 'The Lady In Red'. Last piece of clothing you bought A lacy blouse by Dôen. Spotify song of last year Taylor Swift, 'Look What You Made Me Do' – by popular request from my daughter. Last thing you took a photo of and sent to someone My mischievous cat. Film that makes you cry E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Word you most overuse F**k. Astrology: believe it or bin it? When it's a good prediction I believe it. Favourite beauty product Chanel Les Beiges water foundation. Last thing you lost My left bicycle glove – so annoying. Go-to breakfast Toast and jam. Site you spend most time on YouTube for Gabby's Dollhouse. Best teeth in Hollywood?
Geek Culture
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
Win A Trip To Taipei For Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2!
Calling all aspiring Porters! It's time to stack those cargo crates and prepare for the long walk ahead as the launch of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach , the hotly anticipated follow-up to Kojima Productions' hit 2019 adventure epic, is just around the corner and slated to arrive on 26 June 2025. Before returning as Sam Porter Bridges to reconnect the fragmented remnants of humanity and heal a broken world, fans can stand a chance to be part of the DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 TAIPEI, by not only immersing themselves in a celebration of the game, but also meeting the legends behind the upcoming blockbuster – game creator Hideo Kojima and art director Yoji Shinkawa! In Death Stranding 2: On the Beach , players embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA aka United Cities of America as Sam, with companions by his side, sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees the return of Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Troy Baker to Hideo Kojima's genre-defying game universe, joined by Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Academy Award-winning film director George Miller. Want to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience? Courtesy of PlayStation Asia, Geek Culture is sending 1 worthy winner in Singapore to the Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2 Taipei, encompassing a round-trip flight ticket, a two-night hotel stay, and entry to the event itself happening on 6 July 2025. Fans in Southeast Asia will also get a chance to win a trip to Taipei as PlayStation Asia is also running a contest till 20 June. Taipei is the 7th stop for the 12-country tour beginning on 8 June in Los Angeles and ending in November in Lucca. You'll just have to pre-order a physical copy of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Standard Edition or Collector's Edition) and answer a question below to stand a chance to win. Location: Ximen Westar, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Hanzhong St. Ximen Westar, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Hanzhong St. Date: 6 July 2025 6 July 2025 Time: 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm Note: The Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2 Taipei will be conducted in Mandarin. Are you ready to take on your most exciting delivery yet? You'll first have to pre-order physical Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Standard Edition or Collector's Edition) from any retailer in Singapore, and upload your proof of purchase in the form below. For a chance to win a trip to the Death Stranding World Strand Tour 2 Taipei, simply complete these steps: SHARE THIS POST and TAG a friend or more** to share your love for Hideo Kojima and Death Stranding . FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM and/or TELEGRAM**. PRE-ORDER a physical copy of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Standard Edition or Collector's Edition) in Singapore and upload your proof of purchase. Fill in the form and answer the question(s) below. Give us a LIKE below if you haven't done so yet, so you won't miss out on future similar giveaways! The giveaway is open to all residents of Singapore. The giveaway closes on 20 June 2025 @23:59hrs (GMT+8). 1 lucky winner with a valid receipt and the best answer will be picked and contacted via email by 22 June 2025. Good luck! **These steps are entirely optional, but we greatly appreciate it if you choose to show some support to Geek Culture by sharing and tagging the post so that we may be able to bring more giveaways to you all in the future ! Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Geek Tyrant
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
New Clip From BALLERINA Features Ana de Armas and Norman Reedus Under Attack — GeekTyrant
Lionsgate has released an action-packed clip from the John Wick spinoff film, Ballerina , and it features Ana de Armas and Norman Reedus come under attack by a squad of bad guys who are clearly trying to kill them. In the film, 'Eve Macarro is a young woman training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma. However, when she discovers the truth behind her family's murder, she embarks on a one-woman mission to avenge her fallen loved ones or die trying. 'She'll be forced to face some of the deadliest assassins the world has to offer and things quickly go from bad to worse when her own people have a put a hit on her head, and have sent the one-and-only John Wick (Keanu Reeves) to take her out... permanently.' The movie is set between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4 , and the story focuses on a young female assassin named Eve Macarro, who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. There are some pretty kickass action sequences teased in this trailer and it looks like Eve's weapon of choice is going to be a flamethrower. But, I'm excited to see her face off with Wick! When talking about the film, Armas said: 'I'm very proud of it. It's really exciting. It's dangerous, it's sexy, it's very John Wick. I think people are going to be surprised. I'm biased. Of course, I like the movie, but I think it's really cool. It's going to be amazing." The movie was directed by Len Wiseman, and franchise director and producerChad Stahelski was brought in later for some reshoots, and to add some more insane action. The spinoff is scheduled to open in theaters on June 6th.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Diane Kruger: ‘I turned down films involving Nazis'
Diane Kruger has avoided looking at the trailer for her new TV show, Little Disasters. She plays a wealthy, overstretched new mother, Jess, who is under investigation by social services after her baby daughter is taken to hospital with an unexplained head injury, and it's fair to say she spends much of the tautly filmed, largely London-set series appearing pinched with stress. 'I look terrible,' she corrects. 'Obviously it's deliberate: my colour palette on the show was 'death row'. But to look 10 times worse when you emerge from make-up than when you went in – it really f--ks with your head. So on the weekends during filming I had zero problem saying: 'I'm going to spend an hour in the bathroom putting on make up and I'm going to look great.'' This is a surprise. Many famous actresses who are acclaimed for their appearance (the German-born Kruger, 48, twice appeared on the Maxim Hot 100 list during the Noughties) aren't too keen on talking about it. 'These days, when someone says to me 'Oh you are beautiful', then I really hear it. And I thank them for saying it. I love getting dressed up. Because when I was younger I felt as though I wasn't always allowed to be one hundred per cent [beautiful]. It always felt like I had to [prove I was more]. It feels good to be looked at.' She's talking via Zoom from New York where the actress lives part of the year with her American husband, the Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus, and their six-year-old daughter Nova. She's dressed down in cream leisure wear, blond hair neatly tied back. She exudes effortless gloss, and she knows better than anyone the extent to which her genetics have both helped and hindered her career. In 2006, the New York Times critic Manohla Dargis dismissed her as 'too beautiful to play a role of any substance', following Kruger 's breakthrough performance as Helen in Troy, Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 star-studded, megabucks spin on the Iliad. 'I got that part because of the way I looked and I am sure I got other parts because of the way I looked, and I have made a career out of endorsement deals because of the way I look,' she says furiously. 'So when I was younger I was very conscious of my face being a way of getting a foot inside the door.' She stops for breath. 'But, that review was below the belt and it's stuck with me ever since. I couldn't believe that another woman, who was probably two or three times my age, would write that about an actress just starting out. And I've tried very hard to avoid being typecast, because there was a real risk after Troy that it might happen.' And so here we are, discussing a two-decade career encompassing action thrillers, Tarantino comedy, European arthouse, a Cannes-winning turn in the German political thriller In The Fade, David Cronenberg's forthcoming film The Shrouds and, now, a Big Little Lies-style psychological whodunnit. Little Disasters, also starring Jo Joyner, is both a sharply observed portrait of competitive middle-class parenting and a compassionate study of a woman cracking under the pressures of a newborn. Kruger gives a fierce performance of a perfectionist mother of three who has struggled to bond with her infant daughter. 'Within the community of mothers you can find incredible support, but also incredible judgment,' she says. Kruger grew up in a tiny Catholic town outside Hanover in West Germany and as a child trained to be a ballerina. 'My dad was an alcoholic, so it was always very tumultuous,' she says. 'Ballet felt like the only way, to not escape it necessarily, but to feel it. I was able to put all those emotions into a physical performance.' A knee injury put paid to her dreams, so when she won an Elite Model contest, she leapt at the chance to move to Paris. It was the mid-1990s, the modelling scene was wild and Kruger was still a teenager. 'But I was not a party girl at all. My mum had said, 'If I hear any stories, you're coming back', so I never went out.' Soon she became disillusioned and lonely. 'I love fashion, and wearing the pretty frocks, but as you get older you want to be more in charge of how you are presented. I also felt lost, always being on the road. I've got very classic features, I was never a Kate Moss, so I wasn't part of the cool kids club, either. I thought: 'There has got to more to life than this.'' She took small parts in French films and was then cast in Troy. She followed that most notably with Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds then Kruger, who attended drama school in France and is trilingual, turned her attention fully to French cinema. Has she always felt that Hollywood had little of interest to offer her? 'It cuts both ways,' she says coolly – there's no PR-trained flannel with Kruger. 'Maybe Hollywood wasn't interested in me, either. But it's certainly more seamless to age as an actress in France. Catherine Deneuve [who is 81] headlined a couple of movies recently. And it's also a film-makers' industry there. I love following the vision of a film-maker.' Even a film-maker as idiosyncratic as Cronenberg. In The Shrouds Kruger plays the deceased wife of a wealthy entrepreneur who is so overcome with grief he installs her in a hi-tech cemetery that allows him to watch her decay via his smartphone. Leaving aside the necrophiliac implications, it's a very personal film for the director who lost his own wife to cancer in 2017 and Kruger fears it might also be his last. She agrees there is no longer room in Hollywood for visionaries, although Cronenberg has produced most of his work independently. 'Mainstream Hollywood is basically now Marvel comics, and it remains to be seen where the rest of us who don't fit into the 18-35 age group will find ourselves,' she says. 'I don't know how much Hollywood thinks this is a problem, but at the Oscars the nominated films were mostly original movies that were not made in Hollywood. The studios no longer want to take a risk. They want to see a film first before they acquire it.' It's fair to say the industry has never known quite what to do with Kruger. Her mixed cultural identity is part of it – she says Tarantino almost didn't cast her in Inglorious Basterds, because he couldn't believe she was German. 'I've even had people go: 'We can't hire her because she doesn't speak English'.' All the same, her German identity is becoming increasingly important to her in her work – later this year she stars in Amrum, a Second World War film by the German In The Fade director Fatih Akin. That earlier production was partly about Neo-Nazi terrorists, while she and Akin have hopes to develop a biopic of Marlene Dietrich. She also stars in the forthcoming Each of Us, about the all-women concentration camp at Ravensbruck. 'When I was younger I turned down films set in the war which involved a Nazi or an SS because I've always felt as a German that we've seen so many movies about this. I was never sure what I could bring to the table. But I do find myself looking back more. So many people today have no idea who Marlene Dietrich is. And of course, Neo-Nazism is no longer just a German story.' She's busier than ever. 'I've found that with age comes greater energy. I don't have time to dilly-dally.' And of course, the world is changing. 'It seems like it's a different day for female actresses. There are more opportunities. Although I'd quite like a part next that I actually look good in.'
Geek Tyrant
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Norman Reedus on Working with Hideo Kojima: 'I Don't Think Anybody Can Understand Where His Head's At' — GeekTyrant
If you've ever played Death Stranding and felt like your brain was melting into the black sludge of its ghostly antagonists, rest assured, you're not alone. Even Norman Reedus, who plays lead character Sam Porter Bridges, is still trying to wrap his head around what exactly is going on in Hideo Kojima's mind. In a recent interview with IGN, Reedus admitted that the mysterious world Kojima crafted left him pretty bewildered, both on set and off. He said: 'As far as working with him [Hideo Kojima] and understanding where his head's at, I don't think anybody can understand where his head's at – he's just that guy, he's out there, and he's got great ideas.' This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The original Death Stranding was packed with cryptic imagery, floating death ghosts, black goo, psychic babies in tanks, and entire stretches of delivery hiking simulator madness, all of which somehow managed to mean something… even if most of us still aren't sure what. The game inspired both awe and confusion, and apparently, that vibe extended to the cast too. That said, Reedus seems a bit more grounded heading into Death Stranding 2 . According to him, the sequel's storyline feels more coherent this time around. 'Story-wise, I did know what was happening more. There's more action in it. There's more of a definite goal to get to. It's always a trip working on those things. It's great, but it's wild.' So while Death Stranding 2 slowly takes shape and the A24 adaptation brews in the background, one thing remains clear, nobody really knows what's going on inside Kojima's head.
