# Renée Soutendijk

Renette Pauline Soutendijk (born 21 May 1957), known professionally as Renée Soutendijk (Dutch pronunciation:), is a Dutch actress. A gymnast in her youth, Soutendijk began her acting career in the late 1970s. She was a favorite star of director Paul Verhoeven's films, and is perhaps best known for her work in his 1980 release Spetters and 1983's The Fourth Man. Her good looks and striking blond hair secured her status as a Dutch sex symbol in the 1980s.
Soutendijk attempted to establish herself in the United States in the late 1980s, and appeared in the science fiction film Eve of Destruction (1991). Since the 2000s she has played a number of television and stage roles, and appeared as one of the leads in the 2012 RTL 4 television series Moordvrouw. She has also had supporting roles in the American drama A Perfect Man (2013) and in Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria (2018).

## Life and career
### Early life

Soutendijk was born in The Hague, Netherlands, on 21 May 1957. In her youth, Soutendijk was a qualifying Olympic gymnast. She studied acting at the Academy for Podium Formation in The Hague.

### Television and film beginnings

Soutendijk made her television debut in the Dutch television series Dagboek van een herdershond (English: Dutch the Shepherd Dog (1979–1980). She began her film career playing the heroines in the Paul Verhoeven-directed cult films Spetters (1980) and The Fourth Man (1983). Spetters established her as a sex symbol; the movie and its star attracted attention in the United States as well, and The New York Times saw her "stylish performance" of a "compelling character" as a focal point of the movie. In the early 1980s, Soutendijk, Monique van de Ven, and Willeke van Ammelrooy were the three best-known actresses in Dutch cinema, and most Dutch movies featured one of the three. The movie that marked her breakthrough as an actress in a major role, though, is considered to be The Girl with the Red Hair (1981), in which she played Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft. From 1981 to 1989 she played in Zeg 'ns Aaa, one of the longest-running and most popular Dutch sitcoms. In 1983, Soutendijk gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Caro.
Soutendijk's first English-language role was as Eva Braun in the made-for-TV movie Inside the Third Reich. Her subsequent TV movie roles included Anna Mons in Peter the Great (1986) and Mrs. Simon Wiesenthal in Murderers Among Us (1989). She sought a career in Hollywood and lived in the United States for a year and a half. She played opposite Academy Award nominee Chris Sarandon in the Holocaust-themed movie Forced March (1989), and the title character in Eve of Destruction (1991), in which she portrayed an android opposite Gregory Hines.
In the late 1990s she played in another Dutch film (De Flat). She also acted in German television movies (and series, including Tatort) in which, she said, she was rarely typecast and played more interesting characters. In 1996, she gave birth to her son, Jaïr. The films Dial 9 and Met grote blijdschap (With Great Joy), which were both released in 2001, marked her return to the Dutch movie-screen after a four-year absence.

### 2000s and later career

Soutendijk subsequently played roles in television shows and as a stage actress, playing for instance Queen Juliana (2006) and a woman dying of cancer in Margaret Edson's Wit (2010). In 2011, Soutendijk was given the Rembrandt Award for her body of work. That same year, news came that Soutendijk was to star in a television series for RTL 4, Moordvrouw, a police drama. In 2018, Soutendijk had a supporting role in Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, a reimagining of the Dario Argento film of the same name.
She appeared in the 2022 photography game show Het perfecte plaatje.
In September 2023 Soutendijk was the recipient of Golden Calf for Best Leading Role (the most important Dutch film award) for her main role in the critically acclaimed film Sweet Dreams.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978 | Pastorale 1943 | Marie Bovenkamp | |
| 1978 | Deadly Sin [nl] | Renée | |
| 1979 | A Woman Like Eve | Sigrid | |
| 1980 | Spetters | Fientje | |
| 1981 | The Girl with the Red Hair | Hannie Schaft | |
| 1981 | The Forbidden Bacchanal [nl] | Corrie | |
| 1982 | Inside the Third Reich | Eva Braun | Television film |
| 1982 | Hedwig: The Quiet Lakes | Hedwig | |
| 1983 | The Fourth Man | Christine Halsslag | |
| 1983 | An Bloem | Loedie | |
| 1984 | The Cold Room | Lili | Television film |
| 1984 | Out of Order | Marion | |
| 1985 | Private Resistance | Trudi | |
| 1986 | Op hoop van zegen | Jo | |
| 1986 | Motten im Licht | | |
| 1987 | Scoop | Ishmaelia - Kätchen | |
| 1987 | The Second Victory | Traudi Holzinger | |
| 1987 | A Month Later | Liesbeth | |
| 1987 | The Madonna Man [de] | Juliane Mundt | |
| 1987 | Der Fall Boran (a.k.a. Boran – Zeit zum Zielen) | Linda Mars | |
| 1988 | King of the Olympics: The Lives and Loves of Avery Brundage | Linnea Dresden | Television film |
| 1988 | Wherever You Are... [pl] | Nina | |
| 1989 | Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story | Cyla | Television film |
| 1989 | Forced March | Myra | |
| 1989 | Grave Secrets | Iris Norwood | |
| 1991 | Eve of Destruction | Dr. Eve Simmons / Eve VIII | |
| 1991 | Keeper of the City | Vickie Benedetto | Television film |
| 1993 | The Betrayed | Olga Grond | Television film |
| 1993 | Seventh Heaven | Charlyne | |
| 1994 | De Flat | Roos Hartman | |
| 1996 | The Little Riders | Beatrix Hunter | |
| 1998 | Hauptsache Leben | Corinna | |
| 1999 | Dance of the Dolphins | Claire Strauss | Television film |
| 2000 | Anna Wunder | Sophie | |
| 2001 | With Great Joy [nl] | Els | |
| 2001 | Hochzeit zu viert | Susanne Berthold | |
| 2001 | Hanna - Wo bist Du? | Erika Strom | Television film |
| 2003 | Eine Liebe in Afrika [de] | Jane | Television film |
| 2008 | Radeloos [nl] | Vera Scholte | |
| 2009 | Der Mann aus der Pfalz [de] | Hannelore Kohl | Television film |
| 2013 | A Perfect Man | Martha | |
| 2018 | Redbad | Idwina | |
| 2018 | Suspiria | Miss Huller | |
| 2023 | Sweet Dreams | Agathe | |
| 2023 | Neem Me Mee | Nienke | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | The Hitchhiker | Sara Kendal | Episode: "Murderous Feelings" |
| 1986 | Peter the Great | Anna Mons | Miniseries |
| 1999 | Schimanski: Sehnsucht [de] | Eva Marsfeldt | Episode: "Sehnsucht" |
| 2000–2005 | Tatort: Bittere Mandeln [de] | Eva Maria Klein / Evelyn | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | The Enclave | Ilse Terhoef | Miniseries |
| 2008 | S1ngle | Edith | 5 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | Leipzig Homicide | Maja Peters | 4 episodes |
| 2009 | Vienna Crime Squad | Wanda Wolf | Episode: "Preis der Schönheit" |
| 2009 | Ein starkes Team | Katarina Kamm | Episode: "Geschlechterkrieg" |
| 2012 | Van God los | Ellen | Episode: "D.I.S.C.O." |
| 2012 | Moordvrouw | Carla Vreeswijk | 50 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Centraal Medisch Centrum | Emily Zomer | 16 episodes |

## Accolades

| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee | Result |
| Locarno Film Festival | 2023 | Pardo for Best Performance | Sweet Dreams | Won |
| Netherlands Film Festival | 1985 | Golden Calf for Best Actress | Private Resistance | Won |
| Netherlands Film Festival | 2023 | Golden Calf for Best Leading Role | Sweet Dreams | Won |