Claes Kasper Bang (; born 28 April 1967) is a Danish actor and musician. He is best known for playing the leading role of Christian in Ruben Östlund's 2017 film '' The Square'', which won the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, and for the role of Fjölnir in

Robert Eggers Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker who has written and directed '' The Witch'' (2015), '' The Lighthouse'' (2019), '' The Northman'' (2022), and ''Nosferatu'' (2024). His films blend elements of horror, folklore, ...

's 2022 film '' The Northman''. In 2019, he played the role of Sasha Mann for the final season of '' The Affair'', and he rose to further international recognition by starring as

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (2020). For his role in ''The Square'', he became the first Dane to win the European Film Award for Best Actor. Bang has also developed a music career under the moniker of This Is Not America.

Early life

Bang was born in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

on the Danish island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. After his parents' divorce, he mostly lived with his father and moved home frequently; he ended up attending several different schools while growing up. During his third year of high school, Bang participated in the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' which sparked his interest in acting, and after he left school he continued to do amateur theatre. At the age of 23, he made an application to the Danish National School of Theatre after discovering that the age limit for applying is 25. He was unsuccessful but applied again the next year and was accepted five days before his 25th birthday. He attended the school in 1992 and graduated with a diploma in 1996. His first theatre role after graduation was at Børneteatret Skægspire in the play ''Tudseakvariet'', and he received his first breakthrough role in the Danish 1997 television show ''

Taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

''. He has worked mainly on stage and television in Denmark.

Career

Acting

From 2001 to 2004, he was a permanent member of the cast at Aalborg Teater. In 2002, he asked the theatre director for permission to perform a monologue called ''Ondskaben'', which is based on

Jan Guillou Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (, ; born 17 January 1944) is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Pet ...

's novel ''

Evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

''. After leaving the theatre in 2004, Bang bought the rights to the work so he could perform the monologue at other theatres. He has performed the monologue almost 400 times, including an English language version in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, and South Africa. Bang starred in numerous Danish television series and films early in his career. From 2006 to 2008, he gained wide recognition (particularly in Germany) for his role in the Danish police drama '' Anna Pihl''. He subsequently starred in several German language roles both on television ('' Küstenwache'', '' SOKO Wismar'', '' Notruf Hafenkante'', ''Sibel & Max'', and '' Cologne P.D.'') and in film ('' Jungle Child'', ''Rettet Raffi!'', ''Alle unter einer Tanne'', and ''Überleben an der Scheidungsfront''). He played the leading role of the art museum curator Christian in Ruben Östlund's 2017 film '' The Square'', which won the

at the

2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing cerem ...

. He also won the European Film Award for Best Actor, being the first Dane to do so. In November 2018, Bang was cast to play

in the

mini-series ''

,'' created by the film-makers involved in '' Sherlock''. In an interview for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', it was observed that, while "sexy" and "insatiable", it is also "a very witty performance" from Bang. On 14 April 2020, it was announced that Bang would be working on the pilot of ''Little Room'' (previously called ''The Agoraphobics Detective Society''), which was produced by Maggie Montieth and directed/written by his ''Dracula'' co-star Dolly Wells, with Suzi Ewing and Heidi Greensmith. Bang and the other cast members filmed themselves from home on Zoom, and were responsible for the props, wardrobe, hair and makeup, and sound. The pilot was released online by Pinpoint Presents on 27 May 2020, and viewers were asked to donate to The Film and Television Charity and the Motion Picture & Television Fund, to help those in the film, TV and cinema industries who have been financially impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Music

This Is Not America is the name of Bang's musical side project. He describes it as "a sanctuary and a creative playground where there is no director making the decisions." Bang writes and composes the songs himself, and his musical style can be described as a mix of Gangway,

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

. Music videos and album art for This Is Not America are produced with help from his wife Lis Kasper Bang, née Louis-Jensen, who does the filming and photography. Bang started composing music for fun with a recording studio on his computer in 2002. He records the piano and guitar pieces himself (he learnt these instruments when he was younger) and then programs them with other sounds on his computer. Bang chose the alias This Is Not America to circumvent DR's policy of not broadcasting tracks by actors, and to prevent his acting career from influencing how people perceive his music. The name comes from a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, who is one of Bang's great role models. His first three singles "Don't Come Crying", "Shameless", and "Run" were played on P3 for a year before the station found out that they were made by the actor, however his songs were still played on various DR radio stations for a few more years. These singles were later released on the debut album ''Dislocated'' on 7 April 2010. Two of Bang's co-stars have featured on some This Is Not America tracks. In 2015, he released the single "Still of the Night", featuring

Charlotte Munck Charlotte Munck (born 2 December 1969) is a Danish actress. She is notable for starring in the Danish police television drama '' Anna Pihl'' as the title character, which was aired on TV2. She was born in Aarhus and raised in Ørsted Djursla ...

, his co-star in the Danish police drama ''Anna Pihl''. While filming ''The Square'', Bang discovered that co-star and musician

Marina Schiptjenko Anna ''Marina'' Schiptjenko (born July 27, 1965, in Malmö, Sweden) is the only female member of the Swedish electronic pop group Bodies Without Organs (now known as BWO). Her mother is Swedish and her father was a Ukrainian defector from the So ...

shared the same taste in music, so he showed her some of his music and sent her a few demos. Once filming finished, they recorded five songs together in his home studio in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. So far, the duo has released "Who Am I", "I Don't Care" and "Here We Go".

Personal life

Bang met stylist and photographer Lis Louis-Jensen in 2006 while they were both working on the play ''Den grønne elevator'' at Kanonhalløj. Louis-Jensen proposed to Bang on New Year's Eve 2007, and they got married on 25 September 2010 on a canal boat in Copenhagen. Bang is stepfather to Lis' two children, Sarah and Bella. The pair have lived together in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, Copenhagen since 2008.

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcasts

Theatre credits

Discography

Albums

* 2010: ''Dislocated''

EPs

*2011: ''EP1'' *2014: ''Keep on Dancin'' *2015: ''Still of the Night'' *2020: ''Here We Go'' *2020: ''Butterflies in December'' *2020: ''You & I (Forever Live or Die)'' *2020: ''No Song Left Unsung'' *2020: ''Your Love Is Wasted on Me'' *2020: ''Take It on the Chin'' *2021: ''Late to the Party''

Singles

Music videos

* 2009: "Run" * 2014: "No One" * 2015: "I'm Not Ready Yet" * 2018: "Who Am I (feat.

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

Other

Bang has also performed a number of songs as himself: * 2007: Claes Bang - "Når En Sailor Går I Land" (Otto Brandenburg cover) * 2014: Nogen Andre - "September" (feat. Claes Bang) * 2014: Martin Valsted - "Bilist" (feat. Claes Bang) * 2017: Claes Bang - "Party at the Castle" (''The Square'' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) * 2019: Jacob Gurevitsch - "Motivo Loco" (Bang featured in the music video)

Bibliography

Audiobooks

Afterwords

* 2020: ''

'' by

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

, translated to Danish by Benny Andersen, published by

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Claes Bang
at the Danish Film Database
Claes Bang
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
This Is Not America
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang, Claes 1967 births Living people Male actors from Odense Musicians from the Region of Southern Denmark 20th-century Danish male actors 21st-century Danish male actors Danish male film actors Danish male stage actors Danish male television actors Danish theatre people European Film Award for Best Actor winners