Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born 3 July 1965)[1][2] is a Danish actress. She has starred as Lucilla in the films Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024) and as Queen Hippolyta in the DC Extended Universe. 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]
Connie Nielsen | |
|---|---|
 Nielsen in 2016 | |
| Born | Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen 3 July 1965 Frederikshavn, Denmark |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Partner | Lars Ulrich (2004–2012) |
| Children | 2 |
She also had roles as New York Police Department 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.
Early life
editNielsen 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]
Career
editNielsen'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 The Independent 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).
Personal life
editFrom 2004 to 2012, Nielsen dated Metallica drummer and fellow Dane, Lars Ulrich.[17] They have one son together.[18] Nielsen had a son, Sebastian from a previous marriage; and Ulrich has two sons Myles, and Layne, also from a previous marriage.
Nielsen is a polyglot, fluent in her native Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish. She also knows some Spanish.[19]
Filmography
editFilm
editTelevision
edit| 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 |
Awards
edit- Rungstedlund Prize (4 September 2023).[21]
References
edit- ^ "Nielsen" – via BnF Catalogue général (http:// catalogue.bnf.fr).
- ^ "Nielsen, Connie, 1965- - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies". Library of Congress.
- ^ "Connie Nielsen - dansk film database". danskefilm.dk. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Connie Nielsen". Aniston.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
- ^ Stewart, Susan (9 March 2003). "Double Danish / Connie Nielson [sic]". Newsday. p. D7. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
- ^ "Star Dentist Drilled for $20M". The New York Post. 7 August 2004. p. 6. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
- ^ Cavagna, Carlo (December 2005). "Interview: Connie Nielsen". AboutFilm.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
- ^ "One Hour Photo: About The Cast". Cinema.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ Lucia Bozzola (2016). "Connie Nielsen biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Connie Nielsen on Reading the Script". Freestyle Releasing. 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ Eising, Jesper (27 February 2005). ""Kongekabale" årets film". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Kongekabale årets bedste film. - Indland". DR (in Danish). 27 February 2005. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "2005". Bodilprisen (in Danish). 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Connie Nielsen fills in for Mariska Hargitay on 'Law & Order: SVU'". Star Pulse. 2 February 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ Scott Roxborough (27 August 2012). "Jamie Bell, Connie Nielsen Join Lars von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Liam O'Brien (10 October 2013). "Nymphomaniac orgasm posters: Uma Thurman, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Shia LaBeouf star in shocking film campaign". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "An interview with Close to Me's Connie Nielsen". 21 November 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ^ "Metallica Drummer Lars Ulrich, Girlfriend Connie Nielsen Expecting". Blabbermouth.net. 6 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
- ^ Vaughan, Brendan (29 January 2007). "A Woman We Love: CoNielsen". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ Credits to "The Dreamer" Archived 8 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine on its sales agent TrustNordisk website
- ^ Epaimages
External links
edit