The Blacklist: Redemption

Season 1 M-Net (*101) 21:30 Action

Famke Janssen loves playing formidable characters. While she’s best known as powerful mutant Jean Grey in the X-Men movies (2000-current), she’s currently on the smallscreen as villainturned-hero Susan “Scottie” Hargrave in The Blacklist: Redemption (2017-current). It’s the spin-off from The Blacklist (2013-current) and she’s enjoying reprising her role. “Television is fun because it moves fast,” she says. “It’s non-stop moving, unlike film work.”

The Dutch-born 52-year-old never 1

intended to get into acting – she started her “showbiz” career as a model and worked with the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Chanel.

She actually didn’t even plan on 2

modelling – “I was studying economics at the University Of Amsterdam and was spotted on the street. I wasn’t sure at first… but the more I studied, the more I realised I didn’t want to be an economist,” she laughs.

Famke quit the catwalk in the 3

early ’90s and landed her first real role, as a Bond girl, in 1995 – she played Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye, alongside Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

She kept up with Pierce and only 4

let a stunt double perform Xenia’s action scenes after breaking two ribs.

Famke hasn’t reprised her role as 5

Jean Grey in the new X-Men franchise and probably won’t after hitting out and saying “it’s interesting because the women are replaced and the older versions are never seen again. Whereas the men are allowed to be both ages”.

The one thing she keeps private is 6

her dating life. All that’s known is that she divorced her writer hubby Kip Williams in 2000 after five years and isn’t currently seeing anyone.