Mads Mikkelsen

Biography

Mads Mikkelsen is a synonym to the great success the Danish film industry has had 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 Blinkende Lichter (2000), En kort en lang (2001) and the Emmy-winning police series Unit One – Die Spezialisten (2000). His success has taken him abroad where he has played alongside Gérard Depardieu in Ich bin Dina (2002) as well as in the Spanish comedy Die Torremolinos Homevideos (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.