Connie Nielsen | |
---|---|
Born | Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen 3 July 1965 Frederikshavn, Denmark |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1984–present |
Partner | Lars Ulrich (2004–2012) |
Children | 2 |
Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born 3 July 1965) [1] [2] is a Danish actress. She has starred as Lucilla in the film Gladiator (2000) and as Queen Hippolyta in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with Wonder Woman (2017). She has also starred in films such as Soldier (1998), Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), Basic (2003), The Hunted (2003), The Ice Harvest (2005), Nymphomaniac (2013), 3 Days to Kill (2014), Inheritance (2020), and Nobody (2021). [3]
She also had roles as NYPD Detective Dani Beck, the temporary partner of Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler in the NBC crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2006), the Starz political drama series Boss (2011–2012), the Fox crime thriller series The Following (2014), the TNT limited drama series I Am the Night (2019) and starred in the Channel 4 drama series Close to Me in 2021.
Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn and grew up in the village of Elling, Denmark. [4] Her father, Bent Nielsen, was a bus driver, and her mother, Laila Inge-lise Matzigkeit (1945–2014), was an insurance clerk, who also acted and wrote musical reviews. [5] [6] She was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon. [7]
She began her acting career working alongside her mother on the local revue and variety scene. At 18, she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as an actress and model, which led to further work and study in Italy—at drama school in Rome and in master classes with Lydia Styx, a teacher at Piccolo Teatro di Milano in Milan. She lived in Italy for many years before moving to the United States.[ citation needed ]
Nielsen's feature film debut was the Jerry Lewis French film Par où t'es rentré ? On t'a pas vu sortir in 1984, followed by a role in the Italian mini-series Colletti Bianchi in 1988. She appeared in the Italian film Vacanze di Natale '91 (1991) and the French film Le Paradis Absolument (1993). [8]
She moved to the United States in the mid-1990s and made her first appearance in a major English-language film in 1997 as Christabella Andreoli in The Devil's Advocate , starring opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. This first minor breakthrough led to roles in the films Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998), and Soldier (1998). [9]
In 2000, Nielsen appeared as Lucilla in Ridley Scott's Gladiator , starring opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Since then, she has starred in American films including Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), The Hunted (2003), and Basic (2003), for which she had to cut off most of her hair. She also starred in the French thriller Demonlover (2002), directed by Olivier Assayas. She played the Irish mother to an orphan in A Shine of Rainbows (2009). [10]
In 2004, Nielsen made her Danish film debut in the drama, Brødre (also known as Brothers), for which she won the Danish Best Actress Award, the Bodil, [11] [12] [13] as well as Best Actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards. In 2006, Nielsen appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Dani Beck. She filled in for Mariska Hargitay, who was on maternity leave at the time of filming. [14]
With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jamie Bell and Uma Thurman, Nielsen appeared in the 2014 Lars Von Trier film Nymphomaniac . [15] She was featured in a series of promotional posters prior to the film's release, a campaign TheIndependent described as "shocking", observing that "Connie Nielsen appears somewhat moist in this poster for Nymphomaniac". [16]
In 2015, she appeared on the TV-2 album Det gode liv where she sang along with Steffen Brandt on the track "Brev til Mona". In September 2018 she appeared in the pilot episode of the CBS drama FBI with Jeremy Sisto and Missy Peregrym.
Nielsen is known as Queen Hippolyta in DC Extended Universe franchise, appeared in four films beginning with Wonder Woman (2017).
From 2004 to 2012, Nielsen dated Metallica drummer and fellow Dane, Lars Ulrich. [17] They have one son together. [18]
Nielsen is multilingual, fluent in Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish. She also knows some Spanish. [19]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Voyage | Ronnie Freeland | Television film |
1994 | Le paradis absolument | Sarah | |
2006 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Detective Dani Beck | 6 episodes |
2008 | Danny Fricke | Danny Fricke | Television film |
2011–2012 | Boss | Meredith Rutledge Kane | 16 episodes |
2014 | The Following | Lily Gray | 10 episodes |
2014–2015 | The Good Wife | Ramona Lytton | 4 episodes |
2015 | Unveiled | Joan McAllen | Television film |
2018 | FBI | Ellen Solberg | Episode: "Pilot" |
Liberty | Katrina | 5 episodes | |
2019 | I Am the Night | Corinna Hodel | 6 episodes |
2021 | Close to Me | Jo Harding | |
2022 | The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen [20] | Karen Blixen |
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter.
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is a French and British actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" at the age of 12, she released an album with her father at the age of 15. More than 20 years passed before Gainsbourg released albums as an adult to commercial and critical success. She has acted in many films, including collaborations with Lars von Trier, and received two César Awards and Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award 2009 for the movie Antichrist, among many nominations.
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress and Playboy Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, Mansfield was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Although her film career was short-lived, she had several box-office successes, and won a Theatre World Award and Golden Globe Award, and soon gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde."
Mariska Magdolna Hargitay is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Olivia Benson on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–present), which became the longest-running drama in American prime-time television in 2019. Her portrayal of Olivia Benson is the longest-running character in a prime-time American TV drama, and since 2013, she is among the highest-paid actresses on television. Her accolades for the role include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two People's Choice Awards. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.
Miklós Karoly Hargitay, was a Hungarian-American actor and the 1955 Mr. Universe.
Iben Hjejle is a Danish actress, notable for starring in the Stephen Frears film High Fidelity (2000). In Denmark, she is perhaps best known for appearing in the Danish television sitcom Langt fra Las Vegas and playing the girlfriend of Danish comedian Casper Christensen, her former real life partner. She also plays Christensen's girlfriend in the sitcom Klovn (Clown) and the title role in the TV crime series Dicte.
The eighth season of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 19, 2006 and ended May 22, 2007 on NBC. The series remained in its 10pm/9c Tuesday timeslot. With the introduction of a new partner for Detective Stabler, early episodes of season 8 took on a significantly different focus when compared to those of previous seasons.
The third season of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered Friday, September 28, 2001 and ended Friday, May 17, 2002 on NBC. It occupied the Friday 10pm/9c timeslot once again.
The first season of the crime drama television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, premiered on September 20, 1999 on NBC and concluded on May 19, 2000. Created by Dick Wolf, it is the first spin-off of Law & Order and follows the detectives of a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department's Special Victims Unit, which investigates sexually based offenses. SVU originally aired on Monday nights at 9pm/8c EST, but it was moved to Friday nights at 10pm/9c after the ninth episode. Showrunner Robert Palm felt too disturbed by the subject matter and left after the season's conclusion.
The fourth season of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 27, 2002 and ended May 16, 2003 on NBC. This was the last season of the series to air on Friday nights at 10pm/9c.
The ninth season of the police procedural/legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered September 25, 2007 and ended May 13, 2008 on NBC. It aired on Tuesday nights at 10pm/9c. Mariska Hargitay, having won a Golden Globe Award in 2005, received her second Golden Globe nomination for her work in the ninth season.
The Bodil Award for Best Danish Film is one of the categories for the Bodil Awards presented annually by the Danish Film Critics Association. It was created in 1948 and is one of the oldest film prizes in Europe. The jury can decide not to give out the award if no deserving films are submitted. This has occurred once, in 1974. More than one film also can receive the award in a single year, as occurred in 1955.
Antichrist is a 2009 horror art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a married couple who experience the accidental death of their infant son, after which they retreat to a cabin in the woods to grieve, where the man experiences strange visions and the woman manifests increasingly violent sexual behavior and sadomasochism. The narrative is divided into a prologue, four chapters, and an epilogue.
Melancholia is a 2011 science fiction drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Kiefer Sutherland, with Alexander Skarsgård, Brady Corbet, Cameron Spurr, Charlotte Rampling, Jesper Christensen, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgård, and Udo Kier in supporting roles. The film's story revolves around two sisters, one of whom marries just before a rogue planet is about to collide with the Earth. Melancholia is the second film in von Trier's unofficially titled Depression Trilogy. It was preceded in 2009 by Antichrist and followed by Nymphomaniac in 2013.
Nymphomaniac MANIAC onscreen and in advertising) is a 2013 erotic art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Jean-Marc Barr, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, and Mia Goth in her debut. Separated as two-part films, the plot follows Joe, a self-diagnosed "nymphomaniac," who recounts her erotic experiences to a bachelor who helps her recover from an assault. The narrative chronicles Joe's promiscuous life from adolescence to adulthood and is split into eight chapters told across two volumes. The film was originally supposed to be only one complete entry, but, because of its length, von Trier made the decision to split the project into two separate films. Nymphomaniac was an international co-production of Denmark, Belgium, France, and Germany.
The Robert Award for Best Director is presented at an annual Robert Award show hosted by the Danish Film Academy. The category was introduced in 2001 and all directors of Danish films irrespective of the language of the film are eligible. The winner is selected among five nominees.
The 58th Bodil Awards were held on 27 February 2005 at Imperial Cinema in Copenhagen, Denmark, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2004. Nikolaj Arcel's debut film King's Game and Susanne Bier's Brothers were both nominated for five awards. King's Game won the awards for Best Danish Film and Best Actor in a Supporting Role while Connie Nielsen won the award for Best Actress for her performance in Brothers. Mads Mikkelsen won the award for Best Actor for his performance in Pusher II.
The Bodil Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is one of the merit categories presented by the Danish Film Critics Association at the annual Bodil Awards. Created in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe, and it honours the best performance by an actress in a leading role in a Danish produced film. The jury can decide not to hand out the award; this has happened 12 times since 1953.
The Bodil Special Award is one of the awards at the annual Bodil Awards presented by the Danish Film Critics Association. While the Bodil Awards as such were established in 1948, the Special Award was first presented in 2008, and has been given annually to a person or an organization who has done something special for Danish cinema.
The Robert Award for Best Sound Design is one of the merit awards presented by the Danish Film Academy at the annual Robert Awards ceremony. The award has been handed out since 1984.