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Mads Mikkelsen, born November 22, 1965, in Copenhagen, Denmark, started his acting career during the 1980s in modern dance performances and performed on stage in Denmark in musicals such as "Chicago". After eight years as a professional dancer, Mikkelsen started to attend actor’s training at the theatre in Arhus and graduated from drama school in 1996. Already in the same year, he drew a lot of attention for his first supporting role on the movie screen: In the Danish action drama "Pusher", Mikkelsen made an impressive performance as a freaked out junkie. Four years later, Mikkelsen made his major breakthrough in the leading role of the award-winning Danish crime series "Rejseholdet" ("Unit One", DK 2000).
In 2002, Mikkelsen who had long since been a star in Denmark at that point in time starred in the "Dogma 95" film "Elsker dig for evigt" ("Open Hearts"), directed by Susanne Bier. His award-winning performance in the film’s leading role also made him known to an international audience. After several internationally successful films such as "De grønne slagtere" ("The Green Butchers", DK 2003) and "Adams æbler" ("Adam’s Apples", DK 2005), Mikkelsen starred in his probably most striking role in a mainstream movie to date: In 2006, he played Daniel Craig’s brilliant adversary in the James Bond movie "Casino Royale".
In 2008, Mikkelsen was nominated for a European Film Award for his performance in the multiple award-winning World War II drama "Flammen og Citronen" ("Flame and Citron" DK, CZ, D, 2008). In the following year, he portrayed two artists on the movie screen: In "Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky" (F, 2009), he played the legendary composer, and in Anno Saul’s drama "Die Tür" ("The Door", D, 2009), he played a painter who gets the opportunity to revoke the death of his daughter.
He then appeared in a string of period pieces: He played a Viking warrior in "Valhalla Rising" (DK/GB 2009), an ancient world soldier in the fantasy spectacle "Clash of the Titans" ("Kampf der Titanen", US 2010), the villainous Rochefort in the adventure romp "Die drei Musketiere" (GB/DE/FR 2011) and a doctor committed to helping the poor in the drama "Die Königin und der Leibarzt" (DK/SE/CZ/DE 2012).
He got rave reviews for his portrayal of a small town teacher who get wrongfully accused of child molestation in the Danish feature "Jagten" ("Die Jagd", 2012). The following year, he played the titular hero in the historical drama "Michael Kohlhaas", a lavish adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist's eponymous novella.