Born Diane Heidkrueger in Hildesheim, Germany, on 15 July 1976, Kruger originally wanted to be a classical dancer and trained at the Royal Ballet in London. But an injury ended her dream and she returned to Germany, where she began modelling under her real name. At the age of just 15, her stunning looks saw her become a finalist in Elite's 1992 Look Of The Year competition. It was the start of quite a career, seeing her grace the covers of magazines like Elle and Vogue. But Diane wanted more and on the advise of cult film director Luc Besson, she moved to Paris and enrolled in the Ecole Florent acting school, where she topped her class in 2002.
She made a cinema debut that same year, opposite Dennis Hopper and Christopher Lambert, in the Indie flick The Piano Player (aka The Target). Hot on the tail of that, she grabbed a bigger role in the French movie Mon Idole, which was directed by and co-starred her now real-life husband Guillaume Canet. The call from Hollywood came soon after, and saw her take lead roles in movies like Wicker Park and the historical blockbuster Troy. Fellow German director Wolfgang Petersen had Diane gain 15 lbs in weight to play the legendary beauty Helen of Troy, since he wanted her to look 'rounder'. It wasn't a bad suggestion. Her sweet butt certainly looked peachy fine in the movie's nude scene ... especially in slow-mo!
