Eva Dorrepaal began her acting career under the tutelage of minimalist filmmaker Pim de la Parra. After studying acting and directing in the Netherlands, she longed for some experience abroad. In 1995, toward the end of the Serbo-Croatian War, Dorrepaal went to Yugoslavia, where she performed with the renowned, experimental KPGT theater group and travelled through Kosovo with them. She has had leading roles in all of Brienen's feature films, which were shot in Amsterdam and Berlin. In the late 1990's, she set out for New York, where she obtained a green card. She now divides her time between Amsterdam and New York, working in theater, film and television.