Kim Bodnia

Kim Bodnia
Bodnia in 2012
Born	(1965-04-12) 12 April 1965 (age 59) Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Spouses	Lotte Andersen (divorced) Rikke Louise Andersson
Children	4
Website	bodnia.dk/en/

Kim Bodnia (born 12 April 1965) is a Danish actor. He became widely known for his role as police detective Martin Rohde in the Scandinavian crime drama series The Bridge . He's also known internationally for his lead role as drug dealer Frank in Nicolas Winding Refn's 1996 directorial debut Pusher , and as Konstantin in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's BBC America spy thriller TV series Killing Eve (2018–2022).

In 2009, Bodnia won the 62nd Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and in 2014 he won the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. In 2019 he earned a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Killing Eve.

Early life

Bodnia was born in Copenhagen on 12 April 1965 and grew up in Espergærde. He comes from a Jewish family with Polish and Russian ancestry. In 2014, he described himself as "half-Russian, half-Polish and all Jewish". ^[1] When asked in 2011 whether religion had been an important aspect of his life, he said, "No, but I believe in nature." ^{[1] [2]}

Bodnia admitted that he was not a particularly good student as a child, describing himself as a "clown" who was reluctant to study. His main interest was in athletics, particularly the 100 metres and the long jump, in which he was the Zealand youth champion for several years. ^[2] He aspired to become a football goalkeeper, but a foot injury prevented him from pursuing this career. ^[3]

As a student at Espergærde Ungdomsskole, Bodnia joined the theatre group, performing mainly in comic roles. When he was 16, his mother suggested he apply for a place at the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance. His first application failed, but he gained entry on his second attempt a year later in 1987. ^[2]

Career

In his film debut En Afgrund af frihed (An Abyss of Freedom) (1989) he played a small supporting role as a bouncer. ^[4] One of his first roles after graduation in 1991 was as Patrick Bateman in a stage version of American Psycho , and he was subsequently often typecast as violent, brutal characters. ^[2] Bodnia's first leading role in a film was in Bulldozer (1993), directed by Maria Sødahl. His breakout role came a year later in Ole Bornedal's horror film Nightwatch (1994).

Despite this success, it was two years before his next film, Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher (1996), and then Winding Refn's Bleeder (1999). ^[4] He has since appeared in Terribly Happy (2008), ^[5] and in three Lasse Spang Olsen films: In China They Eat Dogs (1999) and its sequel Old Men in New Cars (2002), and in Den Gode Strømer (2004), which he co-wrote with the director. Bodnia has also appeared in several Norwegian films, including Himmelfall (2002), Monstertorsdag (2004), and Tomme Tønner (2010). He appeared in the 2011 Indian English comedy film Delhi Belly playing a Russian smuggler. ^[6] In 2014, he appeared as the eponymous Iranian interrogator Rosewater , directed by Jon Stewart. ^[1] As to his role, he said: "It was a tough job because I'm Jewish. I'm playing a guy who really hates me and wants to destroy my country." ^[1]

Bodnia has become internationally known for his television roles. He made his first appearance in the historical mini-series Snapphanar in 2006. He appeared in three episodes of the first season of the crime series The Killing (2007) (Danish : Forbrydelsen), and in two episodes of the comedy drama Hvor fanden er Herning? ("Where the hell is Herning?") (2009), before returning to crime series, appearing in episodes of the Swedish Kommissarie Winter (2010), Den som dræber ("Those Who Kill") (2011), and the German/Swedish Der Kommissar und das Meer ("The Inspector and the Sea") (2012). ^[6]

In 2009, he won the 62nd Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. ^[7] In 2014 he won the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. ^[8]

Bodnia played the Danish detective Martin Rohde in the first two series of the Nordic noir crime television programme The Bridge (Broen|Bron) (2011–present). Created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt, it is a joint creative and financed production between Sweden's Sveriges Television and Denmark's DR. It has been shown in over 100 countries. ^[9] Although Bodnia signed for the third series, ^[1] he dropped out, reportedly unhappy with the development of his character. ^[10] He also voiced concerns in an interview about working in Malmö, due to the city's problems with anti-semitism, which had made his decision to leave the series easier. ^{[11] [12]} He said: "it's not very nice and comfortable to be there as a Jewish person." ^[13]

In early 2014, Bodnia directed readings of The Tailor's Tale, a play based on his Jewish grandfather's experience of life in Copenhagen under Nazi occupation, written by his cousin Alexander Bodin Saphir, and performed at the Scandinavia House–The Nordic Center in America in New York. ^{[1] [14]}

Personal life

Bodnia in 2012

Bodnia has been married twice. His first marriage was to actress Lotte Andersen, with whom he has a son, Louis Bodnia Andersen, who is also an actor and who played a younger him in Killing Eve. ^[15] He is married to actress Rikke Louise Andersson, who played his wife in Bleeder. They have two sons and a daughter.

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	En Afgrund Af Frihed	Bouncer
1993	Bulldozer	Samson
1994	Nattevagten	Jens
1996	Pusher	Frank
1997	Den Sidste Viking	Sigbard
1999	Bleeder	Leo
	In China They Eat Dogs	Harald
2001	Øyenstikker	Eddie
2002	Old Men in New Cars: In China They Eat Dogs II	Harald
	Himmelfall	Johannes
2004	Den Gode Strømer	Jens	Also co-writer
	Monstertorsdag	Skip
	Inkasso	Claus
2005	Opbrud	Philip
2006	The Journals of Knud Rasmussen	Peter Freuchen
2007	Ekko	Simon
2008	Nefarious	Elkiar
	Frygtelig Lykkelig	Jørgen Buhl
	Kandidaten	Claes Kiehlert
2009	Vølvens Forbandelse	Harald Blåtand
	Julefrokosten	Buller
2010	Caroline: Den Sidste Rejse	Johan
	Tomme Tønner	Dansken
	Min Bedste Fjende	Dansklærer
	Hævnen	Lars
	Sandheden Om Mænd	Johnny
2011	Tomme Tønner 2 - Det Brune Gullet	Dansken
	Delhi Belly (Indian film)	Vladimir Dragunsky
2012	Caroline: Den sidste rejse	Johan
	Love Is All You Need	Leif
	Mamma er en superhelt	Axel	Short film
	Rendezvous in Kiruna	John - le biker
2013	All for Two	William Lynge
	The Shooter	Rasmus Holm Jensen
	The Stranger Within	Masked Kidnapper
	A Very Unsettled Summer	Alex
2014	Serena	Abe Hermann
	The Veil of Twilight	Bergtor
	Rosewater	Rosewater
2015	August	August
	Far	The Father	Short film [16]
2016	Krigarnas ö	Martin
2017	Light Thereafter	Arnaud
2018	The Violin Player	Björn Darren
2019	One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk	The Boss
2020	The Letter for the King	Abbot
2024	Young Woman and the Sea	Henry Ederle
2025	F1	Kaspar

Television

Year	Show	Role	Platform	Notes
2011–2013	The Bridge (Broen|Bron)	Martin Rohde	SVT1 (Sweden), DR1 (Denmark)	Season 1 and 2
2016	Hostages	Franz Danzinger	Channel 10 (Israel)
2018–2022	Killing Eve	Konstantin Vasiliev	BBC America	29 episodes
2021	The Witcher	Vesemir	Netflix	Season 2

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2009	62nd Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Best supporting actor	Won
2014	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding actor	Won
2019	British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor	Best supporting actor	Won

References

1. Jeffries, Stuart (31 January 2014). "The Bridge's Kim Bodnia: 'Darkness, misery, evil – we do them best'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
2. Bjørnkjær, Kristen (3 November 2011). "Vejen til skuespillet" [The path to the play]. information.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
3. Krugly Hill, Emilie (11 April 2014). "Kim Bodnia – Always on a mission". Scan Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
4. "Kim Bodnia". Filmweb.no (in Norwegian). 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
5. "One Sheet Debut for 'Terribly Happy'". bloody-disgusting.com. 9 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
6. "Kim Bodnia". IMDb. 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
7. Scott Roxborough (3 February 2009). "'Terribly Happy' sweeps Danish Bodil Awards". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
8. "Bron and Lilyhammer both multiple awarded in Monte Carlo". endemolshine. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
9. Parkinson, Justin (5 January 2016). "The real story of the Bridge". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
10. Seale, Jack (10 June 2014). "The Bridge series 3: Kim Bodnia aka Martin quits". Radio Times . Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
11. "Svensk jødehad gjorde det nemt for Bodnia at droppe "Broen"". Berlingske (in Danish). 16 February 2016. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
12. "Danish TV star says anti-Semitism made him uncomfortable in Sweden". Jerusalem Post . 17 February 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
13. Orange, Richard (16 February 2016). "'Anti-semitism in Malmo made me quit' says The Bridge actor". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
14. "Performing Arts @ Scandinavia House - The Nordic Center in America". scandinaviahouse.org. 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
15. "Actor: Louis Nathan Bodnia Andersen". UK Jewish Film. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
16. Far (2015) . Retrieved 19 June 2024– via Mubi.

External links

• Kim Bodnia at IMDb
• Kim Bodnia on Facebook