Connie Nielsen

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Connie Nielsen in Mission to Mars (2000)

Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born July 3, 1965) is a Danish actress.

1 Biography
2 Career
3 Trivia
4 Filmography
5 Television
6 Footnotes
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Nielsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and raised in a small seaside village named Elling near Frederikshavn in Denmark.

She began her acting career working alongside her mother on the local revue and variety scene. At 18, she travelled 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 took Master Classes with Lydia Styx, a teacher at il Piccolo Teatro di Milano in Milan. She lived in Italy for many years, before moving to The United States, where she still resides.

Nielsen has a son named Sebastian, born in 1989, with whom she lives in New York, NY.

Nielsen is currently dating Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and they are expecting their first child, due in early summer 2007.^[1]

[edit] Career

Her feature film debut was the French film, Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir in 1984, followed by a role in the Italian mini-series Colleti Bianchi in 1988. She appeared in the 1991 Italian Vacanze di Natale '91 and the French film Le Paradis Absolument in 1993.

She moved to The United States in 1996 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 led to roles in films as Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998) and Soldier (1998).

In 2000 she became known to worldwide audiences as Lucilla in Ridley Scott's internationally acclaimed Academy Award-winning epic Gladiator, where she starred opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

She has since then starred in some notable American films, including Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), The Hunted (2003) and Basic (2003). She also starred in the acclaimed French thriller Demonlover (2002), directed by Olivier Assayas.

In 2004 she made her Danish film debut in the drama, Brødre (aka Brothers)for which she won the Danish Best Actress Award, The Bodil, as well as Best Actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards.

As of June 2006, Nielsen is set to appear 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.

[edit] Trivia

She speaks six languages: Danish, English, French, German, Italian and Swedish.
Her favourite bands include The Clash and she is a fan of the work of, among others, fellow Danes, film directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.
She at one time loved to collect designer sunglasses (her only luxury habit) — she owns around 200 pairs.
Her looks have been compared to those of Diane Lane and Saffron Burrows.