German actress Veronica Ferres studied acting in Munich, where she began her career on the stage. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be an internationally recognized actress, Americanizing the spelling of her name when she was just 15 by replacing the K with a C, so that it would be a familiar spelling to the eyes of Hollywood. Her stage career would continue to blossom, but Ferres also transitioned onto the screen, appearing in German movies and TV shows, and steadily becoming a more recognizable name. She gained particular notoriety in the U.S. when she appeared in the made-for-TV production of Les Miserables starring Gerard Depardieu in 2000, playing the tyrannical Madame Thenardier. She made another notable splash with American audiences in 2006 Klimt before signing on for the sobering drama Adam Resurrected, about an asylum for Holocaust survivors.