Why Abigail Chase From National Treasure Look So Familiar
In 2004, Walt Disney Pictures released the family adventure film National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, and Justin Bartha. Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian with a hobby for searching for lost treasure and legendary artifacts. One special "national treasure" is rumored to be found through a decoded map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. With Riley Poole (Bartha), a computer expert, and Dr. Abigail Chase (Kruger) of the National Archives by his side, Gates must race against his former friend, Ian Howe (Sean Bean) to find the mythical treasure first.
As they work together on the case, Gates and Chase develop feelings for one another, and at the end of National Treasure, they pursue a romantic relationship. After the box office success of the first film, a sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, was released in 2007, with the main characters returning for another adventure. The sequel was equally successful at the box office, earning almost $460 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). A third film has been rumored to be in development for years, and Disney is currently developing a spin-off series for its streaming service.
While Cage was already a recognizable face at the time, National Treasure was an important role for his costar Kruger, who was still early in her career. The German actress has since gone on to have an increasingly illustrious career with a variety of great roles. Not sure where else you've seen Kruger? Check out her biggest roles so far.
Diane Kruger played Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglorious Basterds
In 2009, Kruger booked a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's World War II alternate history drama, Inglorious Basterds. Kruger stars alongside big names like Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz as Bridget von Hammersmark, a German film star who becomes a spy for the allies. She is a key operative in the Basterds' plan to ambush and kill Hitler, Landa (Waltz), a ruthless murderer for the SS, and many other Nazis and their allies at a film premiere in Paris. She is caught by Landa after he tracks her with a shoe and signature left at a previous attack by the Basterds.
Many people see Inglorious Basterds as one of Tarantino's best films and it was nominated for many awards, including eight Oscars. Waltz's performance as the evil Landa won him an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, the Cannes award for Best Actor, and many more. As for Kruger's performance, critics praised the character's strength and resolve, with The Boston Globe calling Hammersmark "intelligent, committed, and bloody tough."
Kruger starred in The Bridge as Detective Sonya Cross
In her first major TV role, Kruger played Detective Sonya Cross in the FX crime series The Bridge, based on the critically-acclaimed Danish-Swedish series Bron/Broen. Released in 2013, The Bridge came out around the same time as The Tunnel, another adaptation of Bron/Broen centered around the Channel Tunnel — a.k.a. The Chunnel — that connects England and France.
The Bridge, the US version of the same story, focuses on the Bridge of the Americas that connects El Paso, Texas with Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua in Mexico. Cross, who works in El Paso, teams up with Chihuahua State police detective Marco Ruiz (Demián Bichir) to chase down a serial killer killing in both the US and Mexico. The case begins with the murder of an American judge well-known for his anti-immigration beliefs. When his body is found on the bridge, the two detectives must put aside their countries' differences and any personal issues to catch the murderer.
Kruger's character Cross is very by-the-book, which clashes with Ruiz's willingness to do anything and everything to get the job done. Cross also is portrayed with autism spectrum disorder, which can cause difficulty or differences in communicating and connecting with others (Psychology.org). Along with interpersonal drama and the serial killer case, The Bridge explores corruption in the Mexican justice system, drug cartels, and other issues facing Mexico and the US. The series received great reviews from critics, with a 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and ran for two seasons and 26 episodes.
Kruger played a grieving wife and mother in the German film In the Fade
The film In the Fade — in German, Aus dem Nichts — was, surprisingly, Kruger's German-language debut. Released in 2017, the film features Kruger as Katja Şekerci, a German woman who loses her husband Nuri (Numan Acar) and young son Rocco (Rafael Santana) to a neo-Nazi terrorist attack. After the incident, Katja falls into a deep depression made worse by Nuri's mother, who tells Katja that Rocco would still be alive if she had been a better mother.
The police arrest a married couple as suspects for the bombing, and they go on trial. Despite the evidence and testimonies pointing to their guilt, the strong defense attempts to discredit it all. For Katja, who lost everything in the bombing, she needs the trial to succeed and the couple to be charged. Even with supportive friends trying to help her, Katja has lost control of her life and her emotions, and the trial is all she has left. If the proceedings don't end with the couple being charged for the murder of her family, Katja intends to take justice into her own hands.
Kruger received a lot of praise for her performance, with The Times (UK) stating that the actress "carries entire scenes of witness testimonies through looks and grimaces alone. It's a masterclass" in acting. Kruger also won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, and In The Fade won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
Kruger will play German agent Marie in next year's spy thriller The 355
Next up for Kruger is The 355, an upcoming action crime film also starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, and Fan Bingbing. Rounding out the main cast are Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramírez. The 355 focuses on Chastain's character Mason "Mace" Brown, a CIA agent who is encouraged to go against agency protocol to stop a top-secret weapon from getting into the wrong hands. She decides to team up with top agents around the world to get the job done. Kruger joins the group as a German agent named Marie, while Nyong'o plays Khadijah, a former MI6 tech specialist, Cruz plays Graciela, a Colombian psychologist, and Fan plays a mysterious woman named Lin Mi Sheng.
The title, The 355, is inspired by the codename of a female spy for the US during the American Revolution. She is also rumored to have been a member of George Washington's Culper Ring, a spy ring based in NYC, with her real identity being a woman named Anna Strong (via History). Reported to be similar in style to the Jason Bourne and Mission: Impossible franchises, the movie is a female-led spy thriller produced by Chastain (Deadline).
The 355 is currently scheduled for a January 14, 2022 theatrical release, so mark your calendars now.