Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He is known for his roles as Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the Danish

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

'' The Killing'', the character Charles Augustus Magnussen in the third series of 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 ...

programme '' Sherlock'', fictional

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n president Viktor Petrov in the American

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle; high stakes and suspense are the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. Th ...

TV series ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'', mage Stregobor on the

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 '' The Witcher'', and Grand Admiral Thrawn in ''

Star Wars Rebels ''Star Wars Rebels'' is an American 3D animated science fiction television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It takes place 14 years after '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' (2005 ...

'' and '' Ahsoka''. In 2011, he won the Reumert Prize of Honour for his contributions to Danish theatre.

Early life

Mikkelsen was born in Gladsaxe near

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 ...

. He and his younger brother, actor

Mads Mikkelsen Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher (film series), ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Detective Sergea ...

, were raised in the

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...

district.Transcript of Part 1 of Documentary in German, transcript in English. After secondary school, he enlisted for military service in the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

. He then studied biology at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

but gave up the course to earn his living as a street performer in European cities with his

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

and

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

acts.

Career

At the age of 27, Mikkelsen enrolled at the National Theatre School of Denmark from which he graduated in 1995. In addition to his role in the drama series released worldwide as ''The Killing'', he subsequently appeared in two other internationally acclaimed Danish drama series, ''Those Who Kill'' and ''Borgen III''. He also had a leading role in an episode of the

drama '' Sherlock'' as blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen. In the American television series ''

'', he played the president of

. He won an

International Emmy Award The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York City, New York–based International Academy of Televisi ...

in 2018 for his role in Danish television drama '' Herrens Veje'', which was broadcast in the UK in 2019 as ''Ride Upon the Storm''. From 2016 to 2018, he voiced Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" in the third and fourth seasons of the animated series ''

''. He reprised the role in the 2023 live-action

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' Ahsoka'' and the 2024 anthology series '' Star Wars: Tales of the Empire''. In addition to his native Danish, Mikkelsen speaks fluent Swedish, German and English, and he has mastered various accents. He has stated that he and his brother first picked up English by listening to

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

records and learning the comedy sketches.

Personal life

Mikkelsen is married to actress

Anette Støvelbæk Anette Støvelbæk (born 27 July 1967) is a Danish actress. She was born 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 c ...

. They have been a couple since 1986 and married in 1989. They have two sons. He is the older brother of actor Mads Mikkelsen. While filming the second season of ''Ride Upon the Storm'', he went to see a priest and asked to be baptised into the National Church of Denmark.Lawson, Mark (30 January 2019
"Lars Mikkelsen: I found God after playing a boozy, lusty priest"
, ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 15 January 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Animated films/series/shorts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mikkelsen, Lars Living people 1964 births 20th-century Danish male actors 21st-century Danish male actors Danish male television actors Danish male voice actors Danish male film actors University of Copenhagen alumni People from Gladsaxe Municipality Danish Lutherans International Emmy Award for Best Actor winners