Alexandra Maria Lara

**Alexandra Maria Lara** (née **Plătăreanu**, born 12 November 1978) is a renowned Romanian-German actress with an esteemed career spanned over several decades, beginning from 1994 to present. She came to prominence through her distinguished roles in films such as 'Downfall' (2004), 'Control' (2007), 'Youth Without Youth' (2007), 'The Reader' (2008), 'Rush' (2013), and 'Geostorm' (2017). Born and brought up in Bucharest, Lara is the only child of Valentin Plătăreanu, a successful actor and director in Romania. In 1983, her family emigrated to West Germany from Bucharest, Romania, where she gained fluency in German. By the age of sixteen, Lara started playing lead roles in various television dramas. She ascended to international acclaim playing Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler’s secretary, in the Academy Award-nominated film 'Downfall' in 2004. Francis Ford Coppola gave her a leading role in 'Youth Without Youth' (2007) post her commendable performance in 'Downfall'. In 2007, she also appeared as Belgian journalist Annik Honoré in the biopic 'Control' and in 2008, she featured as a distinguished member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. Additionally, she starred alongside her husband Sam Riley in 'Happy New Year, Colin Burstead' by Ben Wheatley in 2018, playing his German girlfriend. Besides her acting career, Lara has been serving as the president of the Deutsche Filmakademie since 2022.