Which actress played Lulu in Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 film Pandora’s Box?

Louise Brooks played Lulu in Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 film Pandora’s Box.

Brooks portrays Lulu as charismatic, independent, and socially disruptive, a character whose relationships drive the film’s tragic story. Her performance became the defining feature of the movie and helped establish the film’s lasting reputation.

Pandora’s Box was adapted from Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Although Brooks was American, the film was produced in Germany during the Weimar period, one of the most innovative eras in European cinema.

Lulu is often discussed alongside other famous femme-fatale characters, but she is not the same character as Marlene Dietrich’s roles in films such as The Blue Angel. Brooks’s distinctive bobbed hairstyle also became an enduring visual symbol of the film.