Famous Dutch People in Pop Culture

If you stay long enough in the Netherlands, you begin to notice certain things. You start seeing Hershey’s chocolate as an abomination in chocolate form, and mayo as one of the food groups that somehow keeps a human body up and functioning.

Also, this tiny, flat country that you can drive through in just 3 hours has an obscene number of famous Dutch people. Sometimes we presume these stars must be Americans or Brits because of their flawless English. Not so. With that in mind, here are 10 global superstars you probably didn’t realize were famous Dutch people in pop culture.

1. Eddie Van Halen

Hometown: Amsterdam

Eddie and his brother Alex were born in the Netherlands during the 1950’s. Their father was a Dutch jazz musician with an Indonesian mother, making Eddie one of the most successful Indo” exports. The family moved to Pasadena, California, when Eddie was about seven years old. If Eddie Van Halen speaking Dutch is odd to think about, then what about it being an established fact that during the boat journey to the USA, the boys started playing music for the passengers to make a few extra bucks?

Did you picture a rock star who said goodbye to the Netherlands at age 7 and spoke fluent Dutch? Probably not. There are clips of Eddie Van Halen speaking Dutch in interviews. He died in 2020, but his place in rock folklore and as one of the most famous Dutch people to live is forever enshrined.

2. Tiësto

Hometown: Breda

Before there was Martin Garrix, before Afrojack, and before Armin van Buuren, there was Tiësto. If there is a “Godfather of EDM,” it would be Tijs Michiel Verwest. He was the first DJ to play live on stage at the Olympic opening ceremony (Athens 2004), turning the Olympics into a huge rave.

Tiësto was born in Breda, a town in the southern province of Noord-Brabant. The inhabitants of this side of the Netherlands are known to be more Burgundian in character, a people in love with good food, beer, and parties. And so it is very fitting that we see this party slayer born there. He was heard playing at local school parties and small Breda clubs, and eventually built a name for himself in the trance scene. Tiësto paved the way for Dutch dominance of electronic music and has earned his spot on any list of famous Dutch people.

3. Famke Janssen

Hometown: Amstelveen

If you lived through the nineties, you may recall the 007 villainess Xenia Onatopp, who could crush people between her thighs. Or Jean Grey from the X-Men franchise. She started out as a model in the 1980s, before moving to the United States to work for Chanel and Victoria’s Secret.

After appearing in a couple of TV pilots and a small role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, she landed the Bond role. She also had a fight with Liam Neeson in Taken and started directing her own films.

4. Paul Verhoeven

Hometown: Amsterdam

RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers. These movies defined American sci-fi and action in the 80s and 90s. What a madcap career he has had, from the canals of Amsterdam to the Hollywood Hills and back. Paul Verhoeven started with controversial Dutch films before Hollywood recruited him.

Read More: 5 Destinations for Film Lovers in the Netherlands

Paul was born in Amsterdam. What many may have failed to grasp, however, was that Verhoeven was, in fact, poking fun at them very often. Starship Troopers is a satire on fascism and American militarism, observed, disguised by the animation of giant space bugs being shot at, viewed through a Dutch lens.

5. Michiel Huisman

Hometown: Amstelveen

When it was time for Game of Thrones to recast the character of Daario Naharis, the Bearded Scoundrel onscreen who managed to woo the Mother of Dragons overnight, there was only one language to speak: Michiel Huisman. Some might have reckoned that he was just some moody British actor, but nope, Michiel is as Dutch as they come, and so he makes for a spot on our famous Dutch people list.

Michiel used to be an actual pop star in the Netherlands before he wandered into Westeros. He would be the frontman of a band named Fontane. Onto the plane to Tinseltown, appearing as Blake Lively’s immortal lover in The Age of Adaline, he played a possessed writer in The Haunting of Hill House.

6. Martin Garrix

Hometown: Amstelveen

We know what you’re thinking. There must be something special in the water in Amstelveen. You may be right. It has produced a lot of famous Dutch people. If you’ve been out clubbing, partying, or working out during the past ten years, you have heard of Martin Garrix. His breakout “Animals” made him an overnight global superstar. Before the private jets and headlining Tomorrowland, he was just Martijn Gerard Garritsen from Amstelveen.

Martin is a child of the nineties and is the youngest on our list. He found his true calling in electronic dance music after witnessing a Tiësto performance at the Olympics in Greece; the story of a Dutch legend that inspires the next generation. Martin was named the world’s number one DJ by DJ Mag in 2016.

7. Carice van Houten

Hometown: Leiderdorp

And now, we are back on the Westeros bandwagon. Game of Thrones showcases Carice van Houten as Melisandre, the Red Priestess. Melisandre supposedly hails from Asshai by the Shadow, while in reality, Carice calls Leiderdorp home.

Carice was one of the biggest Dutch movie stars before HBO came calling. Black Book (Zwartboek), a WWII-era thriller directed by Paul Verhoeven, is widely regarded as one of the best films in Dutch history. If you follow her on Instagram, she always likes to play around with her image as funny and self-deprecating. She exudes the very Dutch vibes of “doe normaal” (just act normal) despite the world of show business.

8. Rutger Hauer

Hometown: Breukelen

Intense stare: Rutger Hauer. Why? He was the haunting android Roy Batty in Blade Runner. His “Tears in Rain” monologue at the end of the film has entered film history as one of the most famous speeches, and it is rumored that he may have rewritten the most poignant lines himself. That’s now a touch of Dutch poetry.

Rutger was born in Breukelen. Here’s an interesting fact: The New York Borough of Brooklyn was named after this town, and so he was born in the original Brooklyn. He started his acting career in the Netherlands, collaborating with Paul Verhoeven on the TV series Floris and the film Turkish Delight.

His voice carried a distinctive quality: precise and slightly cold, more suited to villainous or misunderstood shadows. He passed away in 2019, but he showed the world that a Dutch actor could actually do more than just be a “cool sidekick.” In 1999, he was named the Best Dutch Actor.

9. Carel Struycken

Hometown: The Hague

You may not know the name, but you certainly know the face. And the height. Carel Struycken towers at a massive seven feet (2.13 meters). He is probably best known for his role as Lurch in the 90s films of The Addams Family. You know, the giant servant who inanely grunts and plays the harpsichord? That’s him. He was also in the short-lived TV series Twin Peaks.

For all his staggering height, Carel was born in The Hague (Den Haag), which feels typical. It would be funny if he were born in a city known for bungalows. He was an actor by accident and by choice, spending some time in film school in Amsterdam and then relocating to Los Angeles, where a woman in the street spotted him and literally chased him down the street to appear in a film. Today, he’s an avid photographer.

10. Yolanda Hadid

Hometown: Papendrecht

For those of you who watched The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, you should be familiar with this Yolanda Hadid. She is also mum to supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, establishing a beauty dynasty.

Yolanda was actually born Yolanda van den Herik in Papendrecht—a tiny town that even some Dutch people could not locate on a map. Anyway, it’s in South Holland. At an early age, modelling was her ticket out of Papendrecht and into the world of international glamour. Her Dutch directness often became a major talking point on the show.

The Netherlands offers visitors more than its famous cheese and tulip fields. The Dutch people have proven their ability to make a worldwide cultural impact through their contributions to rock music and science fiction, even though they came from a peaceful suburb near Amsterdam.