Tamar van den Dop (born 8 February, 1970) is a Dutch actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. In 1997 she was awarded a Gouden Beeld for her role in the television drama Zwarte Sneeuw. As a theater actor she won the Colombina for her role as Hanna in the play, Schlemiel, with the theater group Het Groote Hoofd. She was nominated for her second Colombina for her part in Speeldrift. She is also known for her supporting role in the film Character, which won the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 1998.
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Early life and education
Tamar van den Dop was born on 8 February 1970 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She grew up in Amsterdam-Zuid with her mother; her father was an artist that lived in Israel, who she has never met. She is Jewish. She attended secondary school at the Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam.
During her youth she made her debut (then still called Tamara) in 1984 with the Schatertheater on the podium of De Krakeling in the play called Liefde in Afrika as Madame la Directrice. and in 1986 in de film Op Hoop van Zegen, within she took on the role of Clementine, daughter of the reder Bos. She (16) played together with Danny de Munk (15). She was selected from two thousand aspiring actors. Filming took place in Goedereede and Yerseke. It had its premiere on August 6, 1986 at the Tuschinski Theatre. She also played in the film adaptation of Yvonne Keuls's Jan Rap en z'n maat as Janneke.
Between 1989 and 1993 she studied at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. When she was twenty years old, on a break between her studies she played in her first big film role in movie called The Province, which earned her a Golden Calf nomination. As part of a graduation film she starred alongside her peers in the short film Crankybox, directed by Frans Weisz. On stage, she played in Gyges and His Ring for Toneelgroep Amsterdam in 1992. In 1993, she played in a new performance of James Joyce's Exiles as Beatrice.
Career
In 1994, she starred in a restaging of George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House for the RO theater company. She also had a minor role in De Partizanen series.
In 1996, van den Dop took on the lead role as Eva Bender in the twelve-part television drama series Zwarte Sneeuw, written by Willem Capteyn and Carel Donck and directed by Maarten Treurniet. She was chosen from fifty actresses who auditioned for the role. Production took over a year and van den Dop had the most filming days with 160. She struggled with the lack of chronological shooting. The show was met a positive critical response but viewership wise it was considered a disappointment. NCRV rerun the series two years later. She was awarded a Gouden Beeld for her work in Zwarte Sneeuw.
In 1997, she starred as Lorna Te George in the historical drama Character, directed Mike van Diem. Based on the novel of the same, her character was the love interest in the story.
Her first test audition with Mike van Dien was described as "disastrous", the second test went better, but she got the role after she met van Dien's partner at a chance meeting at the Tuschinski Theatre and exhibiting the precise behaviour van Diem wanted from the character from the film. The movie was met a positive reception, and was awarded the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 1998. Despite its international success, van den Dop wasn't approached by anyone in Hollywood and at the time she didn't have her own agent unlike her American contemporaries. The film would be cut into three-part mini-series for television and broadcast on Nederland 3 in 1999. That same year, she also appeared in the short film, Kringen van tijd. On stage, she returned for a restaging of Arthur Schnitzler's Flirt, in it she took on the role of Mizi.
Van den Dop would star in Friedrich Hebbel's Judith as the titular Judith. It was performed by Nes-theaters in March and April across the Netherlands in 1998. On the small screen, she appeared in two television films, Thuisfront directed by Ivo van Hove and Het Glinsterend pantser, the latter is an adaptation of the Simon Vestdijk novel.
In 1999, she was one of the recipients of the Shooting Stars Award, which is awarded annually for emerging acting talent from Europe. Writing for Algemeen Dagblad, Albert Kok described her one of the greatest filmtalents of her generation. Her single major film release of the year was the family adventure film Missing Link. The movie was filmed two years prior but faced a prolonged delay so as not to compete with The Flying Liftboy, which was a massive box-office hit the previous year.
Personal life
She has two children, Minke and Benjamin, with photographer and cinematographer Gregor Meerman.
Filmmaking credits
Lot (2003)
Schat (2004)
Blind (2007)
Supernova (2014)
Mag ik je aanraken? (2023)
