TOP Danish actors
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Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.
Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew to become one of Denmark's biggest movie actors. The success in his home country includes Flickering Lights (2000), En kort en lang (2001) and the Emmy-winning police series Unit One (2000).
His success has taken him abroad where he has played alongside Gérard Depardieu in I Am Dina (2002) as well as in the Spanish comedy Torremolinos 73 (2003) and the American blockbuster King Arthur (2004).
He played the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the critically acclaimed NBC series Hannibal (2013), from 2013 to 2015, with great success.Tristan From King Arthur- Actor
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Ulrich Thomsen graduated from The Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theaters in Copenhagen, i.e. Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater. His debut on film was in Ole Bornedal's Nightwatch (1994). Since then a number of roles in, among others, Thomas Vinterberg's The Biggest Heroes (1996), Susanne Bier's Credo (1997) and Anders Thomas Jensen's Flickering Lights (2000). However, the major breakthrough came in the film The Celebration (1998) by Thomas Vinterberg, playing the part as Christian, the son. This performance made him well known outside Denmark, earning him a bad guy role in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999) and a part in the English film Killing Me Softly (2002).- Actor
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Since his screen debut as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), Viggo Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded performances.
Mortensen was born in New York City, to Grace Gamble (Atkinson) and Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. His father was Danish, his mother was American, and his maternal grandfather was Canadian. His parents met in Norway. They wed and moved to New York, where Viggo, Jr. was born, before moving to South America, where Viggo, Sr. managed chicken farms and ranches in Venezuela and Argentina. Two more sons were born, Charles and Walter, before the marriage grew increasingly unhappy. When Viggo was seven, his parents sent him to the St. Paul's boarding school, in the Córdoba Sierras, in Argentina. Then, at age eleven, his parents divorced. His mother moved herself and the children back to her home state of New York.
Viggo attended Watertown High School, and became a very good student and athlete. He graduated in 1976 and went on to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. After graduation, he moved to Denmark - driven by the need for a defining purpose in life. He began writing poetry and short stories while working many odd jobs, from dock worker to flower seller. In 1982, he fell in love and followed his girlfriend back to New York City, hoping for a long romance and a writing career. He got neither. In New York, Viggo found work waiting tables and tending bar and began taking acting classes, studying with Warren Robertson. He appeared in several plays and movies, and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where his performance in "Bent" at the Coast Playhouse earned him a Drama-logue Critic's Award.
He made his film debut with a small part in Witness (1985). He appeared in Salvation! (1987) and married his co-star, Exene Cervenka. The two had a son, Henry Mortensen. But after nearly eleven years of marriage, the couple divorced.
In 1999, Viggo got a phone call about a movie he did not know anything about: "The Lord of the Rings." At first, he didn't want to do it, because it would mean time away from his son. But Henry, a big fan of the books, told his father he shouldn't turn down the role. Viggo accepted the part and immediately began work on the project, which was already underway. Eventually, the success of "The Lord of the Rings" made him a household name - a difficult consequence for the ever private and introspective Viggo.
Critics have continually recognized his work in over thirty movies, including such diverse projects as Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Sean Penn's The Indian Runner (1991), Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993), Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane (1997), Tony Scott's Crimson Tide (1995), Andrew Davis's A Perfect Murder (1998), Ray Loriga's My Brother's Gun (1997), Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the Moon (1999), and Peter Farrelly's Green Book (2018).
Mortensen is also an accomplished poet, photographer and painter.american ?- Actor
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Born in Odense, Denmark, Roland Møller debuted on screen in 2010 in Lindholm & Noer's prison drama R as "the Mason", a brutal inmate, high in the pecking order. In 2011 Roland was nominated Best Supporting Actor for the film at The Danish Critics Association Awards, Bodil.
Two years later, Roland was nominated for a Bodil in the same category for his role as the sailor "Jan Sørensen" in Tobias Lindholm's drama "A Hijacking." Jan Sørensen is a ship's engineer taken hostage by pirates of the Somali shore holding on to his wits as days passes by.
In 2013, "Northwest" by Michael Noer was released. Roland's character Bjørn is a local gang member, who welcomes the new kid in town into his world of drugs and prostitution. Roland won a Bodil for this performance.
In 2014 Roland got the leading role in Martin Zandvlient's WWII film "Land of Mine." Roland plays the Danish sergeant Carl Leopold Rasmussen in charge of a group of young German prisoners of war who are forced to clear landmines on the West Coast of Denmark just after the war has ended. For this we won in the category Best Actor at Tokyo International Film Festival and at the Bodil Awards. "Land of Mine" was furthermore nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards 2017.
Earlier this year David Leitch's "Atomic Blonde" premiered starring Roland opposite John Goodman and Charlize Theron. For more to come Roland is starring in Jaume Collette Serra's "The Commuter", playing alongside Liam Neeson, in Michael Noer's "Papillon", that premiered on Toronto International Film Festival, opposite Chaelie Hunnam and Rami Malek and in "A Bluebird in my heart" by Jérémie Guez.
Besides acting, Roland is a co-host on two radio programs on the Danish radio channel Radio 24/7, "Politiradio", and "Nattevagten."
Leaving an old life in the criminal underworld, Roland is today deeply involved in his community, helping to steer at risk youth away from a life in crime and figure as a mentor to boys who are at risk of becoming involved in crime.- Actor
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor, producer and screenwriter. He graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen in 1993. Coster-Waldau's breakthrough performance in Denmark was his role in the film Nightwatch (1994). Since then he has appeared in numerous films in his native Scandinavia and Europe in general, including Headhunters (2011) and A Thousand Times Good Night (2013).
In the United States, his debut film role was in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001), playing Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon. He then played Detective John Amsterdam in the short-lived Fox television series New Amsterdam (2008), as well as appearing as Frank Pike in the 2009 Fox television film Virtuality, originally intended as a pilot. He became widely known for his role as Jaime Lannister in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018. He is a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, drawing attention to critical issues such as gender equality and climate change.
Coster-Waldau was born in Rudkøbing, Denmark, the son of Hanne Søborg Coster, a librarian, and Jørgen Oscar Fritzer Waldau (died 1998). He has spoken in interviews about his father's problems with alcohol, as well as his parents' divorce. He has two older sisters, and was raised mainly by his mother. He grew up in Tybjerg, a small village between Ringsted and Næstved in southern Zealand. Coster-Waldau was the youngest actor to enter the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance (Danish: Statens Teaterskole), where he was educated from 1989 to 1993.
In 2001, he began his U.S. career in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down as Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon. Coster-Waldau says "My first U.S. movie was Black Hawk Down and a friend helped me put myself on tape up on the attic over my apartment in Copenhagen. We shipped it out and I got lucky."
Since April 2011, Coster-Waldau has played Jaime Lannister in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series. He commented about the character "What's not to like about Jaime? As an actor I couldn't ask for a better role". For his role as Jaime Lannister he has received several accolades, including Primetime Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Television Award, Saturn Award and People's Choice Award nominations.
In 2011, he also starred alongside Sam Shepard in Mateo Gil's feature Blackthorn, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Later the same year he starred in Morten Tyldum's Headhunters. The film went on to be the highest-grossing Norwegian film of all-time and received very positive reviews including a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. Coster-Waldau starred in the 2013 horror film Mama alongside Jessica Chastain, which debuted at number one in the US box office and grossed over $140 million worldwide. He went on to play Sykes, a military weapons expert in the science fiction action thriller film Oblivion. The same year he co-starred with Juliette Binoche in Erik Poppe's drama A Thousand Times Good Night. In 2014, he starred in Susanne Bier's Danish thriller A Second Chance as Andreas, a police officer forced to make a difficult choice. In 2016, Coster-Waldau appeared in the action-fantasy film Gods of Egypt as Horus.
In early 2017, he starred in E.L. Katz's dark comedy Small Crimes which premiered at South by Southwest film festival on 11 March 2017, to positive reviews. Coster-Waldau then appeared in the Danish film 3 Things, a thriller about a prime suspect of a bank robbery who negotiates the terms of his witness protection deal. He starred in Roman Waugh's prison film Shot Caller, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on 16 June 2017. Since January 2018 he has been the L'Oréal Paris global spokesperson for the company's Men Expert line of products. In May 2017, it was announced that he is attached to star in Domino, a film directed by Brian De Palma. He is also set to star in The Silencing, a thriller directed by Anders Engstom.
Although Coster-Waldau is not religious, like the vast majority of Danes, he was baptized and confirmed as a Lutheran in the Danish National Church during his youth and viewed his confirmation as a big moment in his life when he first identified as becoming an adult. He married Nukâka, a Greenlandic actress and singer, in 1998, and they live in Kongens Lyngby with their two daughters as well as two dogs. Their daughter Filippa has starred in a Danish short film, The Girl and the Dogs, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014. His father-in-law is Josef Motzfeldt, a member of the Parliament of Greenland and former leader of the Community of the People party. He is a supporter of English football club Leeds United and he is a member of the Leeds United Supporters' Trust.Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones- Actor
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Pilou Asbæk graduated from The Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2008. In the same year, he played the leading role in Niels Arden Oplev's drama Worlds Apart. In 2010 he had his breakthrough as the inmate Rune in Lindholm & Noer's prison drama R for which he won the prize for Best actor at The Danish Critic Association Award, Bodil, and at the Danish Film Academy Awards, Robert. Furthermore, he was pointed as Shooting Star at the Berlinale in 2011 for this performance; an honor that is given to ten European Actors. Also, for three years he starred in the BAFTA winning and critically acclaimed television series Borgen as Kasper Juul; spin doctor for the Danish Prime Minister. The following years Pilou played the leading role in Tobias Lindholm's A Hijacking and A War. A War was nominated in the category Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards 2015. In 2014, Pilou shot Luc-Besson's LUCY starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, and this year he played Pontius Pilate in Timur Bekmambetov's BEN-HUR. In 2017 he again played opposite Scarlett Johansson in Rupert Sander's Ghost in the Shell as Batou. Pilou has starred as Euron Greyjoy in the 6th and 7th seasons of HBO's acclaimed series Game of Thrones.- Actor
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Kim Bodnia is a Danish actor, who was born in Copenhagen in 1965.
Kim Bodnia is educated as an actor at the Copenhagen Theatre school (1988-1991). After an amazing theatre career as an actor and creator of new Danish theatre in Copenhagen, he had his breakthrough in Nightwatch (1994) for which he received The Robert Award for best supporting actor.
After his breakthrough, he established the companies Bella Entertainment1 and Bella Film Production, which have produced a number of his films since then.
In 1996, the much acclaimed cult film, Pusher was released and Kim Bodnia was honored for his lead role as Frank. Then followed films as Bleeder (1999), In China They Eat Dogs (1999), Escape (2001), Dragonfly (2001), Jolly Roger (2001), Old Men in New Cars (2002), Himmelfald (2002).
In 2010 he had a role in the Danish director Susanne Bier's Oscar winning film - Best Foreign language "In A Better World " and Kim starred along side Trine Dyrholm and Pierce Brosnan in the success film "Love is All you Need (2012)
In November 2014, he won the The Angela Film Prize Award for European Film making at the Killkenny Subtitle Film festival in Ireland.
Today Kim Bodnia is a highly respected actor for his work and his role as Martin in the Nordic Noir most famous Danish/Swedish Television crime show "The Bridge I and II". He won The Golden Nymph Award for best actor in television in 2014 at The Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo.
Kim had a lead role in Rosewater, directed by Jon Stewart, his first movie as a director. The film received amazing criticism and the acting opposite Gael Garcia Bernal was astonishing.
In 2018, Kim landed the role as Konstantin in the international TV success series, Killing Eve and the TV series has been a huge success worldwide and has won numerous prizes as Best TV series at the 2019 Golden Globes and The Critics' Choice Awards. Kim was nominated at the TV Baftas in 2019 and 2020, as best supporting actor for his role as Konstantin. Killing Eve stopped the series after 4 series in 2022.
Kim played the role as Vesimir in the hit Netflix series, The Witcher II, which premiered in 2022 and Kim returned as "Jens" in the Danish film "Nightwatch, Demons are Forever", launched in Denmark in December 2023.
in 2023 and 2024 Kim is attached to the "Untitled Formula One Racing Movie" alongside Brad Pitt and he can be seen in the world premiere of "Young Woman & The Sea" in the summer of 2024.- Actor
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"There are those who miss being in-depth with the world," explains Nikolaj Lie Kaas in an interview with Politiken on April 29th, 2001, "but for me superficiality means a lot - that's where I get my drive." This is an interesting comment from an actor, whose acting always strikes a deeply personal cord. While other actors strive to close in on life, Kaas - who experienced tragic loss at an early age - seems eager to escape the eye of the storm. It is a disturbing quality that etches his characters in the audience's mind.
Kaas graduated from the National Theater School in Denmark in 1998. He first appeared on screen in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's film The Boys from St. Petri (1991) (The Boys from Sct. Petri) in 1991 as Otto, the rebel son of a traitor. The development of the character illustrates the growth of moral resistance into full-fledged violent revolt. This somber and masterfully-acted part earned Kaas two Danish film prizes, a Robert and a Bodil.
Today Kaas imbues his adult characters with the unsentimental innocence and vulnerability of a child and audiences respond intuitively. Jeppe in Lars von Trier's The Idiots (1998) takes on true love, only to lose it. The actor received another Bodil for this portrayal. Kaas makes a narrow escape from type-casting by adding original qualities to the individual characters. He has also done self-parody as a happy-go-easy cook, working for a mafia-like boss in the midst of a murderous streak in In China They Eat Dogs (1999) (In China They Eat Dogs) and as a helpless man in the throes of love in Flickering Lights (2000) (Blinking Lights).
After imbuing smaller parts with larger-than-life performances, Kaas landed another main part in Et rigtigt menneske (2001) as Ahmed, the aborted son (!) of a working couple. His would-be little sister is the emotionally neglected Lisa. When she dies, Ahmed comes to life and tries to become a real human being. Kaas delivers another masterful performance in this movie, inspired by the tragic tale of Casper Hauser.The Assassin from 'Angels and Demons'- Actor
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Dirch Hartvig Passer was born on May 18, 1926, on Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Ragnhild Fich and Capt. Vilhelm Passer (seaman). He never did well in school, being the class clown, which had a negative effect on his grades. He did especially badly in mathematics, which came to follow him the rest of his life. When Passer left school he wanted to become an actor, but his father insisted that he should become a seaman like himself. In 1944 he attended maritime school. Life at sea, however, did not go well - he was seasick all the time.
After his failure as a seaman he had all kinds of small jobs. In 1946 he made his stage debut with "Six Comrades [seks kammerater]" in "Riddersalen". In the same year he was accepted to theatre school: De Frederiksbergske Teatres elevskole. After he had completed this education in 1948 he had many small parts in different plays all around Denmark's theatres. He made his film debut in 1947 as an extra in the Danish movie Lykke paa rejsen (1947) and teamed up with Ove Sprogøe in the 1950s in many films. He became famous in 1953 with Ved Kongelunden... (1953), which let all of Denmark see his comedic genius. He made many other well-received Danish films, such as The Baroness from the Gas Station (1960), Mig og min lillebror (1967), Sommer i Tyrol (1964), the Mafia-movies and Charles tante (1959).
Passer worked from 1967 to 1974 at the famous "Cirkusrevyen på Bakken", where he was responsible for their greatest success ever. Many of the sketches which he made here were so famous that they are seen all over the world. He made his last film in 1978, Fængslende feriedage (1978).
In 1978 he acted in the "Tivolirevy", which he continued until his death on stage of a heart attack on September 3, 1980. Like all great comedians, he always wanted to play serious parts in movies and plays, but never got the chance. Dirch Passer was without a doubt the greatest Danish comedian ever.- Actor
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Ove Sprogøe was one of Denmark's finest and most treasured actors. Born in 1919 in Odense, where he also grew up, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe. He married his wife Eva in 1945, the same year as his stage debut at Folketeatret in Copenhagen.
Through a long career in film, television and theatre, his most famous role was as Egon Olsen in the film series "Olsenbanden". The characters and the 14 films are common ground for all Danes and also became popular in Germany as well as in Norway and Sweden where local versions were produced.
Even so, Sprogøe was always able to maintain a diverse range as an actor, playing all genres on stage as well as on screen. This included a multitude of popular comedies, a recurring role in the popular series Matador (1978) and a great number of variety shows.
Ove Sprogøe died in the fall of 2004 and is remembered as one of the true greats of Danish film.- Actress
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Connie Nielsen is set to begin production on Ridley Scott's "Gladiator 2," where she will star alongside Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, reprising her iconic role of 'Lucilla' from the Academy Award-winning film "Gladiator." She appears in Ava Duvernay's feature, "Origin," based on the book by Isabel Wilkerson, opposite Jon Bernthal and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Additionally, Nielsen has roles in the following upcoming films: "Role Play," alongside Kaley Cuoco, Bill Nighy, and David Oyelowo for StudioCanal; and "Follow Me," directed by Siri Rodnes. Nielsen is also preparing for the production of "Birds Eye," alongside Maria Bakalova and Jean Reno.
Nielsen starred in and served as an executive producer for the Danish mini-series, "The Dreamer: Becoming Karen Blixen," and starred in "Close to Me" for AMC/Channel 4, opposite Christopher Eccleston.
Previously, Nielsen starred as 'Queen Hippolyta' in Warner Brother's blockbuster hits, "Wonder Woman," "Justice League," "Wonder Woman 1984," and the Snyder Cut of "Justice League", co-starred with Bob Odenkirk in the successful Universal feature, "Nobody," and appeared alongside Simon Pegg and Lily Collins in "The Inheritance," directed by Vaughn Stein. She also appeared in TNT's limited series, "I Am the Night," directed by Patty Jenkins, opposite Chris Pine, and the Danish mini-series, "Liberty," created by Asger Leth. Her other film credits include: "I'll Find You" (directed by Martha Coolidge/Fred Roos), where she starred alongside Stellan Skarsgárd; "Sea Fever" (TIFF 2019), directed by Ken O'Sullivan; "Catcher Was a Spy," opposite Paul Rudd and Guy Pearce; "Stratton," opposite Dominic Cooper; "Le Confessioni," opposite Toni Servillo; the Norwegian film, "The Lion Woman," and Lars Van Triers' "Nymphomaniac," in which she had a leading role. Nielsen was the female lead in the Golden Globe Award-nominated series "Boss," opposite Kelsey Grammer, had a recurring role as a femme fatale on FOX's "The Following," opposite Kevin Bacon, and appeared in a recurring arc on CBS' "The Good Wife."- Actor
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Lars was born in Gladsaxe near Copenhagen, Denmark as the first child of Bente Christiansen, an occupational health nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank clerk. Lars grew up in Copenhagen, where about one and a half years after him brother Mads was born, who's also an actor now. At first the family lived in the middle class district Østerbro but later they moved on to the working class district Nørrebro.
During his childhood Lars played handball and sang a few years in the school choir. On a New Year's Eve party 1985/86 he met Anette Støvelbæk and since then both have been a couple (their marriage followed in October 1989).
After his school days Lars joined the military services, where he did his basic military service for nine months in the Kongelige Livgarde (Royal Guards), an infantry regiment of the Danish army. The military service wasn't the right thing, so he searched for something new after having finished it and decided then to study biology. When he was busy with this already a half year, Anette came home from a juggler class and showed him how good she could juggle after three days. Lars was pleased about it and wanted to do this, too. So he dropped out of college and enrolled to the juggler school as well. At this school he learned juggling and fire breathing among other things. Afterwards he toured with two friends as traveling artists through Europe, where they performed on streets of cities like Paris, Munich, Moscow and Warsaw. Two years later he came in contact with a children's circus, where he additionally learned pantomime as well as street and children's theater.
At the age of 27 and after having been five years on the road as a juggler, Lars decided to become a real actor. So he applied at the Statens Teaterskole (National Theatre School of Denmark) in Copenhagen, where he was accepted and where from 1991-1995 he carried through his acting training. Shortly afterwards he got already his debut as an actor in the play "Dracula" at the Aalborg Theater. Since his graduation from the theater school Lars has appeared in more than 40 plays up to now (2012) and he has always wanted to keep on acting onstage. Again and again he was to be seen in movies and TV series. With his role in the successful Danish crime series Forbrydelsen (2007) (The Killing), playing the mayoral candidate "Troels Hartmann", he received even more awareness. This led to roles in international productions, such as the villain in an episode of the British series Sherlock (2010), the Russian president Viktor Petrov in the third season of House of Cards (2013) and a leading role in the international crime series The Team (2015). For some of his performances in movies, films or plays he has received various nominations and awards so far.
Lars lives with his wife and his sons Lue (born in 1995) and Thor (born in 2000) in the Copenhagen district Vesterbro.- Actor
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David Dencik was born on 31 October 1974 in Sweden. He is an actor and producer, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), No Time to Die (2021) and The Homesman (2014).- Actor
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Nicolas Bro was born on 16 March 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Riders of Justice (2020), Adam's Apples (2005) and Kongekabale (2004).