Which actress plays Lulu in the 1929 film Pandora’s Box?

Louise Brooks plays Lulu in the 1929 film Pandora’s Box. Directed by G. W. Pabst, the German silent film made Brooks internationally famous for her portrayal of a charismatic woman whose relationships produce increasingly tragic consequences.

Brooks was an American actress and dancer whose distinctive bob haircut became strongly associated with her screen image. Her performance as Lulu is often praised for combining apparent innocence with independence and emotional complexity. The role became one of the defining performances of silent cinema.

The film is not a literal adaptation of the ancient Greek story. It draws on Frank Wedekind’s plays about Lulu, while the Pandora title works as a metaphor for destructive forces being released. This distinction separates the film from direct retellings of the myth.