Carice Anouk van Houten (Dutch pronunciation: [kaˑˈris ɑˈnuk vɑn ˈɦʌu̯tə(n)]; born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp, Netherlands) is a Dutch actress and singer.
She rose to prominence with her role in Paul Verhoeven's Black Book. Internationally, she is known for English-speaking works such as Valkyrie, Repo Men, Black Death and the HBO series Game of Thrones in which she played the role of Melisandre the Red Priestess from 2012 to 2019.
She's been with Guy Pearce since 2015, and they have a son together.
Selected Roles:
- Undercover Kitty (Minoes, 2001) as Minoes
- Father's Affair (De passievrucht, 2003) as Monika
- Black Book (Zwartboek, 2006) as Rachel Stein/Ellis De Vries
- Alles Is Liefde (2007) as Kiki Jollema
- Dorothy Mills (2008) as Jane Morton
- Valkyrie (2008) as Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
- Repo Men (2010) as Carol
- Black Death (2010) as Langiva
- In therapie (2010) as Aya note
- Game of Thrones (2012-2019) as Lady Melisandre of Asshai aka the "Red Priestess"
- Alles Is Familie (2012) as Winnie de Roover
- The Fifth Estate (2013) as Birgitta Jónsdóttir
- The Simpsons (2015), episode "Let's Go Fly A Coot", as Annika Van Houten, Milhouse's Dutch cousin
- Race (2016) as Leni Riefenstahl
- Instinct (2019) as Nicoline
Tropes and Trivia applying to her works:
- The Cast Show Off: All the songs in Black Book are actually sung by Carice herself.
- Ms. Fanservice: She performed nude on some occasions, most notably in Father's Affair, Black Book and Game of Thrones. In one commentary on the latter, Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth) recounts how she once flashed him so shamelessly that he assumed she was wearing fake breasts.
- Period Piece: She's been cast in several movies set during World War II (Black Book, Valkyrie) or just before (Race).
- Promoted Fanboy: A huge fan of The Simpsons, Carice sharing a last name with a certain best friend of Bart Simpson on the show did not go unnoticed by fans and the show's producers. In 2015, she was invited to guest-star as Annika Van Houten, the Dutch cousin of Milhouse.
- Romance on the Set: She started a three years romance in 2006 with her Black Book co-star Sebastian Koch on the set of that film. Amusingly, he played Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg in Operation Valkyrie in 2004, while Carice ended up playing Stauffenberg's wife opposite Tom Cruise as Stauffenberg in Valkyrie.
- Star-Making Role: Black Book made her a Dutch household name and had her noticed at the international level. Game of Thrones brought her international stardom.
- Those Two Actresses: She has appeared with her longtime friend Halina Reijn in Father's Affair, A Thousand Kisses, Black Book and Valkyrie (they were also both in In therapie but did not appear in the same episodes). In 2013, the two of them published a photography book together called Anti Glamour, a mock style guide and a celebration of their friendship. They occasionally kiss on camera, and have joked about being lesbians, although there is no actual romantic involvement. Carice also starred in the first film Halina directed, Instinct.
- What Could Have Been: Before being cast as Melisandre, Carice was offered the part of Cersei Lannister, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.
