Carice Anouk van Houten (IPA: [karis anuk vɑn hʌutɛn]) (born September 5, 1976) is a Dutch stage and film actress. She won three Golden Calves for her roles in Suzy Q (1999), Undercover Kitty (2001), and Black Book (2006).
Carice van Houten was born on September 5, 1976 in Leiderdorp, the Netherlands. Her mother Margje Stasse is on the board of Dutch educational TV and her father Theodore van Houten is a writer and broadcaster. She has a younger sister, Jelka van Houten, who is also an actress. She went to the St. Bonifatiuscollege (high school) in Utrecht, where she played the leading role in Hugo Claus' Tijl Uilenspieghel, directed by Ad Migchielsen. She studied at the Kleinkunstacademie in Amsterdam.
She is in a relationship with actor Sebastian Koch, her co-star in Black Book.
Carice van Houten played her first leading role in Martin Koolhoven's TV film Suzy Q. Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her part as Suzy. Carice van Houten has also won the Pisuisse Award and the Top Naeff Award for her stage acting and another Golden Calf for her part as the kitten that becomes a girl in Undercover Kitty (2001).
Van Houten won a Golden Calf for her performance as Rachel Stein in the 2006 film Black Book at the Netherlands Film Festival. Black Book's director Paul Verhoeven says about her in a television interview: "Never in my life I have worked with an actress this talented." and when he is asked to compare her with Sharon Stone he says: "Carice can really act". The international press is also enthusiastic about her role in Black Book. Dick Schümer writes in his review of the film in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that Carice van Houten is "not only more beautiful, but also a better actress than Scarlett Johansson".
In December 2006, van Houten withdrew from a theatre production of Alex van Warmerdam due to personal reasons. According to a spokesman of the theatre it was because of a work overload.
Right now, it is well rumoured that Carice van Houten may play the leading bond girl role in Bond 22.[citation needed]
