Nelson Kasper Van Alden (alias George Mueller) is a fictional character on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

television series ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...

'', portrayed by

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor. Shannon received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations, for '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). He received Screen Actors Guil ...

. He is a puritanical, repressed, religious fundamentalist and agent for the

Bureau of Prohibition The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency with the responsibility of investigating the possession, distribution, consumption, and trafficking of alcohol and alcoholic beverages in the Unit ...

Biography

There is not much known about Nelson Van Alden's childhood, but in season 2 he explained that his parents believed that the second coming of Jesus Christ would occur in 1892. In preparation for this, they sold off the family farm and began living out of a tent in order to emulate the poverty of Jesus and thus gain his favor. These experiences led to a permanent estrangement between Van Alden and his parents and he eventually abandoned them to work his way back up into a prosperous life and marriage, eventually becoming an agent of the new United States Bureau of Prohibition. At the start of the series, Nelson Van Alden acts as Nucky Thompson's (

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

) primary antagonist as he takes the lead to bring the kingpin down. In the midst of trying to tackle one of Prohibition's most notorious bootleggers, Van Alden's volatile temper and self-loathing start to blur his ethics and by the end of Season 1 he has killed his corrupt partner Agent Eric Sebso (Erik Wiener) and violated his religious values through a one-night stand with Nucky Thompson's ex-mistress (whom he accidentally impregnates). Season 2 follows Van Alden's fruitless efforts to conceal his crimes. Van Alden forces the ex-mistress to stay in his apartment to give birth to their child. He also forces them to keep the pregnancy a secret and is highly controlling towards her in the meantime. The season ends with Van Alden discovering he has been named the prime suspect in Sebso's murder, and he spends Season 3 on the run with his infant daughter and nanny Sigrid ( Christiane Seidel) (with whom he later fathers a son), eventually settling in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

under the alias George Mueller. Alden starts work as a home appliance salesman but gets mocked and abused by his coworkers for his inability to make any sales. Nelson finally snaps and uses an

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

to burn the face of one of his tormentors; months later, when the man and his friends jump Van Alden in an alley to get revenge, he pulls a gun and kills all three of them. By the end of Season 3, Van Alden resorts to hiring himself out as an enforcer for

Dean O'Banion Charles Dean O'Banion (July 8, 1892 – November 10, 1924) was an American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known ...

(Arron Shiver) and eventually

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

( Stephen Graham), still going by the name George Mueller to avoid the authorities. The final season sees Van Alden struggling to keep the life of associate/muscle George Mueller balanced during his second failing marriage, this time to Sigrid. Van Alden has since partnered with Thompson's brother Eli ( Shea Whigham) who knows Van Alden's true identity. Mike Malone (

Louis Cancelmi Louis Cancelmi is an American stage and film actor. He is a frequent performer in productions by the Public Theater, both at their Astor Library home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. He is best known for appearing in '' Boardwalk E ...

), an undercover agent in Capone's crew, who goes by the alias Mike D'Angelo, recognizes Van Alden and both he and Eli agree to work with Malone to help take Capone down. Van Alden also learns that Eli is having an affair with Sigrid. Eli and Van Alden eventually return to Capone's hotel to steal ledgers as proof of his

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

, but Capone's brother

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

( Domenick Lombardozzi) becomes suspicious of their behavior. The Capone brothers confront them with Malone present, unaware Malone is working undercover. With Van Alden's deteriorating home life and facing death at the hands of the Capones, he snaps and attacks the brothers while Eli and Malone watch in shock. In a rage, Van Alden begins to confesses his true identity while choking Al Capone but before he can strangle him, Malone shoots and kills Van Alden. The Capones then foolishly entrust Malone with the ledgers. Van Alden's death unwittingly leads to Capone going to prison for tax evasion.

Reception

Nelson Van Alden has been frequently cited as a fan-favorite on ''Boardwalk Empire''. The role earned Shannon three nominations for the

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

. Despite starring on the series for all five seasons, Shannon claims to only have watched a "little bit" of the show.

References

External links

Agent Nelson Van Alden
character bio at HBO.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Alden, Nelson Boardwalk Empire Fictional gangsters Television characters introduced in 2010 Fictional murderers Fictional American federal law enforcement officers American male characters in television Fictional murdered people