Diane Heidkrüger was born on July 15th 1976, at Algermissen near Hildesheim in Germany, daughter of
Maria-Theresia and Hans-Heinrich, she has a brother: Stefan. Her parents are divorced, she remains in contact with her mum but hasn't spoken to her father in years. Diane attended Freese-Baus ballet school, then moved to London at the age of 13 where she studied with the Royal Ballet, and was awarded a 4th degree (out of 8). She suffered from a knee injury at the age of 18 and had to quit ballet. Taking part in Elite's "Look of the Year" talent competition for models at 15 she reached the finals. Studying at a former boys high school her class consisted of 23 boys and 3 girls. She left early and moved to Paris where she signed up with Elite, modelling for such brands as Dior, Yves Saint Lauren, Jil Sander and Armani. She began to take acting lessons in Paris and New York after modelling became too boring. Although she did not get a part in Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element" (1997) he encouraged her to quit modelling and pursue a full time acting career. She is fluent in German, English and French (all accent free). Diane married French actor Guillaume Canet, whom she had met in a bar in Paris on September 1st 2001. Her first acting job was in "The Piano Player" (2002). She starred in French productions "Mon idole" (2002) opposite her husband, "Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire)" (2003) and "Michel Vaillant" (2003). While shooting "Wicker Park" her French agent encouraged her to send a tape to the producers of "Troy" and she was invited to screen tests in Montreal, London and Los Angeles. Told to gain 15 lbs/7 kilos for the role of "Helen of Troy" was up to 56 kilos she managed this in 2 weeks. Shortly before production on "Troy" began she was given the role - over 3000 tapes had been viewed by the producers. Asked to model Louis Vuitton fashion for the Autumn 2004 campaign.
Height: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Measurements: 33 1/2-23-34 1/2