Mads Mikkelsen

Awarded the Prize of the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the film "The Hunt" directed by Thomas Vinterberg. He was personally awarded the Dannebrog Order by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on April 15, 2010[2].

Biography

Born in Österbro, Copenhagen, the second child of Bente Christensen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank clerk. He and his older brother Lars Mikkelsen, also an actor, grew up in Nørrebro.

In his youth he was engaged in gymnastics and dancing. Studied at the Gothenburg Ballet Academy. In 1996 he graduated from the Arhus Theater School and worked in the Danish film industry until the mid-1990s.

After small roles in Café Hector and Blomsterfangen in 1996, he played his first major role as Tonny in Pusher the same year. Then again followed a series of inconspicuous roles. He received his first public recognition in 2000, playing in the film Flickering Lights and the role of Allan Fisher in the Danish police series Rejseholdet.

To a large extent, the actor's fame grew after Danish magazines honored him with the title of "Denmark's Sexiest Man". Mads Mikkelsen received positive reviews at home and outside of Denmark in 2002 after working in the Danish film Open Hearts. However, already in 2003, breaking away from Danish cinema, Mads appears in the Spanish comedy Torremolinos 73. In the following 2004, he plays the role of Tristan in the historical film "King Arthur" in an ensemble with such famous actors as Clive Owen and Keira Knightley. After a bit of an American digression, Mikkelsen reappears as Tonny in Dealer 2.

The real breakthrough for the actor was the main role in the Danish film After the Wedding, after which the actor was awarded several awards and nominations at various film festivals for the best performance of the main male role. In the same 2006, Mads, along with Daniel Craig and Eva Green, took part in the film "Casino Royale" from the Bond series, where he convincingly played the villain Le Chiffre. His performance did not disappoint fans, and apparently guaranteed the actor no shortage of roles in the future.

In 2009, the film "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky" was released, in which Mikkelsen played the main male role, the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The film closed the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. In 2011, Mikkelsen could be seen as the Count of Rochefort in Poul Anderson's action adventure The Musketeers, a free interpretation of the novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas.

The role of kindergarten teacher Lucas in Thomas Vinterberg's psychological drama The Hunt won Mikkelsen the Best Actor award at the 65th Cannes Film Festival.

In 2013, he took part in the television series Hannibal, in which he played the main character Hannibal Lecter, a famous cannibal serial killer. The series was a huge success, and Mads himself received a Saturn Award in the category "Best TV Actor in a Series", as well as two nominations.

In December 2016, the second teaser trailer for Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's new game, was shown at The Game Awards, featuring characters modeled after Guillermo Del Toro and Mads Mikkelsen[4]. The character, modeled after Mikkelsen, is an antagonist and endowed with supernatural powers[5].

In the same year, two major projects premiered under the names Doctor Strange and Rogue One. Star Wars: Stories. In the Marvel superhero film, Mikkelsen played the main villain who entered the fight against the character of Benedict Cumberbatch, and in the spin-off of the Star Wars movie saga, the father of the main character played by Felicity Jones.

On September 3, 2018, as part of the official competition of the 75th Venice Film Festival, the premiere of the film “Van Gogh. On the threshold of eternity. The film was released in Russian cinemas on February 7, 2019.

In November 2020, it became known that the actor will replace Johnny Depp in the role of the wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise. In 2022, a film with the participation of Mikkelsen "Bastard" was announced, directed by Nikolai Arcel.

Personal life

In 2000, Mikkelsen married choreographer Hanna Jacobsen, whom he had dated since 1987. They have two children - daughter Viola Jacobsen (b. 1992) and son Carl Jacobsen (b. 1997)[7].

Mads Mikkelsen is a fan of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi.

Mikkelsen is non-religious[8][9].

Filmography

Movies and TV series

Year Film Film (original) Role Note

1996 Cafe Hector Café Hector Anders Short

1996 Flowers of the Prisoner Blomsterfangen Max Short

1996 Dealer Pusher Tonny

1998 Lost Vildspor Jimmy

1998 Angel of the Night Ronnie

1999 Tom Merritt Tom Merritt Tom Merritt Short

1999 Lenia's Bleeding Bleeder

2000 Flickering Lights Blinkende lygter Arne

2000 Special Forces Rejseholdet Fisher TV series

2001 Mona's World Monas verden Casper

2001 Everything is upside down En Kort en lang Jacob

2002 I am Dina I Am Dina Niels

2002 Bertelsen - stale news Bertelsen - de uaktuelle nyheder Allan Fisher TV series

2002 Open Hearts Elsker dig for evigt Nils

2002 Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself Dr. Horst

2002 Nu Nu Jacob (young) Short

2003 Diver The Boy Below Headlight Short

2003 Green Butchers De grønne slagtere Svend

2003 Torremolinos 73 Torremolinos 73 Magnus

2004 King Arthur King Arthur Tristan

2004 Dealer 2 Pusher 2 Tons

2005 Adam's apples Adams æbler Ivan

2005 Julie Julie Harald, Julie's father TV series

2006 After the wedding Efter brylluppet Jakob

2006 Prague Prag Christopher

2006 Exit Thomas Skephult

2006 Casino Royale Le Chiffre

2008 Flammen & Citronen Citron

2009 Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky Igor Stravinsky

2009 Door[de] Die Tür David Andernach

2009 Valhalla: The Viking Saga Valhalla Rising One-Eyed

2010 Clash of the Titans Clash of the Titans Draco

2011 The Three Musketeers Count Rochefort

2012 Royal novel En kongelig affære by Johann Friedrich Struensee

2012 Hunt Jagten Lucas

2012 Move Move On Mark

2013 Hannibal Hannibal Hannibal Lecter TV series

2013 Dangerous illusion The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman Nigel

2013 Michael Kohlhaas Michael Kohlhaas Michael Kohlhaas

2014 Salvation The Salvation Yon

2015 Men and Hens Mænd & høns Elias

2016 Doctor Strange Doctor Strange Kaecilius

2016 Phantom Le Fantôme Phantom Short

2016 Rogue One. Star Wars Tales Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Galen Erso

2018 Lost in the Ice Arctic Overgård

2018 Van Gogh. At Eternity's Gate Priest

2019 Polar Duncan Vizla

2020 One more Druk Martin

2020 Knights of Justice Retfærdighedens ryttere Markus

2021 Chaos Walking Mayor David Prentiss

2022 Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore's Secrets Fantastic Beasts 3 Gellert Grindelwald

2023 The Bastard Ludwig von Kalen