Tobias Santelmann (born August 8, 1980) is a German-born Norwegian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is best known for starring in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated film ''

Kon-Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, f ...

'' (2012). His credits also include ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (2014), ''

Point Break ''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", where a ...

'' (2015), ''

The Heavy Water War ''The Heavy Water War'' (original title ' and alternative title ''The Saboteurs'' (United Kingdom)) is a six-episode war drama television miniseries written by Petter S. Rosenlund and produced by NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. It is a ...

'' (2015), Grenseland (2017), ''

The Last Kingdom ''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in '' The Saxon Stories'' by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assim ...

'' (2015–2018), ''

Atlantic Crossing ''Atlantic Crossing'' is the sixth solo album by Rod Stewart. Released on 15 August 1975, and recorded in five American studios including Muscle Shoals, Alabama, between April and June 1975, it was produced by Tom Dowd, and peaked at number o ...

'' (2020), ''

Those Who Kill ''Those Who Kill'' () is a Danish crime TV series from 2011, which follows a fictitious unit within Copenhagen Police which specialises in investigating serial murders. The series was aired as five two-part stories in Denmark (i.e. ten episodes ...

'' (2021), ' (2019-2023).

Early life

Santelmann was born in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He moved with his family to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

when he was young. He was raised in

Lindesnes Lindesnes () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Manda ...

, south Norway, later moving to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

when he was 16 years old. He studied at the

Oslo National Academy of the Arts The Oslo National Academy of the Arts (, ''KHiO'') is a tertiary institution in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in Norway that teaches in v ...

, graduating in 2006.

Career

Santelmann worked at The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo with appearances in ''The Castle'', '' The Good Person of Szechwan'', and ''Nora''. His screen credits include Norwegian films like ''

'' (2012), ''Flukt'' (2012), ''Jag Etter Vind'' (''Chase the wind'') (2013), and '' Jeg er din'' (''I Am Yours'') (2013). Santelmann's film work outside Norway includes supporting performances in the films ''

'' (2014), and ''

'' (2015), and a starring role 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 ...

television series ''

'' (2015-2018). From 2019 to 2023, Santelmann played Henrik in Exit, a series in 3 seasons that described the decadent lives of 4 men in

's finance elites. It became the most streamed in the history of Norwegian national television. In 2021, he played the role of a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

in the

mini series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''. In 2020, Santelmann, though relatively unknown in the United States, was chosen to play Prince Olav in the TV series ''

'', a joint Norway/US production, alongside

Sofia Helin Sofia Margareta Götschenhjelm-Helin is a Swedish actress. She was nominated for a Guldbagge Awards, Guldbagge Award for her role in ''Dalecarlians (film), Dalecarlians'', and stars as Saga Norén in the Danish/Swedish co-produced TV series ''T ...

and

Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan ( ; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...

. Santelmann will star as Jo Nesbo's

Harry Hole Harry Hole (the surname pronounced as "HOO-leh"), who is also called "Harry Holy" (strictly the first novel) by allies in the Australian police force,'' The Bat'' by James Nesbø, first novel of the Harry Hole series. Originally released under t ...

in the upcoming

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 ''

Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole ''Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole'' (titled ''Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole'' in Scandinavia) is an upcoming Netflix crime drama series, an adaptation of the Jo Nesbø Harry Hole novels, specifically the fifth instalment ''The Devil's Star''. The series w ...

''.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santelmann, Tobias 1980 births Living people Norwegian male film actors Norwegian male television actors German emigrants to Norway People from Lindesnes