Mads Mikkelsen

Born in Nørrebro (Copenhage), Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen is the second son of a taxi driver and a nurse. His brother From him Lars Mikkelsen was also destined to dedicate himself to acting. At first, Mads wanted to be a gymnast, but he ended up as a dancer, for 9 years. When he decided to become an actor, he studied drama at the Århus Theater School.

Mads Mikkelsen made his feature film debut on the right foot in Pusher: A Walk to the Abyss , an appreciable thriller by specialist Nicolas Winding Refn , where he played Tonny, a crazy drug dealer, the protagonist’s companion. Eight years later, the talented director brought the character back – despite the fact that he received a brutal beating and was left almost for dead – in Pusher II: With Bloody Hands , with Mikkelsen playing the leading role.

For many years, Mikkelsen appeared in numerous Danish films, such as Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself , by his compatriot Lone Scherfig , where he played a cynical psychologist at the hospital where the protagonist ends up after a failed attempt to end his life. He had great success in his country with the series Rejseholdet , where he played a policeman.

He was also the lead in Susanne Bier ‘s stunning drama Dogma I love you forever , where he was a father of three who considers giving it all up because he is attracted to a woman. He repeated with the filmmaker in the even more complete After the Wedding , where Mikkelsen did an exceptional job. He played the person in charge of an orphanage who went almost by chance to the wedding of the daughter of a billionaire willing to finance him. At the ceremony he will make important discoveries.

His own wedding, in real life, took place in 2001. Mads Mikkelsen chose Hanne Jacobsen, a choreographer, as his spouse, with whom he had a relationship since 1987. The couple has two children: Viola and Carl.

At the beginning of his career, the actor rarely left his country. He made an exception to play Tristán, the Knight of the Round Table, in King Arthur , and for Pablo Berger ‘s Spanish comedy Torremolinos 73 , where he played a Danish porn star. Everything changed after 007 Casino Royale , where he played the villain of the show, Le Chiffre, a private banker for terrorists who runs a luxurious betting salon. He was next a royal guard in Clash of the Titans , and a nobleman, the Count of Rochefort, in The Three Musketeers (2011) .

Despite everything, he has continued to do his best work in his country. Although A Royal Affair is co-produced between Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic, he plays a German, Dr. Johann Friedrich Struensee, an enlightened man who wins over the mentally ill King Christian VII while initiating an affair with the queen. “I think all Danes know this story, with nuances. Basically we know that a German doctor showed up, slept with the Queen and managed to rule the country. But the story is much more complex, and that’s what fascinated me. Who were they? Why did they do it?”, commented the actor.

The fact that the latter obtained the Oscar nomination for best foreign film has further revitalized the interpreter’s career. Just like the well-deserved performance award at Cannes for The Hunt (Jagten) , by another of his country’s great filmmakers, Thomas Vinterberg . In this gripping drama, he rocks a difficult role as a accused sexual abuser.

Mads Mikkelsen has also been seduced by the sublime moment that American series are experiencing. He plays Doctor Hannibal Lecter – who was played by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs – in Hannibal (series) , a prequel to the famous film, with Hugh Dancy as FBI agent Will Graham. “I think the dark side of human nature is fascinating. We always want to understand it, not necessarily accept it. It just fascinates us. We can say the same about Lenin, Stalin or Hitler. People buy their biographies and take an interest in them, to understand why they were the way they were. With Hannibal I think the same thing happens,” says Mikkelsen.