Famke Janssen Is Hungry for Authenticity in Fashion
With three decades of experience and 80 film and television credits to her name, Famke Janssen has proven herself as a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. She's done it all. She's played a telepathic mutant (X-Men), a Bond villain (GoldenEye), and a vampiric being (Hemlock Grove), and in 2011, she stepped behind the camera to write, produce, and direct the film Bringing Up Bobby. But Janssen is not done reinventing herself yet. With her latest project, the Netflix crime drama Amsterdam Empire, the Netherlands native adds a new title to her ever-expanding list of talents: costume designer.
For as long as she can remember, Janssen has loved fashion. From the handcrafted pieces her grandmother made for her and her sisters to her time working as a model in the '80s and the costumes that informed her many characters, fashion has played an integral role in Janssen's life and career. It's not just an outlet to express herself. More importantly, it's a way of maintaining her authenticity. When presented with the offer to return to her home country and act in Dutch for the first time, Janssen saw a unique opportunity to take on more creative control. Yes, there was the intriguing aspect of playing Betty—an ex–pop diva out for revenge following her wealthy husband's affair—but perhaps more enticing was the chance to create a bold and vibrant fashion world for the character to live in, one not too far from the actress's own personal style. Think saccharine baby-doll dresses, statement jackets, and patent-leather Mary Jane shoes.
With more costume credits in the works and plans to design her own collection in the future, Janssen is entering an exciting new era. We caught up with the actress to talk about her fulfilling foray into costume design with Amsterdam Empire, her vision for Betty's look, and reinventing her overflowing closet.
You not only star in the Netflix series Amsterdam Empire, but you are also credited as an executive producer and a costume designer. What about this project, in particular, made you want to wear so many hats?
I grew up in the Netherlands, but I left when I was 18 as a model, traveled the world, came to the States. It wasn't until I came to New York that I started my acting career, so I had never acted in Dutch before. I now have almost 30 years of experience in the field and 80 films under my belt, so when this project came to me and they offered the role of Betty, I said, "Well, I am interested because I think it's a very fun and seemingly colorful character to play, but I want to come back as an executive producer, and I want to have more agency than I've had before because I'm going back to my own country now with all that experience under my belt, and I want to put it all to use." That actually made this project so exciting, and I had no idea going into it what a humongous learning curve this would become. Wearing that many different hats… Just the costumes alone, I can't tell you how time-consuming that was—and fun and creatively fulfilling.
It sort of felt like all my experiences over the years all came together. … I did write, direct, and produce a feature film that Milla Jovovich starred in about 10, 15 years ago, so I had that experience behind the camera already. Fashion has been a big part of my existence coming from the fashion world as a model and making my own clothes part of the time and having that as a creative outlet already. Bringing in my knowledge of being a woman on a heavily male-dominated set in this case, I really thought, "I have something to offer here," and I'm grateful for the experience that I was able to contribute so much.
You have played so many different women throughout your career. What about Betty felt new, interesting, and exciting to you?
