Background
The daughter of Romanian actor Valentin Platareanu, Alexandra Maria Lara escaped Nicolae Ceausescu's tyrannical regime with her parents when she was 4 years old to start a new life in West Germany. Initially intending to relocate to Canada, the family found themselves in Freiburg im Breisgau before ending up in Berlin.
Education
In 1992 her father, Valentin Platareanu founded the Charlottenburg Drama School with his partner, Henner Oft.
Career
Following in her father's footsteps, Alexandra fell under the spell of acting at an early age and appeared in a number of feature roles during her teens. Her debut came in 1994’s mini-series Stella Stellaris. Alexandra Maria Lara's performance in the 2001 feature The Tunnel garnered the actress international acclaim. In 2004, she got a major role in The Downfall where she played the role of Traudl Junge. The movie went on to bag an Oscar nomination. In 2007 while filming the movie Control Alexandra met her future husband Sam Riley with whom she lives in Berlin today.