Cologne, Nov 27: German actress Heike Makatsch doesn't have the biggest role in Richard Curtis' Christmas comedy "Love Actually," but playing sultry office temptress Mia, she does get one of the best lines. When her boss Harry (Alan Rickman) asks her about the location for the office party, Mia turns to him, spreads her legs wide and huskily says, "It's good, with lots of dark corners for doing dark deeds." Hot and flustered, Harry doesn't know where to look.
For most U.S. filmgoers, "Love Actually" will be their first peek at the 32-year-old Makatsch. But her deep-set, vibrant blue eyes are well-known to German audiences. She's accustomed to getting star billing on her home turf.
Makatsch stomped onto the German scene in 1993, wearing combat boots and schoolgirl braids and interviewing pop royalty such as Madonna and David Bowie for then-fledgling music channel VIVA.
But her real break came in 1995 when director Detlev Buck cast her as a naive, lisping girl who dreams of being a singer in his road movie comedy "Jailbirds."

"After a few years in television, it began to get repetitive and I really felt the pressure of having to please an audience all on my own," Makatsch says, explaining her move to celluloid. "What I like about film is you are part of a team, all telling a story."

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It was on the set of her second film -- Peter Sehr's "Obsession" -- that Makatsch met British actor Daniel Craig ("Sylvia,") and followed him home to London.

"We've been together ever since," Makatsch says. "Coming to London wasn't a career move, it was a love move."
But it was a move that certainly hasn't hurt her career. By "working in Germany and living in London," Makatsch has slowly collected a diverse and impressive film resume that includes Max Faerberboeck's "Aimee & Jaguar," Doris Doerrie's "Naked" and smaller English-language parts in Paul W.S. Anderson's "Resident Evil" and Saul Metzstein's "Late Night Shopping."
But "Love Actually," with a star-studded cast that includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson and Colin Firth, and its pre-awards buzz, is likely to garner the most attention.
"I was very, very nervous going into the casting because I read the script and I thought -- this is funny, it's moving, it's sad -- I really want to do this film,"' Makatsch recalls. "I was just hoping that maybe the part is small enough for me to have a chance." Bureau Report