Top 10 Dutch Actresses of All Time

Sylvia Kristel became world-famous overnight in 1974 with Emmanuelle. The French erotic film was released in more than thirty countries and made her an instant international symbol, but it was a double-edged sword. The role gave her a career outside the Netherlands, but for decades it also kept her from being seen as a serious actress, which was completely unfair. She worked with Alain Robbe-Grillet and played the legendary spy in Mata Hari (1985), and she wrote an autobiography more honest than most Hollywood stories. Kristel died in 2012, but her legacy is much bigger than the box office numbers of her breakthrough film.

In 1973 Monique van de Ven played Olga in Turkish Delight (Turks Fruit). The adaptation of Jan Wolkers' novel was nominated for an Oscar and is still considered one of the best Dutch films ever made. Van de Ven was just 21. She stayed loyal to director Paul Verhoeven and also shone in Soldier of Orange (1977), which put her on the international map again. Throughout her long career she remained a constant in Dutch film and television and later even moved into directing.

Carice van Houten has run two successful careers at once for years. At home she broke through with Minoes (2001), but internationally she made her name with Black Book (2006). In this Paul Verhoeven film she plays a Jewish woman who goes undercover among the Nazi elite. She also played Melisandre, the Red Woman, in the hit series Game of Thrones, a mysterious and inscrutable character that suited her perfectly.

Willeke van Ammelrooy has been acting for more than fifty years and is still an essential part of Dutch cinema. She started her career in the early '70s and played roles that surprised again and again. Her most acclaimed performance came in Antonia's Line (1995), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. She played the matriarch of a headstrong family, a warm, central role she inhabited with great ease. Theater, film or television: Willeke is at home everywhere.

In the gripping thriller The Vanishing (Spoorloos, 1988), Johanna ter Steege plays a woman who disappears without a trace at a gas station. Her screen time is limited, but the effect is enormous: she's the axis around which the whole film turns. Ter Steege deliberately chose the European arthouse circuit over Hollywood glitz, working with greats like István Szabó. That may have made her less famous with the general public, but her work is no less impressive.

Renée Soutendijk was the face of Dutch film in the early '80s. In Paul Verhoeven's Spetters (1980) she played a role that caused a stir at the time but is now considered a classic. Verhoeven used her icy quality perfectly in The Fourth Man (1983) as well. Soutendijk also tried Hollywood with the sci-fi film Eve of Destruction (1991). It wasn't a big success, but she returned home to build a solid career that continues to this day.

Famke Janssen grew up in Amstelveen but built her entire career in America, so many Dutch people don't always realize how big she really is. As Xenia Onatopp in the Bond film GoldenEye (1995), she created one of the most memorable villains ever. She became a fixture of the X-Men franchise as Jean Grey, a role that grew ever more complex, and she also starred in the Taken series alongside Liam Neeson.

Halina Reijn started her career on stage at Toneelgroep Amsterdam under Ivo van Hove, which gives her film work a unique quality and depth. In Black Book (2006) she played an uncomfortable but rock-solid supporting role. Today she's at least as successful as a director: her English-language debut Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) became an international hit, and her second film, Babygirl (2024) with Nicole Kidman, won Kidman the Volpi Cup in Venice. Reijn is currently the most influential Dutch filmmaker on the world stage.

Thekla Reuten rarely seeks the spotlight in interviews but always commands attention on screen. She starred in the Oscar-nominated Twin Sisters (De Tweeling, 2002) and then built an impressive international career. She appeared in the cult classic In Bruges (2008) and played opposite George Clooney in The American (2010). Reuten has the rare gift of being present without dominating the scene, exactly what many international productions value in her.

Hannah Hoekstra made a deep impression with her role in Hemel (2012), playing a young woman exploring her sexual freedom, for which she won a Golden Calf. It's a daring performance without any self-protection. She has since taken international steps with roles in Charlie's Angels (2019) and the series The Man in the High Castle. The foundation she has built is exceptionally strong.