Biography Carice van Houten In her native country The Netherlands, Carice van Houten (1976) is regarded as one of the most talented and beloved actresses of her generation. She won several awards, including Best Actress at Tribeca Film Festival for her role in BLACK BUTTERFLIES in 2011, five Dutch Golden Calves for Best Actress and was voted ‘Best Dutch Actress of All Time’ by the Dutch audience. Her stunning performance in Paul Verhoeven’s war epic BLACK BOOK marked the beginning of Carice’s international breakthrough. In the summer of 2011 Carice joins the cast of HBO’s hit series GAME OF THRONES as the red priestess Melisandre. Carice Anouk van Houten was born in Leiderdorp (near Leiden) on 5 September 1976. Her parents are Margje Stasse (on the board of Dutch educational TV) and writer, musicologist and expert in silent cinema Theodore van Houten. She is the elder sister of actress and singer Jelka van Houten. When she was five her father took her to a screening of Abel Gance's epic NAPOLEON which fascinated her. She’s had a great interest in cinema since. Carice convincingly demonstrated her acting talents in high school, in the early 90’s. She also developed a skill in clarinet playing. In 1995 she was rather uniquely accepted by both the Maastricht and Amsterdam drama academies, and started her TV career (LABYRINT, VPRO TV 1997) as a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. There she was awarded the 1999 Pisuisse Prize for most promising graduation student, and the 2000 Top Naeff Prize for her theatre work. A day before the Top Naeff Prize she was awarded the Golden Calf as best TV actress in Martin Koolhoven's SUZY Q. In 2001 she starred in AMNESIA by the same director. In 2000 she joined the theatre company Noord-Nederlands Toneel starring as a both singing and acting POLLY in a contemporary staging of Brecht’s THE THREEPENNY OPERA to fabulously stunning reviews. Carice is a great admirer of American silent comedies - particularly Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy - although she can display an equally dramatic talent. In 2001 she made UNDERCOVER KITTY, in the title role of the catwoman, after the famous Dutch author Annie M.G. Schmidt. In the 2001-2002 season she won the main role in a theatre production of Schmidt's musical FOXTROT. In the 2007-2008 season Carice plays the main part in CASSANOVA IN BOLZANO, opposite Emmy Award winner Pierre Bokma. Carice first came on the international scene in an extraordinary performance in Paul Verhoeven’s critically acclaimed BLACK BOOK, followed up by a star turn opposite Tom contact: nummer19 management | [email protected] | www.caricevanhouten.com Cruise in VALKYRIE. For her role in BLACK BOOK Carice received her third Golden Calf for best actress. In The Netherlands the film is exclaimed the best Dutch film of all times. Carice’s first English spoken production is DOROTHY MILLS (2008), a thriller shot in Ireland by French director Agnès Merlet. In Ridley Scott’s BODY OF LIES, she plays the role of Leonardo DiCaprio’s ex-wife, but her scenes didn’t make it to the final cut. Bryan Singer’s VALKYRIE is the first major Hollywood production for Carice to appear in. She stars as Nina von Stauffenberg, the wife of Tom Cruise’s character Claus von Stauffenberg who makes an attempt on Hitler’s life. Carice plays with Maggie Smith in the ghost story FROM TIME TO TIME, with Jude Law in REPO MEN and together with Sean Bean in the horror film BLACK DEATH. She also stars in the Dutch box office hits LOVE IS ALL, in which she displays a great comic talent, LOVE LIFE and THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE, for which she’s been awarded her fourth Golden Calf as best actress. In 2011 Carice was awarded Best Actress at Tribeca Film Festival and Best Actress at the Netherlands Film Festival for her role in BLACK BUTTERFLIES, an English-language romantic epic about South African poet Ingrid Jonker, played by Carice. In the summer of 2010 Carice joined the cast of the thriller INTRUDERS, starring Clive Owen and Daniel Bruhl (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS), directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 WEEKS LATER). In 2011 she is added to the cast of HBO’s hit series GAME OF THRONES as a series regular. Carice portrays the red priestess Melisandre, a seductive woman with prophetic powers. The series has been picked up for a fifth season. In October 2012 Carice released her first solo album SEE YOU ON THE ICE. Most songs on the album are (co-) written by Carice herself. Besides Antony Hegarty (Anthony & The Johnsons) with whom she performs a duet on Particle Of Light, several well known and respected musicians (Steve Shelley, Ken Stringfellow, Howe Gelb and Marc Ribot) contributed to this album which shows that Carice, besides being a talented actress, is also an impressive musician who's very passionate about her "first love": music. Most recently, she can be seen THE FIFTH ESTATE directed by Bill Condon opposite Benedict Cumberbatch. Last Fall, Carice wrapped Jason Blum’s INCARANTE, opposite Aaron Eckhart. IN PRODUCTION GAME OF THRONES S05 contact: nummer19 management | [email protected] | www.caricevanhouten.com SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY THE FIFTH ESTATE (2013) GAME OF THRONES S02, 03 & 04 (2012 - 2014) JACKIE (2012) INTRUDERS (2012) BLACK BUTTERFLIES (2011) - Best Actress at Tribeca Film Festival & Netherlands Film Festival LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE (2010) - Dutch voice cast BLACK DEATH (2010) REPO MEN (2010) THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE (DE GELUKKIGE HUISVROUW) (2010) - Golden Calf (Best Actress), Rembrandt Award (Best Actress) LOVE LIFE (KOMT EEN VROUW BIJ DE DOKTER) (2009) - Rembrandt Award (Best Actress) FROM TIME TO TIME (2009) VALKYRIE (2008) BODY OF LIES (2008) - scenes didn’t make it to final cut DOROTHY MILLS (2008) SINGING IN THE DARK (2008) HORTON HEARS A WHO! (2008) - Dutch voice cast LOVE IS ALL (2007) - Rembrandt Award (Best Actress) BLACK BOOK (2006) - Golden Calf (Best Actress), Rembrandt Award (Best Actress) BONKERS (2005) LEPEL (2005) BLACK SWANS (2005) FATHER’S AFFAIR (2003) HET EVERZWIJN (2002) UNDERCOVER KITTY (2001) - Golden Calf (Best Actress) AMNESIA (2001) STORM IN MIJN HOOFD (2001) SUZY Q (TV, 1999) - Golden Calf (Best Actress) IVORY GUARDIANS (1998) TRIVIA Carice van Houten is the Dutch ambassador for WWF since 2009. QUOTES “There are a million colors in this complicated performance. We award this honor for bravery and fragility, and for showing tremendous range and strength throughout.” – Tribeca Film Festival jury on BLACK BUTTERFLIES contact: nummer19 management | [email protected] | www.caricevanhouten.com “Carice van Houten ("Black Book," "Valkyrie") in another attention-grabbing perf as the two- timed, terminally ill woman (…) Van Houten often steals the show, delivering some of the pic's best lines with an increasingly biting cynicism.” - Variety on LOVE LIFE "Black Butterflies," a 1960s-set drama whose several strong points include the angry intensity of Carice van Houten's fearless perf. (..) As in "Black Book," van Houten never shies away from the excesses and sometimes downright unlikability of her character, investing the role with a ferocious willfulness that often mistakes its object.” – Variety on BLACK BUTTERFLIES “Van Houten, only 29, throws herself into the part of a lifetime, with a face that can spin on a dime between fear, defiance, caprice and caring.” – Variety on BLACK BOOK “Carice van Houten ("Black Book"), a vibrant actress moviegoers should definitely know more about. Ms. van Houten's spirited performance gives real backbone to the familiar arc of the self-destructive artist pushing against the social constraints of her time (South Africa in the Apartheid clampdown of the 1960s) while engaging in turbulent relationships with difficult lovers and a repressive politico father” – Wall Street Journal on BLACK BUTTERFLIES “Conventional yet captivating thanks in large part to a terrific lead performance from Carice van Houten (Black Book), the film should see broad arthouse play after nabbing prizes in Tribeca and Taormina. (..) Van Houten so well embodies the seductive madness of her character that the film remains altogether engrossing.” – Hollywood Reporter on BLACK BUTTERFLIES “The sensational Carice van Houten (..) putting even Scarlett [Johansson] in the shade" – New York Observer on BLACK BOOK contact: nummer19 management | [email protected] | www.caricevanhouten.com .