"Walking through the streets of Paris feels like being in a movie" — actor couple Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley

Katharina Kotrba, 17.07.2026

Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley are right at home on film sets, in different countries, and speaking different languages. In this interview, the two acting stars reveal why they never travel without books or a notebook, which hotel feels like a second home, and why Japan is at the top of their shared bucket list.

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Actress Alexandra Maria Lara gained international recognition for her role as Hitler's secretary in the film Downfall (2004). Actor Sam Riley became a star virtually overnight in 2007 with his role as Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in Control. On the set of Control, in which Lara plays the singer’s lover, the two fell in love, got married, and have been living in Berlin with their son Ben ever since. He is British, she was born in Bucharest and grew up in Germany.

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