Famke Janssen details her struggles with fame: 'The press always wins'

Famke Janssen, the actress from films like GoldenEye and X-Men and shows like Nip/Tuck and Hemlock Grove, is admittedly not so good at press interviews these days. That's because she rarely does them.

"I basically shun the press," Janssen told the Independent in a candid interview about her struggles with fame. "I'm sure you Googled me to try and find some things, but I am super private and realized a long time ago that I don't really like people knowing anything about me."

Janssen, currently starring in the film Redeeming Love, opened up about her experience in the limelight, especially after joining the James Bond franchise with GoldenEye, the Pierce Brosnan-led flick from 1995.

"The Bond movie dictated a lot of my relationship with the press... Honestly, after GoldenEye I felt like I was thrown to the wolves," she said.

It was the "onslaught of attention, good and bad and everything in between," she continued. "I realize every actor in the world thinks they can control the press, but ultimately the press always wins. I decided I'd rather be less famous and do things on my terms. That means I don't make as much money as other people do. I don't date famous people. I'm not on social media… But fame comes at a price, and it wasn't one that I was willing to pay."

Janssen, a former model, said the stigma of being a model-turned-actress coupled with the associations that come with being a Bond Girl caused her to be taken less seriously by costars. She recalled landing a role in the 1997 film City of Industry and its star, Harvey Keitel, not being convinced she was right for the job. "Harvey Keitel was all, 'Can you even do your own laundry?' — that kind of thing," she said.

As someone who's "cleaned toilets [and] worked in bars," she knew this image of her wasn't true. So Janssen make a conscious decision to go down a different path when it comes to fame, tabloids, and the press.

"I had to create longevity for myself, and work on my craft," she said. "I would have been much more famous and made much more money if I'd just gone with whatever was given to me in those moments. But that's never been the way that I do things."

Read the full interview at the Independent.

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