Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Date of Birth: 27 July 1970, Danmark
Waldau returned to television after his debut in 1993's “Slaget på tasken” with the 23-minute film “Who's Hitler?” (1995). It was followed by a costarring role opposite Julie Carlsen and Henning Moritzen in “Lyse tider” (1995), and starring as Jacob in “Jacobs liste” (1997), which was directed by Lars Mortensen.
Still in 1997, Waldau made his sophomore big screen outing in  “Hemmeligheder/Secret secrets,” opposite Helle Fagralid and Laura Drasbæk. He did not venture to the international circuit until he was cast alongside Clive Owen, Brian Webber, Ian McKellen, Jude Law and Mick Jagger in the British war film “Bent,” which was directed by Sean Mathias and scripted by Martin Sherman based on his play about two men attempting to escape the Nazi regime. The film won recognitions at several festivals, including Cannes and the Gijón International Film Festival.
Waldau next starred with good friend Mads Mikkelsen and the soon-to-be-wife Nukâka in “Vildspor/Wildside” (1998), a powerful drama which he also co-wrote with the director Simon Staho. For his acting job, Waldau was nominated for a Robert Festival Award for Best Actor. He was reunited with Mikkelsen in “Nattens engel/Angel of the Night” (1998), an unsatisfying Danish vampire flick starring Maria Stokholm. He then appeared in “Antenneforeningen/The Cable Club” (1999) and starred as a young writer named Espen Arnakke in the Danish drama “Misery Harbour” (1999).
Entering the new millennium, Waldau could be seen making guest appearance as Jordi in the British series “Lock, Stock...” (2000), which was developed by Guy Ritchie. He further boosted his international career by taking the important supporting role of Puck in the British thriller “Enigma,” which was directed by Michael Apted and starred Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows. Based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name, the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2001, before its U.K. release on September 24, 2001. Later that same year, Waldau made his Hollywood debut with “Black Hawk Down,” which was directed by Ridley Scott who also co-produced the film with Jerry Bruckheimer. Adapted from Mark Bowden's book of the same name, the film won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Editing and grossed nearly $173 million worldwide. Cast as Gary Gordon, a Delta Force sniper, the actor stood on his own opposite an impressive cast that included Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, William Fichtner, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom.
The following year, Waldau worked with French legend Michel Serrault and  Argentinean actress Bérénice Bejo in the France production “24 Hours in the Life of a Woman,” which was adapted from the novel “24 Stunden aus dem Leben einer Frau” by Stefan Zweig. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 7, 2002. He returned to the Danish cinema with “Stealing Rembrandt” and “Manden bag døren/The Bouncer,” which was shown at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. Waldau received a Robert Festival nomination for Best Actor for “Manden bag døren.”
Back to English language features, Waldau was cast as Miklos in “My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure,” a British-American co-produced action film starring Alexandra Staden. It was released to video in Europe in October 2003 and in North America in September 2004. He next appeared as Dieter Prohl in “Wimbledon” (2004), a romantic comedy starring Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst and directed by Richard Loncraine, and was reunited with Ridley Scott in the director's epic movie “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005). Starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Edward Norton and Liam Neeson, the film received mixed reviews from critics but was a hit in Europe and all over the world except the U.S. and Canada.
After starring in the European film “The Headsman” (2005), which was nominated for the Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montréal World Film Festival in 2005, Waldau tried to break into American television by appearing in “Filthy Gorgeous” (2006), a TV series pilot for Showtime. On the pilot, he acted with Isabella Rossellini, Eva Simon, Kate Jennings Grant, Sam Page and Maya Stange. He rebounded after the failed effort with “Firewall” (2006), which reunited him with director Richard Loncraine. In the box office hit, he memorably portrayed Liam, opposite stars Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen as the Stanfield couple. In the British movie “The Baker” (2007), the actor costarred with Damian Lewis, Kate Ashfield and Michael Gambon. Waldau returned to Danish film in “Supervoksen” (2006), his first since 2004's “Den gode strømer.” His subsequent non-English films include “Wonderful and Loved by All” (2007), “The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1” (2007) and “The Kautokeino Rebellion” (2008).
In early 2008, Waldau earned major attention in the U.S. when he landed the leading role of John Amsterdam in the Fox drama series “New Amsterdam,” which was about a New York homicide detective who perpetually looks for true love in order to break his curse of immortality. Although short-lived (ran for 8 episodes from March 4 to April 14, 2008), the series earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Main Title Design. Talking about the show, he stated, “I liked the script. I heard the concept first and I was a little ‘does this mean I have to have false teeth and all?’ But then I read the script and I really liked it. You know that feeling. I went up in the attic the other day and I found old notebooks that I wrote when I was in my teens and it was funny because I kind of recognized the guy, but still, he was someone else.”
 After “New Amsterdam” left the airwaves, Waldau starred with James Barclay in the Danish movie “Himmerland” (2008), which was also directed and written by Barclay. He recently played Commander Frank Pike on the Fox television movie “Virtuality” (2009), which was directed by Peter Berg. Costars in the thriller included Joy Bryant, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Ritchie Coster, James D'Arcy, Clea DuVall, and Gene Farber.
Nikolaj will costar with Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Kee Chan and Matthias Hues in the Danish adventure film “At World's End,” which is scheduled to be released on October 9, 2009, in Denmark. Additionally, he will be paired with actress Connie Nelson in “Between the Lines,” a drama due to be released in Denmark on March 31, 2010.
Aside from acting, he has also written, produced and directed films in his native Denmark. He is the Executive Vice President of Hemmingsen Entertainment Corporation and affiliate Hemmingsen Creek Productions.
He recently starred as John Amsterdam, an immortal New York homicide detective who will become mortal after he finds his true love, in the cancelled Fox drama series, New Amsterdam.
It was announced on August 20, 2009 that Coster-Waldau would star as Ser Jaime Lannister, one of the king's guards and a ruthless usurper of the previous king in the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels.
Along with Canadian-born actor/writer/director/producer James Barclay, Waldau founded Hemmingsen Entertainment Corporation in 2007. He co-produced the 2008 films “Aurum” and “Himmerland,” both of which were directed, written by and starred Barclay.
| VITAL STATS | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Information:
| | Eye color:Blue | | Height: 6' 2½" (1.89 m) | | Nickname(s): | | Notable feature(s): | | Education: National Theater School in Denmark | Family:
His wife, Greenlandic actress and former
Miss Greenland, Nukâka Motzfeldt and two
young daughters named Saffina and
Philippa. | | Resides in: Denmark | | Religious affiliations: | | Political affiliation: | | Personal interests/hobbies: | | Charities/Causes: | | Other: Aside from acting, he has also written, produced and directed films in his native Denmark. He is the Executive Vice President of Hemmingsen Entertainment Corporation and affiliate Hemmingsen Creek Productions. | | |
