A film goddess in the making

NEW YORK -- The breakout star of "Black Book," Carice van Houten, has earned comparisons to goddesses of Hollywood's golden age: Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, and Greta Garbo.

Like those bewitching and sometimes-blond bombshells -- and some of director Paul Verhoeven's previous femme fatales (Renée Soutendijk of "The Fourth Man," Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct") the 30-year-old Dutch actress seems poised to spring from obscurity into full-fledged international stardom. In person, though, Van Houten is hardly the wily seductress she portrays to be in "Black Book."

Gone are her crimson lipstick and platinum locks -- she's dyed her hair back to its natural light brown. Dressed in fashionable designer jeans and a wool wrap sweater, van Houten looks like a wide-eyed college freshman exploring New York for the first time.

"You know what? I ordered a beer [and] forgot they ask for your I.D. all the time here," she says . "Hey! Take me seriously! I am a grown-up."

Her candor and self-deprecating manner are typical of her countrymen, she insists. "Dutch people talk about everything," says van Houten, whose parents work behind the scenes in educational and public affairs television back home. "It's Americans who are shy, I think. The nudity in ' Black Book '? Not shocking. European audiences would demand it if it wasn't there."

What surprises van Houten are questions that go unasked about her star-making role as Rachel, about the heroine's religion and cultural identity, the reason she is betrayed and persecuted: She's a Jewish woman in Nazi-occupied Holland. Making the film has led the actress to think hard about moral and historical issues that had long remained undiscussed in her home country.

Q You were a rising theater, TV, and film actress in Amsterdam when you landed the role in "Black Book." How has making the film changed your life?

A The happiest thing is that we made a good film and that's been a great success in the Netherlands, and it's all been important for our film industry. Most happily was doing all this and finding someone I love.

Q You mean your co-star, Sebastian Koch, [from "The Lives of Others"] who plays the German officer whom Rachel's assigned to spy on?

A Yes. As soon as I heard who else was cast in the film, I looked him up, saw his photo, and thought, "He looks interesting. I hope he's a nice guy." And he was. He is!

Q Few actors are so open about a new romance, especially one that began on the set. Have you ever regretted talking about it?

A Later on, I thought, maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Because this sort of thing is gossip. At home in Amsterdam, I can still walk down the street and be left alone. If I am recognized, people are sweet and say, "Good for you about the movie." But if they start asking other things that have nothing to do with the movie, then it's not so funny.

Q What were your apprehensions about working with Paul Verhoeven?

A I really liked "Basic Instinct," and love Sharon Stone in that. He and Gerald [Soeteman], his co-writer, create such memorable roles for actresses in all his movies -- strong, complicated women, whether you like them or not. Mostly I was nervous about being in every scene. And singing. Singing to me is a much more vulnerable state than even being nude onscreen. Meeting Paul put me at ease. He has a creative mind, a free mind. And if you meet him, you'll see that he still has a mischief in him. He remembers what it is to be a little boy, fascinated, and a little scared of women, and you can see that in his movies.

Q Rachel -- and you -- are the most sympathetic of Verhoeven's heroines, even as her fight to survive turns into vengeance. Did you always like her?

A Yes, I did. Very much. Even though she's a hero, she makes exactly the same mistakes as everybody else. She's looking for the person who's killed her entire family, and when she finds him, will she say, "I forgive you," like a princess in a story book? You can see how difficult it is for this woman at this time in history -- or for any one of us as a human being, if you lost those people that you love -- to forgive. Until we can do that, it's never going to stop. Hate, revenge. It's never going to end. A movie like this makes you wonder: What would I do?