Alexandra Maria Lara (née Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978) is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in Downfall (2004), Control (2007), Youth Without Youth (2007), The Reader (2008), Rush (2013), and Geostorm (2017). Early life Born in Bucharest, Lara is the only child of Valentin Plătăreanu, an actor, and his wife, Doina. In 1983, her family fled to West Germany to escape Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime in Communist Romania. Although the family had planned to emigrate to Canada, they settled in Freiburg im Breisgau, before eventually moving to Berlin. Career By sixteen, she was playing lead roles in various television dramas; since then, she has appeared in films, including as Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler's secretary, in the Academy Award-nominated 2004 film Downfall; following this, Francis Ford Coppola wrote her a letter and gave her a leading role in Youth Without Youth (2007). In 2007 she also appeared as Belgian journalist Annik Honoré in the film Control, the Ian Curtis biopic. In 2008, she served as a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. She has also appeared in several French productions, including Napoléon and L'Affaire Farewell. She appeared in The Reader and Der Baader Meinhof Komplex which were both nominated for the 81st Academy Awards, for best picture and best foreign language film, respectively. In 2018 she starred with her real life husband Sam Riley in Happy New Year, Colin Burstead by Ben Wheatley, playing his German girlfriend. Personal life In August 2009, Lara married English actor Sam Riley, with whom she acted in the films Control and Suite Française. In January 2014, she gave birth to their first child, a boy. They also played a couple on-screen in Ben Wheatley's drama Happy New Year, Colin Burstead. Filmography Stella Stellaris (1994, TV miniseries) I Desire You (1995), as Mädchen am Bahnhof Mensch, Pia! (1996, TV series, 10 episodes, breakthrough role), as Pia Mangold : Tote weinen nicht (1997, TV series episode), as Laura Das Vorsprechen (1997, Short), as Junge Schauspielerin Die Mädchenfalle – Der Tod kommt online (1998, TV film), as Silke Hartmann Tatort: Fürstenschüler (1998, TV series episode), as Kerstin (1998, TV film), as Renate - jung Polizeiruf 110: Sumpf (1999, TV series episode), as Meike Sperling (Sperling und der falsche Freund) (1999, TV series episode) Our Island in the South Pacific (1999), as Sandra Vertrauen ist alles (2000, TV film), as Jennifer Blankenburg Lady Cop (ep. Die Geliebte des Killers)