favourite contemporary danish actors
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- Bodil Jørgensen was born on 3 March 1961 in Vejle, Denmark. She is an actress, known for The Idiots (1998), Nothing's All Bad (2010) and Klinkevals (1999). She has been married to Morten Søborg since 18 November 2005. They have one child. She was previously married to Henrik Sartou.movies: The Idiots, Smukke mennesker (Nothing's All Bad)
series: Seaside Hotel, Krøniken
Alone or almost alone amongst painters Rembrandt has...that heartbroken tenderness, that glimpse into a superhuman infinitude that seems so natural there; you come upon it in many places in Shakespeare. - Van Gogh, letter to Theo, July 1889 - Actor
- Director
- Writer
"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 Truly Human (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.movies: Truly Human, Clash of Egos, Men & Hens, The Idiots, The Green Butchers, Just Another Love Story, Brothers, Second Chance, the Department Q movies,You Disappear
series: Bedrag- 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).Clash of Egos, In a Better World, The Commune, Fear Me Not, Festen, Allegro, Brothers, Arven, Second Chance- Sofie Gråbøl was born on 30 July 1968 in Denmark. She is an actress, known for The Killing (2007), Flickering Lights (2000) and Nikolaj og Julie (2002). She was previously married to Jacob Thuesen.series: Forbrydelsen
movies: Mifune's Last Song, The Day Will Come, Nightwatch, Aftermath - Actress
- Producer
Sidse Babett Knudsen is a Danish actress who works in theatre, television, and film. Knudsen made her screen debut in the 1997 improvisational comedy Let's Get Lost, for which she received both the Robert and Bodil awards for Best Actress.
Following the critical success of her debut, Knudsen has been considered one of the top Danish actresses of her generation. In 2000, she again won both best actress awards for the comedy romance Den Eneste Ene (English title: The One and Only). In 2016, she won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Courted (L'Hermine). Knudsen has also received award nominations for her roles in Monas Verden (Mona's World) and Efter Brylluppet (After the Wedding).
Knudsen achieved international recognition for her leading role as fictional Danish Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg in the Danish TV series Borgen, and for her role as Theresa Cullen in the HBO science fiction-Western television series Westworld.series: Borgen
movies: Mona's World, After The Wedding- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
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), Shake It All About (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.movies: Men & Hens, Adam's Apples, The Green Butchers, After The Wedding- Søren Malling was born in Denmark in 1964 and went to Odense Theatre School from 1988 - 1992.
Malling has appeared in many Danish TV successes such as Unit 1 (2000), The Killing (2007), Borgen (2010-2013). His credits include films as A Royal Affair (2012), A Hijacking (2012), A War (2015), Men & Chicken (2015), Word of God (2017) In 2018 he is starring in Kristoffer Nyholm's thriller Keepers, in the Scandi crime series Rig 45 and Christoffer Boe's Warrior.series: Forbrydelsen, Borgen, The Investigation
movies: Idealisten, Men & Hens, Kapringen (A Hijacking) - Actor
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Anders W. Berthelsen was born on 28 September 1969 in Rødovre, Denmark. He is an actor and director, known for Italian for Beginners (2000), Held for Ransom (2019) and King's Game (2004). He has been married to Christina Pind since 1999. They have one child.series: Krøniken
movies: Mifune's Last Song, Just Another Love Story, Italian for Beginners- Actor
- Soundtrack
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 The Killing (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.movies: The Day Will Come
series: Forbrydelsen, Borgen, Krøniken, Herrens veje- Actress
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- Music Department
Trine Dyrholm was born on 15 April 1972 in Odense, Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Queen of Hearts (2019), Love Is All You Need (2012) and In a Better World (2010).series: Arvingerne
movies: In a Better World, The Commune, Festen, You Disappear, Becoming Astrid, Queen of Hearts, Forbrydelser, Someone You Love, Love Is All You Need- Actor
- Additional Crew
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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.series: Borgen
movies: Worlds Apart, Kapringen (A Hijacking), Krigen (A War)- Carsten Bjørnlund was born on 28 June 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an actor, known for The Legacy (2014), The Thing (2011) and Rita (2012). He has been married to Christie Fals since 2018. He was previously married to Signe Skov.series: Arvingerne, Rita
- Actor
- Stunts
Thomas Bo Larsen was born on 27 November 1963 in Gladsaxe, Denmark. He is an actor, known for The Hunt (2012), The Celebration (1998) and Another Round (2020).movies: Festen, Jagten (The Hunt)
series: Bedrag, Gidseltagningen (Below the Surface), Advokaten- Mille Dinesen was born on 17 March 1974 in Denmark. She is an actress, known for Rita (2012), No Time for Love (2009) and Nynne (2006).series: Rita
- Actor
- Director
Bjarne Henriksen was born on January 18, 1959 in Såderup, Fyn, Denmark. He is an actor and director, known for Forbrydelsen (2007), The Hunt (2012) and The Celebration (1998).
Bjarne Henriksen has been recognized in both tough and comic roles. Due to his macho-style, roles with a primitive nature suite him well. However, he can also show intelligence behind his strength. We know him from a lot of roles, ranging from the helpful massive chef in "The Celebration" to the scary derailed soldier in "The Greatest Heroes" to the soft couch potato in " Get Lost"
Recently, Bjarne has appeared in the role as the shopkeeper Budde in "The Art of Crying", the winner of The Nordic Council Film Prize 2007 and Denmark's proposal for an international Oscar nomination in 2008. On TV Bjarne has acted as the gangster boss in "The Spider" the pleasant kitchen chef in "The Hotel", the criminal in the Swedish TV-series "Medicine Man", the persistent and tolerant dad, who loses his daughter in "The Crime". His portray of Theis shows that the tough exterior also hides a vulnerability, which Bjarne accomplishes to perfection!
As for theatre he has played in "Snart kommer Tiden" at Dr. Dante and "Snak" at Café Teatret among others.
Bjarne is educated at the National Theater School in Copenhagen.series: Forbrydelsen, Borgen, Seaside Hotel
movies: Kinaman (Chinaman)- Actor
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Born 1948 in central Copenhagen. Lived there ever since. Did 25 years of theatre, - like Alceste in the Misanthropist, Richard in Richard lll (solo), Faust in Faust, Astrov in Vanja, a lot of worried men,- stopped doing it in 1998. Since then only worried men on film. Worked on more than 100 films by Per Fly, Marc Forster, John Madden, Lone Scherfig, Sydney Pollack, Jan Troell, Martin Campbell, Anette K Olesen, Pernille Fischer Christensen, and others. Since 2000 lives with Tove Bornhoeft, wonderful Danish theatre manager/director/actress. Two grown up daughters. No animals. Dogs, pigs, chickens, cats, birds, horses, fish, rabbits - all gone now.Arvingerne, Per Fly's Performances, Drabet, The Bench- Actor
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Peter Mygind was born on 28 August 1963 in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He is an actor and writer, known for Flame & Citron (2008), Nikolaj og Julie (2002) and Last Christmas (2019). He has been married to Lise Mühlhausen since 10 August 1996. They have two children.Borgen, Truly Human- Actress
- Director
- Writer
In Okay (2002), director and actress Paprika Steen shows off her multi- faceted acting talent as the loud-mouthed control freak Nete. This is her first major part for which she has already been nominated for the Best Actress Award from the European Film Academy. She has won the Danish Academy Award for her supporting role in the mega-hit Den eneste ene (The One and Only, 1999).
These nominations attest to Paprika Steen's strong performances, given in a number of smaller, but memorable parts, for example as an upper-class snob in The Idiots (1998) (The Idiots), a touchingly nerdy beautician in The One and Only (1999) (The Only One), and as a strong, slightly-neurotic sister in the mega-hit The Celebration (1998) (The Celebration).
Steen's considerable dramatic talent and potential is reinforced by a strong sense of humor that shines through in her work. While audiences may laugh hard, Steen remains sympathetic to the characters she portrays. The web of intertwined character flaws and potential is revealed with a light touch. It is the empathy that she evokes for her characters that makes her work memorable.Festen, The Bald Hairdresser, Adam's Apples, Vikaren (The Substitute), Fear Me Not, Below the Surface
Director of Aftermath (2004)- Actor
- Director
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Jens Albinus was born on 3 January 1965 in Bogense, Denmark. He is an actor and director, known for The Idiots (1998), Antichrist (2009) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).The Idiots, The Boss of it All- Actor
- Stunts
Lars Ranthe was born on 26 August 1969 in Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an actor, known for Another Round (2020), Adam's Apples (2005) and A Funny Man (2011). He has been married to Christine Albeck Børge since 1998.series: Friheden, Seaside Hotel- Actress
- Director
- Soundtrack
Ghita Nørby was born on 11 January 1935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Hamsun (1996), Freud Leaving Home (1991) and Key House Mirror (2015). She was previously married to Svend Skipper, Jørgen Reenberg, Dario Campeotto, Henrik Rosing Wiehe and Mogens Garth-Grüner.series: Matador, Home for Christmas- Anne Louise Hassing was born on 17 September 1967 in Horsens, Denmark. She is an actress, known for The Idiots (1998), The Hunt (2012) and Pain of Love (1992). She was previously married to Peter Helleman.series: Krøniken, Seaside Hotel
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ann Eleonora Jørgensen was born on 16 October 1965 in Hjørring, Denmark. She is an actress, known for Italian for Beginners (2000), The Killing (2007) and Herrens veje (2017).series: Herrens veje, Forbrydelsen- Actress
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Pernilla August started acting as a child, performing in plays at Vår teater and at school. In 1979 she was accepted at the Statens scenskola to study acting professionally. Director Ingmar Bergman took note of her early and cast her as a nanny in his Fanny and Alexander (1982).
In 1982 she got married to author Klas Östergren and started work at the Folkteatern in Gävle, appearing in August Strindberg's A Dreamplay and Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters. She returned a few years later to the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm for roles in William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (as Nora).
Until then she hadn't had any bigger experience of television or movies but Ingmar Bergman specifically asked for her to play his mother in the biographical The Best Intentions (1992) By then her marriage was over and she started a relationship with director Bille August whom she married in 1991 - and had her name changed for the second time. He offered her a role in his The House of the Spirits (1993), but due to her pregnancy the role went to Winona Ryder instead.
She has admirably managed an international career despite having three daughters. She is best known for her appearances in films like Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) or I Am Dina (2002).series: Arvingerne, Forestillinger- Lene Maria Christensen was born on 10 April 1972 in Hillerød, Denmark. She is an actress, known for Dicte (2013), Easy Skanking (2006) and Terribly Happy (2008). She has been married to Anders Bach Petersen since 17 September 1995. They have two children.series: Arvingerne, Friheden