Nastassja Kinski was born Nastassja Aglaia Nakszynski on January 24, 1961 in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski. In 1976, she met director Roman Polanski, who urged her to study method acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States. Kinski starred in the Italian romantic drama Stay as You Are (1978) with Marcello Mastroianni, gaining her recognition in the United States after the film’s release on December 21, 1979. She played the title character in Polanski’s romantic drama Tess (1979), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”” (1891).Kinski starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s romantic musical One from the Heart (1981), her first film made in the United States. The film became a box office bomb and was a major loss for Coppola’s production company Zoetrope Studios. She also starred in the erotic horror movie Cat People (1982) with Malcolm McDowell, a remake of the 1942 classic of the same name. She appeared in Wim Wenders’ drama movie Paris, Texas (1984) with Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell. One of her most acclaimed films, the film won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival.During the 1990s, Kinski appeared in a number of American films, including the action movie Terminal Velocity (1994) opposite Charlie Sheen, One Night Stand (1997), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), John Landis’ Susan’s Plan (1998), and The Lost Son (1999). She has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States.”
Nastassja Kinski
Movies
One Night Stand
Los Angeles advertisement director Max visits his friend, artist Charlie, who was diagnosed with A.I.D.S. in New York City. There he meets Karen, they are attracted to each other and after they meet later that day at the concert, they have a passionate night. Then he returns home to Los…
Fun Facts
Has a son by Vincent Spano: Aljosha Nakszynski (b. 29 June 1984).
Has a daughter from her marriage to Ibrahim Moussa: Sonja Kinski (b. 2 March 1986).
Has a daughter by Quincy Jones: Kenya Kinski-Jones (b. 9 February 1993).
Daughter of Klaus Kinski and Brigitte Ruth Tocki.
Cousin of Lara Lamberti.
Supported the International Red Cross financially and in the media.
She spent some days in a German jail when a sin of youth caught up with her. She had used public transportation several times without paying, did not pay the fines, did not work in a hospital as she was sentenced to do by a juvenile court. In 1978 she was finally arrested. She spent five days in jail despite being a celebrity at that time. She was released early because of good conduct.
Some sources show she was born in 1959, but she claims 1961.
Shared an apartment with Demi Moore in the early 1980s.
Nastassja has dated Paul Schrader, Rick Yune, Jonathan D. Krane, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Rob Lowe, Jon Voight, Gérard Depardieu, Dudley Moore, Milos Forman, Wim Wenders and Roman Polanski. She remains friends with Polanski despite the brouhaha.
Is fluent in English, German, French, Italian and Russian.
She is of Polish and German descent.
Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 41st Cannes International Film Festival in 1988.
Half-sister of Nikolai Kinski and Pola Kinski.
Has played a doctor in four films.
Battles with a form of narcolepsy and has stopped driving at night.
Went to school with INXS lead singer, Michael Hutchence.
Has a small scar on her left cheek, which is the result of horseplay with a boyfriend at 15.
Quentin Tarantino reportedly talked to her about playing the role of Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds (2009), but a deal could not be reached. The part went to fellow German actress Diane Kruger instead.
Kinski, who looked remarkably like a young Ingrid Bergman, was suggested for the role of young Golda in A Woman Called Golda (1982), but Bergman felt an unknown actress would be more suitable. Judy Davis was selected and received an Emmy nomination for her work.
Her name is pronounced as "nas-TAS-ya"".
After Klaus Kinski left her mom for another woman, Nastassja took financial responsibility for her mom. At age 13, she was supporting them both with her earnings from making a film.
Had a bulldog named Sarah and a German Shepherd named Aljosha.
She wanted to play Evelyn Nesbit in Milos Forman's Ragtime (1981) but couldn't get Nesbit's accent right.
She worked with Christopher Lee in To the Devil a Daughter (1976). Lee had previously worked with her father Klaus Kinski in The Devil's Daffodil (1961), Secret of the Red Orchid (1962), Psycho-Circus (1966), Five Golden Dragons (1967) and Count Dracula (1970).
Has the same birthday as ex-lover Roman Polanski's late wife, Sharon Tate.
The iconic photo of her coiled by a boa constrictor was captured by photographer Richard Avedon for Vogue magazine. [1981]
Was friends with Debra Tate for a time. They posed topless together in 1976, when Nastassja was 15 and Debra 23."
Quotes
The years went by so fast and, even though I've had children, which makes me feel I've lived a long time. I want to fulfill the desire I have to do things that are beautiful and meaningful.
It's true what people say - that actors are the closest thing there is to children. They play.
I used to dance when I was younger - ballet and modern dance.
Even though things happen by accident, you also unconsciously choose things that help you.
I love oldies just kind of sweet, slinky, Fifties music. The slow stuff. And Billie Holiday.
I've overcome different stages in my life. I was shy and now I am not shy.
All I have ever wanted is to be a good mom. My children are everything to me, the loves of my life.
My father hurt too many people.
[on rewatching Tess (1979) in 2012] Wow! I saw that a whole lifetime has gone by. Thirty-five years.
I live for being with the people I love and to live as happily as possible. And you must dare to do as many things as you dream of.
[on her time with Demi Moore] We exercised, we ate good and we were into beauty products and our hair and nature and healthy food, and just getting up in the morning and enjoying our day.
If you get typecast, it's up to you to break that. Since I started real young, getting roles where they would ask me to take my clothes off, I would get those [types of] scripts over and over.