Nastassja Kinski speaks five languages fluently which has lent to her status as a international star, appearing in films of several nations. Some of her films include Roman Polanski's Tess (1979), Paul Schrader's Cat People (1982), Wim Wenders Far Away, So Close (1993), and David Lynch's Inland Empire (2006).

She did not realize her actor-father Klaus Kinski was a madman, but thought him merely passionate, until she grew up and began to meet ordinary people. She regards herself as too strange to have many close friends, so she is very close to her chihuahua Paco. Animals are too precious to eat, so she is a vegetarian.