Nastassja Kinski

Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; née Nakszynski, ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model. She has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with Stay as You Are. Kinski then came to global prominence with her Golden Globe Award-winning performance as the title character in the Roman Polanski-directed film Tess (1979). Her other films include the Francis Ford Coppola musical romance film One from the Heart (1982), Paul Schrader's supernatural horror film Cat People (1982), and the Wim Wenders films Paris, Texas (1984) and Faraway, So Close! (1993). She also appeared in the biographical drama film An American Rhapsody (2001). Kinski is the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski.

Early life

Born Nastassja Aglaia Nakszynski in West Berlin she is the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski and his second wife, actress Ruth Brigitte Tocki. She is of partial Polish descent, for her grandfather Bruno Nakszynski was a Germanized ethnic Pole. Kinski has two half-siblings: Pola and Nikolai Kinski. Her parents divorced in 1968. After the age of 10, Kinski rarely saw her father. Her young mother struggled financially to support them; they eventually lived in a commune in Munich.

In a 1999 interview, Kinski denied that her father had molested her as a child, but said he had abused her "in other ways". she confirmed that he attempted this with her, but did not succeed. She said, "He was no father. Ninety-nine percent of the time I was terrified of him. He was so unpredictable that the family lived in constant terror." When asked what she would say to him now, if she had the chance, she replied, "I would do anything to put him behind bars for life. I am glad he is no longer alive."

Career Nastassja Kinski with John Savage and still photographer Yoni S. Hamenachem on the set of Maria's Lovers (1984)

Kinski began working as a model as a teenager in Germany. Actress Lisa Kreuzer of the German New Wave helped get her the role of the mute Mignon in Wim Wenders 1975 film The Wrong Move, in which at the age of 13 she was depicted topless. She later played one of the leading roles in Wenders' film Paris, Texas (1984) and appeared in his film Faraway, So Close (1993).

In 1976, while still a teenager, Kinski had her first two major roles. She played Sina Wolf in Wolfgang Petersen's feature film-length episode Reifezeugnis of the German TV crime series Tatort, and played Catherine Beddows in the horror film To the Devil a Daughter (1976), co-produced by Hammer Film Productions and Terra Film. The film was released in the UK just 40 days after Kinski's fifteenth birthday, making it a virtual certainty she was only fourteen when her scenes were shot (including full frontal nudity). In regards to her early films, Kinski has stated that she felt exploited by the industry. In an interview with W, she said, "If I had had somebody to protect me or if I had felt more secure about myself, I would not have accepted certain things. Nudity things. And inside it was just tearing me apart."

In 1978, Kinski starred in the Italian romance Stay as You Are (Così come sei) with Marcello Mastroianni, gaining her recognition in the United States after New Line Cinema released it there in December 1979. Time wrote that she was "simply ravishing, genuinely sexy and high-spirited without being painfully aggressive about it." The film also received a major international release from Columbia Pictures.

Kinski met the director Roman Polanski at a party in 1976. He urged her to study method acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States and she was offered the title role in Polanski's upcoming film, Tess (1979). In 1978, Kinski underwent extensive preparation for the portrayal of an English peasant girl, which included acquiring a Dorset accent through elocution studies:

Tess was nominated for six awards, including Best Picture, at the 53rd Academy Awards, and won three.

On 14 June 1981, Vogue editor Polly Allen Mellen asked Nastassja Kinski what she liked and Kinski replied, "snakes," then a Burmese python was hired for the photoshoot with Richard Avedon, with resulting photograph of Kinski with a Burmese python coiled around her nude body, "Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 14, 1981".

In 1982, she starred in Francis Ford Coppola's romantic musical One from the Heart, her first film made in the United States. Texas Monthly described her as acting "as a Felliniesque circus performer to represent the twinkling evanescence of Eros." The film failed at the box office and was a major loss for Coppola's new Zoetrope Studios. That year, she was also in the erotic supernatural horror movie Cat People. On 29 December 1982, Kinski made a puzzling appearance on the program Late Night with David Letterman, seeming somewhat oblivious to the jokes and everything else that was going on around her and appearing with an unusual hair style Letterman described as "looking like there was an owl perched on top of her head." (Letterman's second guest, John Candy, came out with his own hair moussed up in a pile as a spoof of Kinski's hair.)

Dudley Moore's comedy Unfaithfully Yours and an adaptation of John Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire followed in 1984.

Kinski reteamed with Wenders for the 1984 film Paris, Texas. One of her most acclaimed films to date, it won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival. Throughout the 1980s, Kinski split her time between Europe and the United States, making Moon in the Gutter (1983), Harem (1985) and Torrents of Spring (1989) in Europe, and Exposed (1983), Maria's Lovers (1984), and Revolution (1985) in the United States.

During the 1990s, Kinski appeared in a number of American films, including the action movie Terminal Velocity opposite Charlie Sheen, the Mike Figgis 1997 adultery tale One Night Stand, Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), John Landis's Susan's Plan (1998), and The Lost Son (1999).

Her most recent films include David Lynch's Inland Empire (2006) and Rotimi Rainwater's Sugar (2013). In 2016, she competed in the German Let's Dance show.

In recent years, Kinski has once again appeared in several German film productions, including Dark Satellites (2022) and LasVegas (2023).

In June 2026, following years of campaigning by Kinski, Wim Wenders agreed to withdraw Wrong Move from distribution, and apologised to her for the "sexualised" scene he had filmed of her when she was 13.

Personal life

In 1976, when Kinski was aged 15, it was speculated that there had been a romantic relationship with director Roman Polanski, who at the time was 43. Polanski confirmed the relationship in a 1994 interview with Diane Sawyer: "...what about Nastassja Kinski? She was young and we had a love affair." However, in a 1999 interview in The Guardian, Kinski was quoted as saying that there was no affair and that "there was a flirtation. There could have been a seduction, but there was not. He had respect for me." On 10 September 1984, Kinski married Egyptian filmmaker Ibrahim Moussa, with whom she had daughter Sonja Kinski. The marriage was dissolved in July 1992. From 1992 until 1995, Kinski lived with musician Quincy Jones, though she kept her own apartment on Hilgard Avenue, near UCLA, at the time. They had a daughter, Kenya Julia Niambi Sarah Jones, a model known professionally as Kenya Kinski-Jones.

In 1997, Kinski dated married producer Jonathan D. Krane during a brief separation from his wife, actress Sally Kellerman. Over the course of her career, Kinski has also been romantically linked with Paul Schrader, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Rob Lowe, Jon Voight, Gérard Depardieu, Dudley Moore, Miloš Forman and Wim Wenders. As of 2012, she was dating actor Rick Yune.

In 2001, Kinski stated in an interview in The Daily Telegraph that she was affected by the sleep disorder narcolepsy.

Filmography + Cinema feature films Year Title Role Notes 1975 The Wrong Move Mignon 1976 To the Devil a Daughter Catherine Beddows 1978 Passion Flower Hotel Deborah Collins Stay as You Are Francesca 1979 Tess Tess 1981 One from the Heart Leila 1982 Cat People Irena Gallier 1983 Spring Symphony Clara Wieck Exposed Elizabeth Carlson Moon in the Gutter Loretta Channing 1984 Unfaithfully Yours Daniella Eastman The Hotel New Hampshire Susie the Bear Paris, Texas Jane Henderson Maria's Lovers Maria Bosic 1985 Harem Diane Revolution Daisy McConnahay 1987 Maladie d'amour Juliette 1988 Magdalene Magdalene 1989 Torrents of Spring Maria Nikolaevna Polozov Crystal or Ash, Fire or Wind, as Long as It's Love Joëlle Lavoisier 1990 The Secret Lucia The Sun Also Shines at Night Cristina 1991 Humiliated and Insulted Natasha Ikhmenyeva L'alba Karin 1992 In camera mia Nastienka L'envers du décor: Portrait de Pierre Guffroy Herself Documentary film 1993 The Blonde Christine Faraway, So Close! Raphaela 1994 Crackerjack K. C. Terminal Velocity Chris Morrow / Krista Moldova 1996 Somebody Is Waiting Charlotte Ellis 1997 Fathers' Day Collette Andrews Little Boy Blue Kate West Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's Herself Documentary film; uncredited One Night Stand Karen 1998 Your Friends & Neighbors Cheri Susan's Plan Susan Holland Savior Maria Rose Playing by Heart The Lawyer Uncredited Ciro norte Venus Short 1999 The Lost Son Deborah The Intruder Badge Muller 2000 The Magic of Marciano Katie Time Share Dr. Julia Weiland The Claim Elena Dillon 2001 Cold Heart Linda Cross Town & Country Alex An American Rhapsody Margit .com for Murder Sondra Diary of a Sex Addict Jane Bordeaux Video Say Nothing Grace Beyond the City Limits Misha 2003 Paradise Found Mette Gauguin 2004 À ton image Mathilde 2006 Inland Empire The Lady 2007 More Things That Happened The Lady Part of the Inland Empire DVD; uncredited 2013 Sugar Sister Nadia Il turno di notte lo fanno le stelle Sonia Short 2015 Dietro gli occhiali bianchi Herself Documentary film 2018 Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast Herself Documentary film 2022 Dark Satellites Birgitt 2023 LasVegas Ilse von Lossberg 2025 Im Zeichen des Drachen Anja 2026 Music in the Forest Marie Post-production Hijamat Margot

+ Television Year Title Role Notes 1977 Tatort Sina Wolf Season 1, Episode 73: "Reifezeugnis" Notsignale Michael's Freundin Season 1, Episode 3: "Im Nest" 1996 The Ring Ariana von Gotthard 2 episodes The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century Rosa Luxemburg Season 1, Episode 3: "Hatred & Hunger"; Voice 1997 Bella Mafia Sophia Luciano 2 episodes 2000 A Storm in Summer Gloria Ross TV movie Quarantine Dr. Galen Bronty TV movie 2001 Blind Terror SusanTV movie The Day the World Ended Dr. Jennifer Stillman TV movie The District Trish Season 2, Episode 8: "Tug of War" 2002 All Around the Town Karen Grant TV movie 2003 Les Liaisons dangereuses Madame Maria de Tourvel 2 episodes 2004 La Femme Musketeer Lady Bolton 2 episodes 2022 Police de Caractères Romy Season 1, Episode 3: "Cadavre Exquis" Homeshopper's Paradise AiméeTV movie 2023–2025 Castlevania: Nocturne Tera Voice; 14 episodes

+ Music videos Year Artist Title Role Notes 1988 Sonic Youth "Teen Age Riot" Jane Henderson Archival footage from the 1984 film Paris, Texas 1993 U2 "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" Raphaela Archival footage from the 1993 film In weiter Ferne, so nah!

+ Museum film installations Year Title Role Notes 2010 The Clock Tess Durbeyfield / Irena Gallier / Karen Archival footage from the 1979 film Tess, the 1982 film Cat People, the 1997 film One Night Stand

+ Producer Year Title Notes 2000 Time Share Television film; co-producer 2001 .com for Murder Direct-to-video; co-associate producer

Awards and nominations

The awards and nominations received by Nastassja Kinski include one Art Film Fest Award, one Bambi Award, two Bravo Ottos (out of three nominations), two Deutscher Filmpreis Awards (also out of three nominations), one Golden Globe (out of two nominations), one Jupiter Award, one Nastro d'Argento Award and one Wine Country Film Festival Award.

Among others, her achievements in film industry include also two César Awards nominations, one Globo d'oro nomination, and one Saturn Award nomination.

Acting awards Bambi Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1978 Tatort: "Reifezeugnis" Best Young Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Bravo Otto Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1977 HerselfMovie Star – Female 1978 1979 Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. César Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1980 TessBest Actress 1988 Maladie d'amour Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Deutscher Filmpreis Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1975 The Wrong Move (aka Wrong Movement) Best Performance by an Ensemble 1983 Spring Symphony Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1985 Paris, Texas Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. A Shared with Hans Christian Blech, Ivan Desny, Adolf Hansen, Marianne Hoppe, Peter Kern, Lisa Kreuzer, Hanna Schygulla and Rüdiger Vogler. Globo d'oro Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1990 The Secret Best Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Golden Globe Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1980 Tess New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Female Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Jupiter Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1978 Herself Best International Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Nastro d'Argento Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1985 Maria's Lovers Silver Ribbon – Best Foreign Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Saturn Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 1982 Cat People Best Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Wine Country Film Festival Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 2000 The Magic of MarcianoBest Actress Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. B Tied with Hege Schøyen for The Prompter.

Career achievement awards Art Film Fest Awards Year Nominated work Category Result 2005 HerselfActor's Mission Award Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following. Moscow International Film Festival Year Category Result 2018 Stanislavsky Award Note: Awards are listed in order of the effective years, annual ceremonies are usually held the following.