Actress' Portrait:

After appearing in films by filmmakers as diverse as Doris Doerrie, Joseph Vilsmaier, Helmut Dietl and Oliver Hirschbiegel, Alexandra Maria Lara has become a permanent fixture in the German cinema's firmament after little more than ten years in the business.

But, the 26-year-old seemed in many ways to have been predestined to become a member of the acting fraternity since her father Valentin Platareanu had been a leading film and stage actor in his native Romania before the family moved to Germany in 1983, and he later became the director of a drama school in Berlin.

«Naturally, through my father I went to the theater and the cinema and I can remember accompanying him as a small girl when he was teaching his students,» she recalls. «I was fascinated by the acting profession.»

During her secondary school studies at Berlin's French Lycée, Alexandra joined the drama group (Theater AG) and performed in plays in French (an experience which was probably useful later on when she appeared opposite Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu in the Napoléon mini-series). Then, the first film offers started coming her way whilst she was still at school and she was cast in the lead role for the television family series Mensch, Pia at the tender age of 16.

When it came to deciding what to do after school, Alexandra was initially undecided. Languages could have been an option, she says, but the world of acting won out.

«It was the best decision I made and they were three super years,» Alexandra says about her studies at the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg, which was founded by her father and Dr. Henner Oft with two other German colleagues in 1992.

«I learned a lot and still profit from this time, and many of my fellow students are still close friends,» she notes.

Speaking recently in an interview with a Romanian radio station, her father recalled that film acting had infected Alexandra like a virus: «I asked an experienced cameraman what he thought about Alexandra. And this professional told me something that I will never forget: 'The camera really falls in love with her'.»

Her father adds that «Alexandra possesses a naturalness which cannot be learned; she completed drama school to have a solid basis like all great actors. She worked a lot, all alone, she didn't want me to help her, she didn't even give me her texts to read. She always wanted to do everything on her own, by her own efforts, both in private as well as professional matters. And I could only just follow the development of this child with amazement, a child that I had held in my arms as a baby, and now she has become such a big star that it takes my breath away.»

Alexandra became a regular feature in German TV productions and feature films even during her acting studies: she was cast in two of Roland Suso Richter's «TV events» - Die Bubi Scholz Story (1997) and Der Tunnel (2000) as well as Thomas Bahmann's tragicomedy Suedsee, eigene Insel (1998) and Jochen Kuhn's Fisimatenten (1999).

She followed these with roles in Florian Gallenberger's contribution to the omnibus film Honolulu (2000), Joseph Vislmaier's World War II drama Leo & Claire (2001), Peter Thorwarth's Was nicht passt, wird passend gemacht (2001), Doris Doerrie's romantic comedy Nackt (2002) and Mark Schlichter's comedy thriller Cowgirl (2003).

Thanks to her linguistic skills, Alexandra had no qualms about taking on roles in international productions and became more widely known outside of Germany after her performance in French as Duchess Maria Waleska in the TV mini-series Napoléon. She subsequently turned her hand at playing in English for a new television version of Doctor Zhivago.

One of the highlights of her acting career so far was undoubtedly being cast in the role of Adolf Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge for Oliver Hirschbiegl's Der Untergang which was shot on location in Germany and Russia in 2003. Since then, she appeared opposite Moritz Bleibtreu in Helmut Dietl's romantic comedy Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe and was reunited with Doris Doerrie last autumn for her new film Der Fischer und seine Frau - Warum Frauen nie genug bekommen.

«I have had the great luck to be able act in some big, significant feature films,» Alexandra declares. «That's the greatest dream for any actor - and this dream has certainly been fulfilled for me.»

On the tricky question of which project to accept or reject, she suggests that «many factors come into play such as who is the director and whether you know their previous work. With Helmut Dietl and Oliver Hirschbiegel, for example, I knew their other films and was overjoyed that they had cast me. Then there is the screenplay and whether you have played someone like this before, who the other colleagues are in the cast, and one's gut feeling.»

Alexandra is loathe to say that any specific one of her roles has been a particular challenge, preferring instead to argue that «each role is a challenge. If you have the opportunity to be able to act in good films, then the challenge is to maintain the quality whether you have nine days or 40 days shooting. So, my ambition is always to do and give my best in every role.»

Similarly, she is cautious about the moniker of «star» which is increasingly bandied about in connection with her name. «I would tend not to see myself in those terms,» she suggests. «Nowadays, there are so many people who are regarded as stars that it leaves me with mixed feelings. At the same time, I know it is important for some people, but I am not a typical 'star'. It wasn't the case that I had always dreamed of becoming one as a child.» (Nevertheless, she admits to having initiated a fan website - www.alexandra-maria-lara.com - which keeps her fan following up-to-date with her every move as an actress).

However, Alexandra does seem to be much more in the public eye following all of the excitement around the release of Der Untergang last September.

At the end of 2004, she was voted the «Best Dressed German Woman» in a survey by users of the Bunte magazine's online service as well as named «Superwoman of the Year» by the readers of the German lifestyle magazine Maxim. These honors were followed in February with the DIVA for Best Actress and the Golden Camera for Best German Actress in recognition of her performance as Traudl Junge in Der Untergang.

«Like everyone, one is pleased about every kind of award and distinction,» she explains. «I don't place too much weight on these prizes, but it is a great feeling to have recognition for one's work.»

Meanwhile, this spring saw her working on a film project which had a special personal significance: her part as a young interpreter in Didi Danquart's Offset was the first time she had worked in her native country of Romania since leaving.

Moreover, it was a homecoming for Alexandra's father who - in an inspired piece of casting - plays her father in the film. The two of them had worked together in the past in Germany, but Offset was the first time that they were both cast in major parts.