Famke Janssen is home again, but that doesn’t mean the transition was easy.
The Dutch actress, 60, told Luxury Handbag Shopping exclusively that returning to the Netherlands to film her new Netflix series, Amsterdam Empire, was both “exciting and challenging” after living in the United States since the age of 22.
“It has, probably, been the biggest learning curve of my life,” the X-Men alum explained. “I don’t think I realized quite how much I had changed by living abroad. I don’t think you understand your own culture until you’re able to remove yourself from it and see it through a different set of eyes. Now that I’ve lived so long in New York and went back, I could see my changes. I could see how the country probably changed too.”
Janssen was only 18 years old when she left the Netherlands to model internationally. She built a career starring in projects like Taken and How to Get Away with Murder before landing the role of Betty, a scorned wife who’s determined to take over her adulterous husband’s coffee shop organization, in Amsterdam Empire.
“I haven’t ever acted in Dutch before,” Janssen told Us about her performance. “I left when I was [a teen], as a model, and traveled the world. I didn’t start acting until I came to America at 22. All my projects have been in English. … The way of working is different there, and actors are treated differently. There were just a lot of components to it.”
In addition to starring in the crime drama, Janssen is also an executive producer and co-costume designer. The actress’ costume design was inspired, in part, by her character’s colorful history (Betty is a former pop star). Janssen told Us that her return to the Netherlands was dependent upon the type of roles she could fulfill on set, adding that she wanted to come back “in a different capacity.”
“If I come back to my country of birth, I want to come back as an executive producer,” Janssen said. “I realized very quickly that I had a whole vision of how I wanted Betty to dress. I was designing my costumes and I thought, ‘They should give me co-costume designer credit for the character.’ That ended up being, creatively, the most fulfilling experience.”
Much of the plot of Amsterdam Empire revolves around the city’s cannabis scene, of which Janssen is familiar. Born and raised in the Amsterdam suburb of Amstelveen, Janssen notes that she “grew up in that environment” and has an understanding of the industry.
“It’s very much part of my upbringing,” the actress shared. “There’s this misconception about the legalization of cannabis. I think most people who are not from the Netherlands think that everything is legalized, and it’s not. You can buy it in what’s called a coffee shop. You can’t grow it, which means there’s an illegal, criminal aspect to the growing of cannabis. That is what the show very much centers around.”
For Janssen, Amsterdam Empire is the ultimate full circle moment. Her return allowed her to reflect on life and all its complications and beauty.
“I find that life is never that beautifully executed,” Janssen explained. “[It’s] sort of messy. Sometimes you don’t realize you’ve learned something until [you’re] way past [it]. So, I’m very proud. I worked very hard and I’m proud of the accomplishment.”
Amsterdam Empire starts streaming October 24 on Netflix.
