Biografia
Berlin-born Nina Franoszek is an internationally recognized star of stage, screen, and television, as well as a film and theater director based in Los Angeles. She received the Grimme Prize (Germany's Emmy Award) for Best Actress in 1998 and a German Screen Actors Award for Best Ensemble in the TV series "Weissensee Saga II" in 2014.
Franoszek has portrayed a diverse range of characters, from tragedy to comedy, across more than 100 feature films and TV productions. Her global work spans Germany, Austria, Italy, France, South Africa, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and the United States.
Helmut Sorge of "Der Spiegel" described Franoszek as possessing "classical looks and a rich inner life, blending deep sensuality with assured self-confidence. She has a passion for life and the arts and embraces the complexities of human nature—a woman who belongs both to the Romantic era and the present age of egos, competition, and market upheavals."
She made her international film debut in the award-winning "Buster's Bedroom," a whimsical comedy inspired by Buster Keaton, starring alongside Donald Sutherland and Geraldine Chaplin, with acclaimed cinematographer Sven Nykvist behind the camera. Franoszek starred opposite Academy Award-winner Jiri Menzel in "Joint Venture," appeared with Tilda Swinton in "The Party-Nature Morte," and was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) in "Murderous Decision." Her film credits also include Kevin Spacey's "Beyond The Sea" and Roman Polanski's "The Pianist."
Franoszek serves as the first-person narrator portraying Dietrich in "Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song," a documentary directed by Dietrich’s grandson J. David Riva, and starred in the feature film "Martha," a contemporary take on the "Mrs. Robinson" story.
On television, she guest-starred in the critically acclaimed second season of "Mad Men" as the sophisticated Greta in the Fellini-inspired episode "The Jet Set," where Don Draper's Los Angeles business trip takes an unexpected turn as he mingles with her circle of wealthy European expatriates.
Alongside Ray Wise, she portrayed Gala, the Swedish "Good Witch of the North," in Illeana Douglas's award-winning web series "Easy to Assemble - Finding North" (2011). In Rob Corddry's satirical, Emmy Award-winning TV series "Children's Hospital - The Gang Gets Sushi" (2013), she played the NATO host opposite Jordan Peele and Erinn Hayes.
In Germany, she was cast in the recurring role of psychologist Ute Dannowski in the second season of the acclaimed TV series "The Weissensee Saga," an East Berlin love story exploring East Germany's recent history. The series is a family saga of loyalty, love, hope, faith, and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall. Franoszek and the cast won the German Screen Actors Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series in 2014.
In HBO's dark comedy "The Brink," she portrays French Foreign Minister Dominique Roget opposite Tim Robbins and Jack Black.
Franoszek is also a motion capture performer and voice artist, playing the antagonist Frau Engel in the "Inglourious Basterds"-inspired game "Wolfenstein: The New Order."
An accomplished stage actress, she earned her MFA from the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover, Germany. She is a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie (Germany's Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences), the German Directors Guild (BVR), co-initiator of the German Screen Actors Guild (BFFS), and served as a juror for the International Emmy Awards from 2007 to 2014.
Franoszek shares her expertise as an acting coach and career consultant, teaches in MFA Film Acting programs in Los Angeles, and recently appeared on Heidi Klum's TV show "Germany's Next Top Model," instructing aspiring models on how to cry on cue effectively.
