| Connie Nielsen | |
|---|---|
Nielsen at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival |
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| Born | Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen 3 July 1965 Frederikshavn, Denmark |
| Years active | 1986-present |
| Partner | Lars Ulrich (2004-present) 1 son |
Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born 3 July 1965) is a Danish actress. She is known for her roles in the English language films Gladiator, The Devil's Advocate, Basic, and The Ice Harvest. She currently stars as Meredith Kane on the Starz series Boss.
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Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Her father, Bent Nielsen, was a bus driver, and her mother was an insurance clerk who also acted and wrote musical revues.[1][2][3] She was raised a Mormon[4] and grew up in a village named Elling.[5] 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 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'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).
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 first minor breakthrough led to roles in the films Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998), and Soldier (1998).
In 2000, Nielsen became known to worldwide audiences as Lucilla in Ridley Scott's internationally acclaimed Academy Award–winning epic Gladiator, starring opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Since then, she has 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. She becomes the delightful Irish mom to an orphan in "A Shine of Rainbows" (2009).
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, 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 Det. Dani Beck. She filled in for Mariska Hargitay who was on maternity leave at the time of filming.
Nielsen has a son, Sebastian (born 2 June 1991), from a previous relationship. Since 2004, Nielsen has been dating Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
Nielsen's favorite band is The Clash, and she is a big fan of Danish movie directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The latter directed Metallica's music video for their song The Day That Never Comes.
She speaks eight languages: Danish, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish.[6]
| Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Par Où T'es Rentré? On T'a Pas Vu Sortir | Eva | |
| 1991 | Vacanze di Natale '91 | Brunilde/Vanessa | |
| 1993 | Voyage | Ronnie Freeland | Television movie |
| 1994 | Le paradis absolument | Sarah | Television movie |
| 1997 | The Devil's Advocate | Christabella Andreoli | |
| 1998 | Permanent Midnight | Dagmar | |
| Rushmore | Mrs. Calloway | ||
| Soldier | Sandra | ||
| 2000 | Dark Summer | Megan Denright | |
| Mission to Mars | Terri Fisher | ||
| Gladiator | Lucilla | ||
| 2002 | One Hour Photo | Nina Yorkin | |
| Demonlover | Diane de Monx | ||
| 2003 | The Hunted | Abby Durrell | |
| Basic | Osborne | ||
| 2004 | Brødre | Sarah | |
| Return to Sender | Charlotte Cory | ||
| 2005 | The Great Raid | Margaret Utinsky | |
| The Ice Harvest | Renata Crest | ||
| 2006 | The Situation | Anna Molyneux | |
| 2007 | Battle in Seattle | Jean | |
| 2008 | Danny Fricke | Danny Fricke | |
| 2009 | A Shine of Rainbows | Maire | |
| 2010 | Mellem linierne | Cora | |
| Tonight at Noon | Laura | ||
| 2011 | Perfect Sense |
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